The STACY Project aims to investigate and develop practitioner and organisational capacity to work collaboratively across services providing interventions to children and families living with domestic and family violence (DFV) and where there are parental issues of mental health (MH) and alcohol and other drug use (AOD) co-occurring. The expertise of practitioners will be harnessed through Communities of Practice (CoP), which will be capacity built through training and coaching provided by the US-based, Safe & Together Institute’s resources and consultants. Researchers will work alongside each CoP in each of the three states involved (NSW, Qld and Vic) to support and investigate changes in professional practice, inter-agency working, and the organisational change necessary to support ongoing development. The expertise of Project Advisory Group members situated in each state will be drawn on to develop practitioner and organisational guidance for improved collaborative working in this complex area.

Researchers:

Principle Investigator: Cathy Humphreys

Project manager/ Chief Investigator: Lucy Healey

Jasmin Isobe (UoM)

Susan Heward-Belle; Lesley Laing; Cherie Toivonen; Erin Links (University of Sydney);

Menka Tsantefski; Patrick O’Leary; Amy Young; Tracy Wild (Griffith)

Funders: Department of Social Services

Partners:

Safe & Together Institute (USA)

QLD  – Caboolture offices/branches

• Institute for Urban Indigenous Health Family Wellbeing Service (IUHI)
• Lives Lived Well Drugs and Alcohol Service
• Queensland Health (Acute Care Mental Health Team)
• Queensland Police Service
• Queensland Corrective Services, Probation and Parole
• Uniting Care Men’s Behaviour Change Program
• Centre Against Domestic Abuse (CADA), Domestic Violence Service
• Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women
• Walking with Dads
• Women’s legal service
• Mercy community services, Caring Dads program

NSW

• NSW Health Central Coast and Western Sydney offices
• CatholicCare
• Yerin, Eleanor Duncan Aboriginal Health Centre
• The Glen Centre
• Kamira Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services
• Jannawi Family Services
• Kildare Road Medical Centre, Blacktown
• Family and Community Services, Community Service Centre, Auburn
• Domestic Violence NSW

VIC (asterisked agencies participating in PAG only)

• Anglicare Victoria
• Berry Street
• Bethany Community Support
• Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare*
• Child Protection
• Domestic Violence Victoria*
• Kids First
• McAuley
• No to Violence*
• Barwon Health
• Alfred Child & Youth Mental Health Service
• Early in Life Mental Health Service, Monash Health
• Youth Support and Advocacy Service
• Orange Door, Family Safety Victoria
• Odyssey House
• Uniting/Kildonan

Project Dates: 2018 – 2019

Contact: Cathy Humphreys

Publications:

Isobe, J., Healey, L. & Humphreys, C. (2020). A critical interpretive synthesis of the intersection of domestic violence with parental issues of mental health and substance use. Health and Social Care in the Community, 28(5), 1394–1407.