Introduction
The Young People’s Outreach Team (YPOT) (formerly the Streetwork Outreach Service) targets outreach responses to young people who are Child Protection clients most at risk, collaborating with care teams to inform the most appropriate interventions to minimise the risk of harm. This approach provides consistent and continued service responses after hours for those young people most at risk.
YPOT, alongside the Rural After-Hours Service (RAHS), remain an integrated component of the departments After Hours Services (AHS) responsible for service delivery to Child Protection clients outside of business hours.
Role of YPOT
As child protection practitioners, YPOT practitioners assess risk and act to promote the safety, development, and wellbeing of their clients.
Where YPOT practitioners assess that a child may be in need of protection and that the matter cannot be left until the next working day, they will exercise their statutory responsibilities as protective interveners.
The team includes the following functions:
• targeted identification and follow-up, outreach, and intervention for young people most at risk across the state
• collaborative and coordinated support for young people at risk across the state, working closely with Child Protection Area care teams, Community Service Organisations (CSO) and care providers, Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) and Aboriginal Children in Aboriginal Care (ACAC) providers, AHS and RAHS to guide and support local Area responses for young people at risk.
Tasks undertaken by YPOT include:
• Phone-based urgent investigation and follow up tasks
• Phone-based urgent case management follow up tasks, locating young people missing from care, liaising with contracted case managers and care service providers
• Urgent tasks transferred from Child Protection Areas and ACAC providers (as per the Possible contact to AHS procedure)
• Investigations, visits and assertive outreach in metropolitan areas (and in some cases inner rural areas) in attempt to locate young people missing from care; this may include order breaches. Where there is the requirement for an urgent outreach to a young person in a rural area, YPOT will take a coordination role and work with RAHS teams who may undertake urgent outreach in rural areas
• Information gathering in relation to young people missing for extended periods of time and/or associating with Persons of Interest (POI) to inform risk assessment, planning and interventions
• Working with stakeholders including carers and police, to plan interventions that reduce the risk of sexual exploitation and young people being missing from care
• Completion of risk assessments, return to care assessments, Secure Care Service placement assessments including issuing legal intervention and appearing before bail justices
• Serving Harbouring Notices and No Contact Letters to POI
• Proactive engagement with young people at risk, in line with Child Protection Area or ACAC case plans and as negotiated with Child Protection Areas or ACAC. For cases involving young people authorised to ACAC providers, case planning delegation sits with the ACAC on-call manager
• Short term, task-based interventions, will be considered through the transfer process, with focus on work that falls under the above key functions.
The team targets outreach responses to young people who are Child Protection clients most at risk, using evidence to identify them and collaborating with care teams to provide targeted and goal-oriented case management to minimise risk of harm.
Referrals are typically active for three months and regularly reviewed against goals and can be extended if required.
Target clients
The core client group for YPOT intervention include:
• Young people who are clients of Child Protection or Aboriginal Children in Aboriginal Care
• Young people aged 10 -17 years (inclusive) who are presenting with high risk-taking behaviours
• Young people who have multiple and complex behaviour and emotional support needs (as per Child Protection Manual High-risk youth - advice) including:
- emerging or diagnosed mental illness or psychological disorders
- suicidal ideation or self-harming behaviour
- serious or escalating offending
- confirmed or suspected sexual exploitation
- associating with Persons of Interest (POIs)
- repeat risk taking behaviour
- high levels of aggression
- extreme challenging behaviour at home, school, or in care
- use of drugs and alcohol to the extent that the young person's safety or development is at significant risk or their care or wellbeing is significantly jeopardised
- severe conflict with parents and or family
- repeated periods of missing from care; and/or
- isolated from family and friends.
Working with Aboriginal Child Specialist Advice Support Service, Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and Aboriginal Children in Aboriginal Care providers
YPOT will consult the Aboriginal Child Specialist Advice and Support Service (ACSASS) on all significant decisions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people at risk (Additional requirements for Aboriginal Children). The purpose of that consultation is to ensure culturally attuned input into risk assessments and intervention, and cultural information informs Child Protection’s decision-making and actions.
YPOT will collaborate with ACCOs where they may hold care and/or case management responsibility for a young person at risk. This will include seeking guidance on planning and decision making for young people, information gathering and sharing and coordinated joint interventions for young people at risk.
YPOT will work in collaboration with ACAC providers for any young people at risk where case management and decision making is the legislated responsibility of the ACAC provider (CYFA s18). The work arrangements for ACAC providers and AHCPES are set out the in the memorandum of understanding.
Working in collaboration with Community Service Organisations
As with Child Protection areas, YPOT will provide support, consultation and work in collaboration with CSOs who provide care services and may also hold contracted case management responsibility. CSOs can refer to YPOT as per the referral and transfer processes. It is to be noted that for CSOs who have a responsibility to provide an after-hours response to their young people, YPOT may take a role of consultation and coordination, rather than direct outreach (although for some young people this will occur and may be jointly done with the CSO).
Referral to YPOT
To request advice, attendance at a care team, attendance at a High-Risk Youth Panel or other intervention planning tasks, a referral can be made to the YPOT team via email on YPOT@dffh.vic.gov.au or call 1300 139 767 between 4:30pm and 3am.
For planned interventions, the length may vary up to three months and focus on building positive connections between children and family members, carers, community, positive friends, and support services after hours.
YPOT can attend care team and professional meetings from 4:00pm (unless otherwise agreed) onwards. At times, it may be possible for an AHS Practice Leader or Deputy Area Operations Manager to attend meetings who can then brief and handover to YPOT about agreed plans and actions.
YPOT will also respond to young people reported to the AHS outside of business hours who require urgent outreach, intervention or case work.
Review and monitoring of active clients
Review of young people referred to the YPOT will typically be undertaken by the YPOT Team Manager. Regular client reviews will occur to support engagement and relationship building with young people and care teams to maximise engagement and reduce risk. The agreed intervention plan and goals will be reviewed regularly and in care teams.
Hours of operation
YPOT’s operating hours are 4pm – 4am Monday to Friday and 9am to 4am weekends and public holidays.