What a year it’s been already, and there are no signs of slowing down. I know you are all having a busy year as well and I want to thank each one of you for your continued work to support at risk and vulnerable people who have come into contact with the QPS this year. Amongst the business, the team never loses sight of the potential impacts of a Police Referral for a person and this keeps us striving to continuing enhancing Police Referrals.

It’s been a while since I last wrote a bulletin piece, and now that our team has expanded from 2 to 4 people, I have a little more time.  However, change is always around the corner, and we are about to lose our Administration Officer that has been with us for 3 years. It will be a great loss to our team as she has stood strong with me, whilst we kept the team together when we were unable to fill positions. I am so grateful for her support. As our small team adjusts again, we will remain steadfast in our commitment to make Police Referrals as good as it can be by gathering and listening to your feedback.

I wanted to address recent feedback in relation to unclear escalation pathways. If you require more information about a Police Referral, please email the referring officer. If you have not heard back from the referring officer, please contact your local District Police Referral Coordinator and/or Referral Management Coordination Service.

We have also been receiving increasing requests for child harm referral information. The Police Referrals team are not authorised under the Child Protection Act 1999 (CPA) to provide these details to service providers, nor can this information be included in a Police Referral as it would breach the CPA for an officer who is not a delegated officer under the CPA to share information.

If you would like to know whether a child harm notification has been completed by QPS:

• Submit an official request for information under s.159N of the Child Protection Act 1999 to allow a delegated officer to assess the request and release information if appropriate;
• Ask the referred parent of the child; or
• Report concerns directly to child safety via your own channels (the more reports received, the better the evidence).

Please continue to share feedback, suggestions, and ideas with RMCS. The QPS Police Referrals Team are grateful to receive this feedback and work hard to address your feedback directly if there is a problem, share feedback to all of QPS, or directly address feedback in a particular area

Please consider sharing with RMCS a brief summary of your service and what support you offer to the Police Referrals program so that the QPS Police Referrals team can continue to showcase to the QPS the providers in our network and what they can offer.

The QPS Police Referrals team also continue to promote ‘Good News Stories’. Sharing good new stories goes a long way to ensure positive community policing continues to make a difference in people’s lives. We also welcome you to provide RMCS with feedback about good referrals, we will pass this onto QPS Police Referrals team to share with the referring officer. You may also wish to send this feedback directly to the officer.

We thank the below services for sharing the following Good News Stories, it is appreciated!!

As shared by ADA Australia: “Client was referred to us by your officers and we will be going to see not only the client but her sister to assist to navigate My Aged Care to see if they can get more help at home”.

As shared by Encircle Homestay Team: “We have a police referral who when we rang she declined needing a service. The worker provided resources and offered her to call back if she required further assistance. A few weeks later she rang back and is now engaged with a case manager. We consider this a very successful outcome”.

A reminder for all service providers to complete and return the fee information survey that was sent around via email.

It is important that we are aware of any changes to the way your service operates, including the nature of fees (if any) that are charged to referred clients. This information is made available as part of the Police Referral process.

Domestic and Family Violence Service Providers can find information about the DV-PAF indicators here.  We thank the service providers who have been participating in our focus groups and we look forward to continuing to work together on enhancing Police Referrals.

Thanks to all those services who have sent in their Christmas Closure periods. With only 7 weeks to go until Christmas we all know the holiday season is a period of particularly high need for vulnerable persons and to plan for this time we ask Service Providers to consider providing as much assistance as they can to address the influx of referrals.

You may be able to assist by:

• Letting RMCS know as soon as possible of any planned closure dates and times for your service over the holiday period.
• Minimising down times in answering referrals over that time.
• Organising skeleton staffing to continue to answer referrals over the high need period.
• Committing to addressing pending referrals as soon as possible after return to work.

We appreciate any assistance you can provide during the season and hope that most of all, you and your staff enjoy a break!

Utilising the auto-response functionality helps your service to empower the client and is a set and forget option that RMCS configure for you with your approval.

Once configured each client referred to your service will automatically be sent an SMS/EMAIL with your services contact number or website details so they can phone you should they wish.

The aim of this functionality is to give the client your details to ensure they can phone you when they are ready, at time of referral or in the future.

By setting up an Auto-Response it does not negate the need to make 3 attempts at contact with the client. We believe it adds to the Police Referral Process to ensure clients are empowered with service provider information they can use when they are ready.

For more information on the SMS/EMAIL and Auto-Response functionality please email or call the RMCS team.

Mind Australia – Darling Downs District

Head to Health Service Navigators, Brisbane North PHN – Brisbane North District

Amaroo ATSI Elders Justice Group – Far North District

Footprints Social Health Connect – Moreton District

2023, yes that is correct we are in 2023!

Our QPS Police Referrals team have started the year with excitement after a long wait time, we have been appointed a permanent Inspector overseeing the Police Referrals team amongst other portfolios within our Domestic and Family Violence and Vulnerable Persons Command.

Inspector Quinlan comes to our command with a substantial background engaging with vulnerable persons, most recently the Officer in Charge of the South Brisbane Vulnerable Persons Unit. Inspector Quinlan has been extremely proactive since his commencement in late January by meeting with several service providers within our Police Referrals network.

Should any of you wish to meet with Inspector Quinlan in relation to Police Referrals or Vulnerable Persons policing, please reach out to my team in QPS to make the necessary arrangements.

Referral Volumes

You are not alone in thinking referral volumes are increasing. Referrals are increasing across the whole Police Referral program, and I continue to work with service providers and QPS to enhance the quality of the Police Referrals to ensure the at risk and vulnerable persons are connected with relevant support services and the referrals contain appropriate and relevant information to enable you to conduct your engagement with the referred person.

If you notice any patterns in relation to specific officers, specific stations etc please reach out to RMCS or the QPS police referrals team via email so targeted education can be conducted to enhance the quality of Police Referrals.

Developments

Coming in early March 2023, we are providing you the ability to remove a client from a referral within the Police Referral database. There have been a few cases where referrals have been accidently associated with the incorrect client by the receiving service provider, resulting in significant time, effort, and investment by our teams to remove the referral from the incorrect client. You can now unlink the referral from the client.

Good News stories

I know, you see me ask this every bulletin, but we need Good News Police Referrals stories. Early next year the QPS Police Referrals team will be highlighting Good News Police Referrals stories from 2022.

I’d really like to highlight to QPS members the incredible difference you make to our most vulnerable Queenslanders. De-identified Good News stories, help us to showcase Police Referrals externally during stakeholder engagement sessions, in our Year in Review documentation, and in many other events throughout the year.

To do this, I need your help!  Please take a moment or two to submit some Good News stories (de-identified of course) via email to the QPS Police Referrals team at Police.Referrals@police.qld.gov.au.

Good News stories provide an opportunity for our team to showcase the effectiveness of Police Referrals. By sharing this information on our internal QPS communication platform Workplace (a platform very similar to Facebook) I can:

• share stories about the referred client’s Police Referral journey
• share the outcome of Police connecting vulnerable persons with a support service
• highlight the value of connecting with supports
• enhance the quality of future referrals
• showcase providers who have joined our Police Referrals network
• update officers about providers who are no longer within our network
• remind officers about matters you raise with the Police Referrals team, including:
  • referring against the most appropriate category
  • appropriate information within a referral
  • confirming contact details and recording safe to contact methods correctly
  • parent/guardian information in referrals for youth under 16 years.

As always, I welcome the opportunity to strengthen our relationships, to understand the support you provide to our referred clients, and to identify opportunities for improvement. Should you wish to arrange a meeting, please contact the team at Redbourne via rmcs@redbourne.com.au or the QPS Police Referrals team via Police.Referrals@police.qld.gov.au.

Until next time, thank you for all your work in helping to build safe, caring, and connected communities, but most importantly, stay safe and well.

Project Coordinator Amanda Hagaman

We thank MISA – Mens Information Support Association for sharing the below Good News Story.

QPS Police Referral “Good News Story” – From Physical Conflict to Therapy Date Day

QPS job: Physical altercation at a family house party. Previous police involvement for other verbal conflicts. One prior referral sent.

Upon arrival of QPS the couple explained to QPS that they had on-going verbal arguments but that this was the first time that it had turned physical. The couple went on to explain that they had both been struggling with their mental health. The couple explained that they have been managing a number of external stressors; loss of business, struggling financially, navigating parenting, strained relationship with kids, navigating kids with their own mental health issues, and navigating their own childhood traumas. The couple expressed that “anger outbursts” and conflict had become their norm.

Following the job QPS officers send a referral to MISA.

The couple accepted the referral and engaged with MISA for couples counselling. The male party also engaged for individual counselling.

Nine months later the couple recognised that they were sliding down the same slope as they were on in 2021 when the police attended for the physical conflict and the couple decided to re-engaged with MISA for couples counselling.

In 2022 the couple committed to engaging in regular couples counselling sessions at MISA. This equated to 18 couples counselling sessions in 2022. The couple grew to enjoy coming to MISA for counselling and started to refer to their couples counselling session days as their “date days”. They began engaging not only in the couples counselling together but also after their sessions, would make a point to go and do something together.

The couple reported being able to better regulate their emotions, increased self-awareness, ability to navigate situations where they may have opposing views and respectfully communicate their point of view, both having a voice in the relationship, and as a whole reported having a happier family unit. The couple also reported one of their children commenting to them on how much happier they both seemed.

The couple continues to engage with MISA on an as needed check-in basis.  The couple have not had any further involvement with the police.

****Accepted Referrals – where the referral has not been closed correctly****

We are seeing a number of outstanding referrals where user’s who are ready to close the referral have hit the ACCEPT button at the bottom of the referral, selected a Service Provider Action from the drop down list however have NOT hit the UPDATE button to finalise. To close and finalise a referral you must follow the 3 steps below;

1. Select the ACCEPT button at the bottom of the referral
2. Select your Service Provider Action from the drop down menu
3. Hit the UPDATE button

Where required reminder emails to services to action ‘Accepted’ referrals will be sent and the steps to finalise can be found by clicking on this link.

Any questions, please call 1300 058 910.

For services wishing to share feedback to QPS by way of a comment on a referral there is only one place to put this comment so it can be viewed by the referring officer and that is in the comment box after you select your Service Provider Action. Any comments made prior to selecting your Service Provider Action are only viewed by those that have access to your workgroup and are not shared with QPS in relation to updates made by your service regarding referral actions.

Everything Esuarve Inc – Gold Coast District

Momentum Mental Health – Darling Downs District

Mission Australia – Going places street to home – Far North District

Headspace Roma – Darling Downs District

CQID – Family Violence Support Service – Wide Bay Burnett District

Gumbi Gunyah Women and Children DFV Shelter – Capricornia District

Mens and Co Services – Brisbane South District

Busy at Work – Darling Downs District

We all know the holiday season is fast approaching and this is a particularly high need time for vulnerable persons, now more than ever.

To help us plan for this peak period, we ask Service Providers to consider providing as much assistance as they can to address the influx of referrals.

You may be able to assist by:

• Informing RMCS as soon as possible of any planned closure dates and times for your service over the holiday period.
• Minimising down times in answering referrals over that time.
• Organising skeleton staffing to continue to answer referrals over the high need period.
• Committing to addressing pending referrals as soon as possible after return to work.

We appreciate any assistance you can provide during the season and hope that most of all, you and your staff enjoy a break after another challenging year.

Thank you!

RMCS would like to wish all of our valued Service Providers a fun festive season. Be kind to yourselves and to all those who cross your path. Thank you for another year supporting the Queensland Police Referrals – it is much appreciated!

Please inform us here at the Referral Coordination Service of any changes to staff managing/actioning the Police Referrals. We need to ensure that only those requiring access to the system have access and that our contact information is up to date. Keep us in the loop at rmcs@redbourne.com.au

Selectability Longreach

Caboolture Neighbourhood Centre

ETC – Enterprise and Training Company

Below are a few system features that form part of the Model Referral Process for Police Referrals. Firstly, we need to ensure all Service Providers profiles are up to date in Infoxchange to ensure the correct referrals are being routed to your service. Please keep RMCS updated with any changes that take place within your organisation that will impact the referrals you will receive. Then setting up the below features might assist in connecting with referred clients and minimise resourcing at your end.

1. Auto-Response feature for email and SMS. As the referral arrives in your inbox, where safe to do so, the client automatically receive an EMAIL or SMS with your services details. Contact us and we can do it for you, email here.
2. Set up SMS and EMAIL templates in the system in order to best connect with referred clients – click here.
3. Finished a referral? Complete the Outcomes Component in the system. Assessing effectiveness of the Police Referrals Program is important for all involved. – click here.

Please call 1300 058 910 or email RMCS@redbourne.com.au if you have any questions regarding the above.

December 2022, wow! Where has this year gone? It feels like just yesterday I wrote my December 2021 bulletin piece about where has the past 2 years had gone due to COVID.

This year we saw borders re-open, interstate, and international travel available again. It has brought a smile to my face to see so many international travellers back in Brisbane City. It was extremely quiet the past few years, where I missed being stopped on my way into work and asked for directions.

I have also noticed that the cost of everything is increasing, which I am sure you may have noticed too. I vividly remember the days when I first received my car licence, and a friend would offer me $5 petrol money to drive them to the Gold Coast. Now, I feel I use that $5 worth of fuel, if not more, driving to the local train station to travel to work.

As this time of year approaches, it might be an overwhelming time, so I ask you to take time for yourself. You provide support to at risk and vulnerable persons throughout Queensland every day, don’t forget about you.

You are truly doing an amazing job, one that we could not do without!

Christmas Closure

Christmas and New Year is fast approaching! Please contact the team at Redbourne via rmcs@redbourne.com.au regarding closures or reduced staffing during this period to ensure we can continue to provide support to our at risk and vulnerable Queenslanders.

Good News stories

I know, you see me ask this every bulletin, but we need Good News Police Referrals stories. Early next year the QPS Police Referrals team will be highlighting Good News Police Referrals stories from 2022.

I’d really like to highlight to QPS members the incredible difference you make to our most vulnerable Queenslanders. De-identified Good News stories, help us to showcase Police Referrals externally during stakeholder engagement sessions, in our Year in Review documentation, and in many other events throughout the year.

To do this, I need your help!  Please take a moment or two to submit some Good News stories (de-identified of course) via email to the QPS Police Referrals team at Police.Referrals@police.qld.gov.au.

Good News stories provide an opportunity for our team to showcase the effectiveness of Police Referrals. By sharing this information on our internal QPS communication platform Workplace (a platform very similar to Facebook) I can:

• share stories about the referred client’s Police Referral journey
• share the outcome of Police connecting vulnerable persons with a support service
• highlight the value of connecting with supports
• enhance the quality of future referrals
• showcase providers who have joined our Police Referrals network
• update officers about providers who are no longer within our network
• remind officers about matters you raise with the Police Referrals team, including:
  • referring against the most appropriate category
  • appropriate information within a referral
  • confirming contact details and recording safe to contact methods correctly
  • parent/guardian information in referrals for youth under 16 years.

Next Year

Since my last bulletin piece, more service providers have reached out about content, quality, and the appropriateness of the referrals they receive. I want to assure you; you have been heard.

Our team continue to work on several system improvements, enhancements, and statewide education packages in relation to this matter and other improvements to Police Referrals.

Thank you again for those who have reached out to either Redbourne or the QPS Police Referrals team, we cannot do this without feedback from you.

As always, I welcome the opportunity to strengthen our relationships, to understand the support you provide to our referred clients, and to identify opportunities for improvement. Should you wish to arrange a meeting, please contact the team at Redbourne via rmcs@redbourne.com.au or the QPS Police Referrals team via Police.Referrals@police.qld.gov.au.

Until next time, thank you for all your work in helping to build safe, caring and connected communities, but most importantly, stay safe and well.

Project Coordinator Amanda Hagaman

We all know the holiday season is fast approaching and this is a particularly high need time for vulnerable persons, now more than ever.

To help us plan for this peak period, we ask Service Providers to consider providing as much assistance as they can to address the influx of referrals.

You may be able to assist by:

• Informing RMCS as soon as possible of any planned closure dates and times for your service over the holiday period.
• Minimising down times in answering referrals over that time.
• Organising skeleton staffing to continue to answer referrals over the high need period.
• Committing to addressing pending referrals as soon as possible after return to work.

We appreciate any assistance you can provide during the season and hope that most of all, you and your staff enjoy a break after another challenging year.

Selectability Ayr

Selectability Charters Towers

White Cloud Foundation

When on-referring through the Police Referral system we must ask all our Service Providers to use the correct on-referral process. If the on-referral process is not followed step by step, the receiving service will not get all the content of the referral carried across. We would ask that where appropriate, services phone a client before on-referring. Please find the link below to the ‘On-Referral Quick Guide’ for your reference.  and please don’t hesitate to call with any questions.

https://policereferrals.org.au/resources/

“PartnerSPEAK provides advocacy and support for non-offending partners, family members, friends, or anyone else affected by a person’s involvement in child sexual abuse and child sexual abuse material. It is an incredibly difficult, complex and sometimes lonely time when a person realises that someone they love, trust and care for is accessing child exploitation material.

PartnerSPEAK offers support via an online moderated forum (via our website www.partnerspeak.org), a peerline (1300 590 589) and a webchat function.  PartnerSPEAK’s peer support team all have lived experience and support affected family members using an Intentional Peer Support framework.

PartnerSPEAK is available nationally, and can take self-referrals as well as direct referrals from other services (email to support@partnerspeak.org). We are currently only able to support adults (18 years+).”

We welcome on board the Police Referral Network Specialist Support Services!

Click here to view our Specialist Support Services Fact Sheet!

We are aware of some service providers’ concerns about the recent Optus cyber attack and some Police Referrals users’ Drivers Licence numbers being recorded and used as a part of SRS authentication.

We have contacted our software provider Infoxchange, who has advised users who have been reissued a new Drivers Licence number to update their information as soon as possible.

You can update the details of your new Drivers Licence, or you can select one of the other options in the drop-down menu in the Preferences tab refer to Figure 1 – Preferences tab.

Figure 1 – Preferences tab

The Preferences tab is accessible via the cog icon under the user’s name refer to Figure 2 – Cob to access Preferences tab

Figure 2 – Cog to access Preferences tab

Since my last update, I’ve had the opportunity to meet with service providers both within and outside of our Police Referrals network. These visits have been extremely beneficial to my own education and development, as well as the development of stakeholder relationships and engagement.

My heartfelt gratitude goes out to those who have made time for myself and my team in recent months, and I encourage you to continue to reach out to our team for future engagement.

A Good News Story

By now you’ve no doubt noticed that I ask for Good News stories each bulletin edition. The reason I do this is because we honestly need more. We continue to share the Good News stories you have provided in the past, but we need more!

Do you have a Good News story resulting from a Police Referral? If so, please take a moment or two to submit your story to the QPS Police Referrals team at Police.Referrals@police.qld.gov.au.

Your stories highlight the incredible difference you make to our most vulnerable Queenslanders and are instrumental in supporting me to provide district education to QPS members about the benefit and effectiveness of Police Referrals.

De-identified Good News stories also help us to showcase Police Referrals externally during stakeholder engagement sessions, in our Year in Review documentation, and in many other events throughout the year.

Good News stories provide an opportunity for our team to showcase the effectiveness of Police Referrals. By sharing this information on our internal QPS communication platform Workplace (a platform very similar to Facebook) I can:

• share stories about the referred client’s Police Referral journey
• share the outcome of Police connecting vulnerable persons with a support service
• highlight the value of connecting with supports
• enhance the quality of future referrals
• showcase providers who have joined our Police Referrals network
• update officers about providers who are no longer within our network
• remind officers about matters you raise with the Police Referrals team, including:
  • referring against the most appropriate category
  • appropriate information within a referral
  • confirming contact details and recording safe to contact methods correctly
  • parent/guardian information in referrals for youth under 16 years.

As always, I welcome the opportunity to strengthen our relationship to understand the support you provide to our referred clients, and to identify opportunities for improvement. Should you wish to arrange a meeting, please contact the team at Redbourne via rmcs@redbourne.com.au or the QPS Police Referrals team via Police.Referrals@police.qld.gov.au.

Until next time, thank you for all your work in helping to build safe, caring and connected communities, but most importantly, stay safe and well.

Program Coordinator Amanda Hagaman

QPS Corner

August already, wow this year is flying past!

We have well and truly entered the flu season and in addition to another wave of COVID-19 we are seeing rising costs in fuel, groceries, interest rates, rent and mortgage repayments.

All the above factors are putting intense and persistent pressure on not only Queenslanders, but on community support services around Queensland. So, I thank each of you for your continued support of Police Referrals.

Good News stories

By now you’ve no doubt noticed that I ask for Good News stories each bulletin edition. The reason I do this is because we honestly need more. We continue to share the Good News stories you have provided in the past, but we need more!

Do you have a Good News story resulting from a Police Referral? If so, please take a moment or two to submit your story to the QPS Police Referrals team at Police.Referrals@police.qld.gov.au.

Your stories highlight the incredible difference you make to our most vulnerable Queenslanders and are instrumental in supporting me to provide district education to QPS members about the benefit and effectiveness of Police Referrals.

De-identified Good News stories also help us to showcase Police Referrals externally during stakeholder engagement sessions, in our Year in Review documentation, and in many other events throughout the year.

Good News stories provide an opportunity for our team to showcase the effectiveness of Police Referrals. By sharing this information on our internal QPS communication platform Workplace (a platform very similar to Facebook) I can:

• share stories about the referred client’s Police Referral journey
• share the outcome of Police connecting vulnerable persons with a support service
• highlight the value of connecting with supports
• enhance the quality of future referrals
• showcase providers who have joined our Police Referrals network
• update officers about providers who are no longer within our network
• remind officers about matters you raise with the Police Referrals team, including:
  • referring against the most appropriate category
  • appropriate information within a referral
  • confirming contact details and recording safe to contact methods correctly
  • parent/guardian information in referrals for youth under 16 years.

Sharing DV-PAF indicators

You will recall seeing in the previous bulletin that as of 4^th April 2022, the QPS commenced sharing Domestic Violence Protective Assessment Framework (DV-PAF) indicators (completed by QPS officers) with specialist DFV services providers. This information sharing included category 1&2 DFV specific risk factors and victim fear level, to support service providers with triage and prioritisation of DFV referrals to enhance victim safety and perpetrator accountability.

DV-PAF indicators are outlined in Appendix 9.1 Domestic Violence Protective Assessment Framework (DV-PAF) of the QPS Operational Procedures Manual which is publicly available here.

We recently invited our Police Referral DFV providers to complete a survey in relation to the sharing and receiving of DV-PAF indicators. Thank you to those who completed the survey.

As always, I welcome the opportunity to strengthen our relationship to understand the support you provide to our referred clients, and to identify opportunities for improvement. Should you wish to arrange a meeting, please contact the team at Redbourne via rmcs@redbourne.com.au or the QPS Police Referrals team via Police.Referrals@police.qld.gov.au.

Until next time, thank you for all your work in helping to build safe, caring and connected communities, but most importantly, stay safe and well.

Program Coordinator Amanda Hagaman

When new staff come on board and require access to the Police Referral system could we please ask that you email us at rmcs@redbourne.com.au to create that access. We require a staff members First Name, Last Name and Email address to set them up and we then send them secure access and Quick Guides required for processing the referrals. Please do not create new users through your own access as we need to keep an audit of who is using the system at all times.

Please remember to advise the team if staff are no longer needing access to the system, so we can deactivate them.

Service Provider Actions – what do they mean?

When closing off Police Referrals with a Service Provider Action we would ask that you use the following link as a guide to what each Service Provider Action means. We do get queries from referring officers from time to time asking what a particular Service Provider Action means in relation to their particular referral. If we are all using the same guide it will help to maintain a consistency with the referrals.

Click here for more information SPA Definitions

Just a reminder to our DFV network highlighting the inclusion of the PAF indicators that are now available within DFV referrals. This additional information forms part of the QPS Protective Assessment Framework and DV-PAF indicators are outlined in Appendix 9.1 Domestic Violence Protective Assessment Framework (DV-PAF) of the Queensland Police Service Operational Procedures Manual which is publicly available here: Click here

Please refer to the attached document outlining where the new referral information will be displayed in the referral and the process for acknowledging if there has been an update of PAF indicators after the referral has submitted.

2021 & 2022 PAF Indicators release

DV_PAF_OPM_Appendix_9.1

Please don’t hesitate to contact RMCS with any questions regarding the information provided.

A big welcome to the Services who have commenced being part of the Police Referral Network:

Impact Community Services – Kingaroy

Victim Connect

Headspace Emerald

Encircle Homestay Program

We welcome on board the Police Referral Network Victim Connect.

VictimConnect is the Queensland-wide service for victims of violent crime. VictimConnect provides a 24-hour helpline, specialist counselling and case management services (M-F, 9am-5pm), and referrals to assist with the practical and emotional impacts of violent crime. We work alongside key agencies, including Victim Assist Queensland, to meet the community’s needs.

VictimConnect accepts referrals from the police, victims, and services for people who have experienced a violent crime in Queensland at some point in their lives. Violent crimes can include:

• assault
• property offences with violence, including break and enter and robbery
• kidnapping
• stalking
• threats with a weapon
• domestic violence (including coercive control)
• sexual assault or sexual abuse
• dangerous driving resulting grievous bodily harm, death or similar
• attempted murder
• people affected by murder or manslaughter.

VictimConnect are unable to provide support to:

• people who have experienced non-violent crimes such as property damage and road accidents
• people impacted by accidents or acts of self-harm, or death by suicide
• people who have experienced a violent crime outside of Queensland.

To find out more or make a referral, visit: https://www.victimconnect.org.au/

VictimConnect is committed to helping all people who have been impacted by a violent crime in Queensland and supporting their rights under the Victims of Crime Assistance Act 2009 and the Charter of Victims’ Rights.

PAF Indicator Release and Up Coming Evaluation

We are very excited to share that on the 4^th April 2022, the Queensland Police Service incorporated Domestic Violence – Protective Assessment Framework (DV-PAF) indicators as part of the Police Referral process related to domestic and family violence. All of our DFV service providers are now receiving enhanced information from QPS to better support victims referred to their services.

For all of our DFV service providers, the internal research team within the DFV Command will be conducting an evaluation in relation to the sharing of the PAF indicators and you will receive communications regarding this in the coming months and we encourage you all to partake in the evaluation to allow for continued enhancement in the information sharing process.

Big warm welcome to..

Catholic Care DFV Response Program, who have partnered with Helem Yumba to support victims and perpetrators of DFV in Central Queensland.

https://www.catholiccare.org/

We have recently had discussions with two services that have not been able to join the Police Referral Network at this time but thought it worth sharing their details with you all as it might just assist someone who comes across your path.

13YARN (13 92 76)
https://www.13yarn.org.au/

This service is the first national service of its kind for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people in crisis. 13YARN provide crisis support 24/7 to yarn in a culturally safe space about needs, worries or concerns. It is a confidential one-on-one yarning opportunity with a Lifeline-trained Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Crisis Supporter.

 Whitecloud Foundation Tele-Mental Health Service
https://whitecloudfoundation.org/

For treatment and support when you need it call 07 3155 3456

No referral required. No mental health plan needed. No need to travel. No cost to you.

1. Strive to improve TAT – turn around times of Police Referrals actioned. Remember to try 3 attempts at contact with referred clients over 2 days and then the referral can be closed off in the Police Referral System.
2. Please complete the Outcomes Component for appropriate referrals. It’s so easy to do and benefits the Police Referrals Program results. See tip sheet here.
3. Please keep us updated with any service changes particularly around staff movement. We do regular user audits for the Police Referrals so any staff that may not require access please inform us to help maintain security.
4. It is worth sharing that the system will lock your access after 6 weeks of inactivity. If this does happen please email us at rmcs@redbourne.com.au and we can assist.

Police Referral Outcome Summary as supplied by one of our Far North Service Providers QuIHN Cairns.

A, a 35-year-old female, was referred to QuIHN via the Police referral system in May 2021. A completed an initial screen in May 2021 and began face to face counselling in July 2021.

A’s primary treatment goal was to understand her alcohol use and to work towards reducing her alcohol consumption. She disclosed that she was consuming up to 2 cartons of beer on weekends and her alcohol issues were impacting her relationship with her partner, in particular communication was strained, and domestic violence concerns precipitated police involvement and her referral for counselling.

A attended 3 face-to-face counselling sessions throughout July-August 2021 and was closed in September after several attempts to follow up were made when she ceased engagement without notice. During A’s engagement in counselling sessions, she had gained some insight around the factors that were impacting on her life and had set some clear and achievable goals to work towards reducing her alcohol consumption safely and setting limits for her use.

A referral to Cairns Regional Domestic Violence Service was discussed and A was aware of the 1800RESPECT telephone support number to call if needed. At her last counselling session, A reported that she was drinking less than usual, and things had improved with her partner. She had begun working on a plan with her partner to address their ongoing issues and had developed a plan for managing the settings in which she would drink.

QPS Corner

May is Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month (#DFVPM2022) and this year’s theme is, All of us, together.

This theme reminds us that to achieve real and lasting positive cultural change, all levels of society need to be involved and take action against domestic and family violence (DFV).

We are excited to announce that as part of our ongoing commitment to take action against DFV, the Queensland Police Service (QPS) has enhanced the Police Referrals process. As of 4th April 2022, the QPS commenced sharing Domestic Violence Protective Assessment Framework (DV-PAF) indicators completed by QPS officers with specialist DFV services providers. This information sharing, which includes category 1&2 DFV specific risk factors and victim fear level, will support service providers with triage and prioritisation of DFV referrals to enhance victim safety and perpetrator accountability.

This initiative supports the Third Action Plan of the Queensland Government’s Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Strategy 2016 – 2026, specifically: Enhancing integrated service responses and service sector capacity to respond effectively to those who experience domestic and family violence from crisis to recovery.

DV-PAF indicators are outlined in Appendix 9.1 Domestic Violence Protective Assessment Framework (DV-PAF) of the QPS Operational Procedures Manual which is publicly available here.

I believe the sharing of the DV-PAF indicators with specialist DFV services providers demonstrates how, All of us, together, can collaborate to effectively respond to those who experience domestic and family violence, support them from crisis to recovery, and continue to progress towards a Queensland free from domestic and family violence #EndDV.

To further support DFVPM2022, the Queensland Government suggests including the below hashtags on social media posts and in communications. Additionally, visit the DFVPM2022 Toolkit to access a suite of downloadable electronic resources.

• #DFVPM2022
• #EndDFV
• #notnownotevertogether

By now, you’ve no doubt noticed that I ask for Good News stories each bulletin edition. The reason I do this is because we honestly need more. We continue to share the Good News stories you have provided in the past, but we need more!

Do you have a Good News story as a result of a Police Referral? If so, please take a moment or two to submit them via email to the QPS Police Referrals team at Police.Referrals@police.qld.gov.au.

By highlighting to QPS members the incredible difference you make to our most vulnerable Queenslanders, I am able to provide district education to QPS members about the benefit and effectiveness of Police Referrals.

De-identified Good News stories help us to showcase Police Referrals externally during stakeholder engagement sessions, in our Year in Review documentation, and in many other events throughout the year.

Good News stories provide an opportunity for our team to showcase the effectiveness of Police Referrals. By sharing this information on our internal QPS communication platform Workplace (a platform very similar to Facebook – see example below) I can:

• share stories about the referred client’s Police Referral journey
• share the outcome of Police connecting vulnerable persons with a support service
• highlight the value of connecting with supports
• enhance the quality of future referrals
• showcase providers who have joined our Police Referrals network
• update officers about providers who are no longer within our network
• remind officers about matters you raise with the Police Referrals team, including:

o             referring against the most appropriate category

o             appropriate information within a referral

o             confirming contact details and recording safe to contact methods correctly

o             parent/guardian information in referrals for youth under 16 years.

As always, I welcome the opportunity to strengthen our relationships to understand the support you provide to our referred clients, and to identify opportunities for improvement. Should you wish to arrange a meeting, please contact the team at Redbourne via rmcs@redbourne.com.au or the QPS Police Referrals team via Police.Referrals@police.qld.gov.au.

Until next time, thank you for all your work in helping to build safe, caring and connected communities, but most importantly, stay safe and well.

Project Coordinator Amanda Hagaman

Vulnerability Assessment Reminder

As you would all be aware there is a Vulnerability Assessment assigned to each referral from QPS. This assessment is by no means a true ‘Risk Assessment’ by QPS. The assessment is based on an algorithm from the officer answering specific questions in the referral with the outcome displayed on the referral received as being either ‘Routine’ or ‘High’. Whilst this assessment is designed to enhance the information provided to service providers it is not a risk assessment. We do ask that if you receive a High and Routine referral through at the same time that you would action the High first. Any questions regarding the assessment, please don’t hesitate to ask.

• Suncoast Community Legal Service

Recent release for Police Referrals saw the following features also released into SRS
• Update Icon
• Update/New Badges
• Unread only Checkbox
• Acknowledge Button
UPDATE ICON
When an update has been received from either QPS or a service provider when the matter is on referred an indicator will display advising you of an update.

Read on here

Service Provider Spotlight

StandBy – Support after suicide, Darling downs and West Moreton.

We would like to introduce ourselves as your new StandBy Support After Suicide team for Darling Downs and West Moreton (DDWM). Our office is based with UnitingCare in Limestone St, Ipswich. Natalie is the coordinator and I, Wayne am the senior worker. We have both spent 8 years with Lifeline Ipswich and West Moreton working in the suicide prevention space and are very excited to be starting up StandBy in this vast region which covers the local Primary Healthcare Network area and includes out to Miles, Kingaroy, Cherbourg, Toowoomba, Goondiwindi, Warwick, and Ipswich shires (and everything in between).

Read more here

What a couple of days the South East Corner has seen. The extreme weather event has impacted so many people and our thoughts are with those still in the impact zones and will be for some weeks and months to come. Reach out for support and stay safe! Please keep us informed if there are any impacts to your service delivery.

Always remember, If its flooded – Forget it!

Centacare Community Connections – South Burnett were kind enough to share a Good News Story recently which of course we love to share.

A woman referred to their service asked the service to pass on her feedback to the referring officer that interviewed her following a fatal accident. The client shared the female officer ‘was amazing and very reassuring’ which helped the client to greatly feel that they had done what they could which in turn has helped them cope since witnessing the accident. To feel supported and connected are primary aims of the Police Referral program and this referral reflects just that. We have since shared this story with the referring officer who was ever so grateful to receive that feedback also.

Please continue to send through good news stories, it is appreciated.

QPS Corner

March 2022, wow! I don’t know about you, but as I’m writing this bulletin, I’m thinking, “Wait, where did Christmas and the New Year go? Did I have a break?”

While 2022 has been hectic so far, it also has some exciting times ahead for our team, with some outstanding items of work finally coming to fruition after so many COVID related delays.

In the next few months, QPS will begin sharing the Domestic Violence Protective Assessment Framework (DV-PAF) indicators (completed by QPS officers) with specialist DFV services providers. This information sharing, which includes DFV specific risk factors and victim fear level, will support service providers with the triage and prioritisation of DFV referrals to enhance victim safety and perpetrator accountability.

DV-PAF indicators are outlined in Appendix 9.1 Domestic Violence Protective Assessment Framework (DV-PAF) of the Queensland Police Service Operational Procedures Manual which is publicly available here.

We are awaiting confirmation of the go live date but are hopeful it could be as early as April 2022.

Enhancements

In addition to the DV-PAF enhancement, we have another future enhancement currently in development stages. As such, you may have recently noticed some minor changes in SRS:

• New and Updates indicators on the Received and Accepted tab
• Ability to search for unread only referrals
• New and Update badges displaying on referrals in the Received and Accepted tab
• Acknowledge button in the referrals that have been updated
  • Including email notifications when an update is outstanding

These enhancements will enable the provision of specific information to assist delivery of targeted intervention and support services.

We’ll keep you updated on this future enhancement.

Good News stories

I am currently compiling statistics for our 2021 Police Referrals Year in Review. In order to strengthen and showcase the effectiveness of Police Referrals, I would like to highlight Good News Police Referrals stories from 2021.

By highlighting to QPS members the incredible difference you make to our most vulnerable Queenslanders this also enables me to provide district education to QPS members about the benefit and effectiveness of Police Referrals.

De-identified Good News stories, help us to showcase Police Referrals externally during stakeholder engagement sessions, in our Year in Review documentation, and in many other events throughout the year.

To do this, I need your help!  Please take a moment or two to submit some Good News stories (de-identified of course) via email to the QPS Police Referrals team at Police.Referrals@police.qld.gov.au.

Good News stories provide an opportunity for our team to showcase the effectiveness of Police Referrals. By sharing this information on our internal QPS communication platform Workplace (a platform very similar to Facebook) I can:

• share stories about the referred client’s Police Referral journey
• share the outcome of Police connecting vulnerable persons with a support service
• highlight the value of connecting with supports
• enhance the quality of future referrals
• showcase providers who have joined our Police Referrals network
• update officers about providers who are no longer within our network
• remind officers about matters you raise with the Police Referrals team, including:
  • referring against the most appropriate category
  • appropriate information within a referral
  • confirming contact details and recording safe to contact methods correctly
  • parent/guardian information in referrals for youth under 16 years.

As always, I welcome the opportunity to strengthen our relationships, to understand the support you provide to our referred clients, and to identify opportunities for improvement. Should you wish to arrange a meeting, please contact the team at Redbourne via rmcs@redbourne.com.au or the QPS Police Referrals team via Police.Referrals@police.qld.gov.au.

Until next time, thank you for all your work in helping to build safe, caring and connected communities, but most importantly, stay safe and well.

Project Coordinator Amanda Hagaman

Thanks to all those Services who have sent in their Christmas Closures to RMCS.

To help us plan for this peak period, we ask Service Providers to consider providing as much assistance as they can to address the influx of referrals.

You may be able to assist by;

• Informing RMCS as soon as possible of any planned closure dates and times for your service over the holiday period.
• Minimising down times in answering referrals over that time.
• Organising skeleton staffing to continue to answer referrals over the high need period.
• Committing to addressing pending referrals as soon as possible after return to work.

We appreciate any assistance you can provide during the season and hope that most of all, you and your staff enjoy a break after another challenging year.

We are aware that some of our Service Providers are fee for service and want to ensure we have the most up to date information available to QPS when they are referring a client through the system.

Currently a referring Officer can view a dollar symbol attached to a Service Provider that charges fees or may charge fees.

So to ensure this is accurate we will be emailing out a Fee Survey form to all in the Police Referral network and just ask you complete this where appropriate.

Any questions please don’t hesitate to call.

There have been a number of reports from service providers over the last few months, advising they have not been receiving their email notifications when a new Referral arrives in their system.

This issue has been reported to Infoxchange and in most instances the issue has been resolved.

We would ask that services keep an eye on the notifications and if you are not receiving them as expected please let us know via rmcs@redbourne.com.au.

QPS and the Referral Coordination Service attended the recent Mental Health Expo in Brisbane hosted by Brisbane North and South PHN.

It was fortunate the event went ahead with the threat of lockdowns and then unpredictable weather so it was wonderful to network again in person and see so many of our valuable service providers there on the day.

Mental Health continues to be one category within the Police Referral program that we struggle to get appropriate referral points to connect clients to so please continue to share this with your networks, spread the word and pass on our details to any Mental Health service providers who might have capacity to get on board.

One service who kept us entertained at the expo was the wonderful ‘Upbeat Arts’ so we are sharing their website to add to your networks https://www.upbeatarts.org.au/

• Act for Kids Gladstone Specialised Therapy Service – Capricornia District
• Clarity Consulting Services – Gold Coast District
• Mununjali Housing and Development Company – Logan District
• No More Fake Smiles – Brisbane North District
• Save the Children Sexual Violence Support Service Doomadgee – Mt Isa District
• StandBy Darling Downs and West Moreton (DDWM) – Darling Downs and Ipswich District
• Wuchopperen Health Service – Cairns District

As shared by one of our valued Service Providers ARAFMI and prompted by Police Remembrance Day held on 29th September 2021

I’ve been told that it’s Police Remembrance Day today which has prompted this email. I had a glowing report last week from a woman who I contacted as a result of a Police Referral. The woman in question was so impressed by the way the attending police offices handled themselves especially as it was a potential volatile situation.  This is not the first time that I’ve heard of glowing reports. I can’t recall the last time I’ve heard any complaints. Thank you so much to our Police officers on the ground for their dedication and care to the members of the public.

We are very pleased to share with the DFV network that the improved information sharing enhancements have started taking shape within SRS.

The system is now showing place holders with PAF (Protective Assessment Framework) indicators as expected and we are awaiting one final piece of development work to be completed to start pushing this information through to those place holders. It is welcome news I am sure for our patient DFV providers as providing current information can be critical in your response to victims of family and domestic violence.

We will keep you informed of progress in this space and please don’t hesitate to call with any questions – 1300 058 910.

QPS Corner

December 2021, wow! Where has this year gone? Actually, where has the past 2 years gone?

Oh wait, that’s right… COVID!! It’s consumed so much of everyone’s life in the past few years; we’ve had to make so many changes, both personally and professionally, as to how we do ‘life’.

I am one that has embraced the opportunity to ‘work from home’, and I know I am one of the lucky ones who has this option, some of you may not. I thank you for making your way into work, every day, to provide the support you do to those you encounter either by way of Police Referrals or your core business.

You are truly doing an amazing job, one that we could not do without!

We are approaching another unknown period – with borders opening; new strains of COVID; reconnecting with family and friends who we haven’t seen in person for months or even years, etc. It might be an overwhelming time, so I ask you to take time for yourself. You provide support to at risk and vulnerable persons throughout Queensland every day, don’t forget about you.

Mental Health

Police Referrals members attended Brisbane Mental Health Expo at the Brisbane Powerhouse as part of October’s Mental Health awareness month.

What a sight to see, so many Mental Health providers on display and spreading the word to Brisbane about the amazing services available.

Hopefully in 2022 we’ll see the addition of some new Mental Health providers to our Police Referrals network.

Christmas Closure

Christmas and New Year is fast approaching! Please contact the team at Redbourne via rmcs@redbourne.com.au regarding closures or reduced staffing during this period to ensure we can continue to provide support to at risk and vulnerable Queenslanders.

Good News stories

Early next year the QPS Police Referrals team will be highlighting Good News Police Referrals stories from 2021.

I’d really like to highlight to QPS members the incredible difference you make to our most vulnerable Queenslanders. De-identified Good News stories, help us to showcase Police Referrals externally during stakeholder engagement sessions, in our Year in Review documentation, and in many other events throughout the year.

To do this, I need your help!  Please take a moment or two to submit some Good News stories (de-identified of course) via email to the QPS Police Referrals team at Police.Referrals@police.qld.gov.au.

Good News stories provide an opportunity for our team to showcase the effectiveness of Police Referrals. By sharing this information on our internal QPS communication platform Workplace (a platform very similar to Facebook) I can:

• share stories about the referred client’s Police Referral journey
• share the outcome of Police connecting vulnerable persons with a support service
• highlight the value of connecting with supports
• enhance the quality of future referrals
• showcase providers who have joined our Police Referrals network
• update officers about providers who are no longer within our network
• remind officers about matters you raise with the Police Referrals team, including:
  • referring against the most appropriate category
  • appropriate information within a referral
  • confirming contact details and recording safe to contact methods correctly
  • parent/guardian information in referrals for youth under 16 years.

Next Year

Since my last bulletin piece, more service providers have reached out about content, quality, and the appropriateness of the referrals they receive. I want to assure you; you have been heard.

Our team will be working on several system improvements, enhancements, and state-wide education packages in relation to this matter and other improvements to Police Referrals.

Thank you again for those who have reached out to either Redbourne or the QPS Police Referrals team, we cannot do this without feedback from you.

As always, I welcome the opportunity to strengthen our relationships, to understand the support you provide to our referred clients, and to identify opportunities for improvement. Should you wish to arrange a meeting, please contact the team at Redbourne via rmcs@redbourne.com.au or the QPS Police Referrals team via Police.Referrals@police.qld.gov.au.

Until next time, thank you for all your work in helping to build safe, caring and connected communities, but most importantly, stay safe and well.

Project Coordinator Amanda Hagaman

The lovely people from The Womens Centre in Far North QLD have shared another successful Police Referral story, BRAVO!

The Womens Centre FNQ has had a particularly busy month (August) in relation to incoming referrals from Queensland Police Service
Our average Redbourne referrals received per month in 2021 has been 58. Where as in the month of August we accepted 71 referrals.
Overwhelmingly, the referrals received have contained relevant and concise information that has allowed workers to respond accordingly. A ‘good news story’ from the month of August was a client being contacted successfully and provided with the Womens Centre details. The client presented on Intake for crisis support the following day.
From this assessment, the client and her children were provided with emergency accommodation and a referral into our Family Support Program.
The client is now being case managed by the Womens Centre to obtain safe and affordable housing while working to increase her feelings of safety in relation to domestic and family violence.

When new staff come on board and require access to the Police Referral system could we please ask that you email us at rmcs@redbourne.com.au to create that access. We require a staff members First Name, Last Name and Email address to set them up and we then send them secure access and Quick Guides required for processing the referrals. Please do not create new users through your own access as we need to keep an audit of who is using the system at all times.

Please remember to advise the team if staff are no longer needing access to the system, so we can deactivate them.

Service Provider Actions – what do they mean?

When closing off Police Referrals with a Service Provider Action we would ask that you use the following link as a guide to what each Service Provider Action means. We do get queries from referring officers from time to time asking what a particular Service Provider Action means in relation to their particular referral. If we are all using the same guide it will help to maintain a consistency with the referrals.
Click here for more information SPA Definitions

From November 2021, the Infoxchange Service Record System (SRS) will no longer support the Microsoft Internet Explorer web browser. This follows the decision by Microsoft to end support for Internet Explorer from August 2021. If you currently access SRS via Internet Explorer, we encourage you to consider switching to a supported browser, such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge or Apple Safari to ensure your experience is not degraded, including potential unavailability of features or some features not working as expected. Any enquires regarding the latest operating systems including browses please direct to support@infoxchange.org

QPS Corner

Did you hear the Good News?

This month I’d really like to highlight to QPS members the incredible difference you make to our most vulnerable Queenslanders. To do this, I need your help!  Please take a moment or two to submit some Good News stories, de-identified of course, via email to the QPS Police Referrals team at Police.Referrals@police.qld.gov.au.

Good News stories provide an opportunity for our team to showcase the effectiveness of Police Referrals. By sharing this information on our internal QPS communication platform Workplace (a platform very similar to Facebook) I can:

• share stories about the referred client’s Police Referral journey and the outcome of Police connecting vulnerable persons with a support service, highlighting the value of this connection, and hopefully enhance the quality of future referrals.
• showcase providers who have joined our Police Referrals network, and update officers about providers who are no longer within our network.
• remind officers about matters you raise with the Police Referrals team, including:
  • referring against the most appropriate category
  • appropriate information within a referral
  • confirming contact details and recording safe to contact methods correctly
  • parent/guardian information in referrals for youth under 16 years.

With de-identified Good News stories, we can also showcase Police Referrals externally during stakeholder engagement sessions, in our Year in Review documentation and in many other events throughout the year.

Since my last bulletin piece, several service providers have reached out about content, quality, and the appropriateness of the referrals they receive. Thank you to those who have taken time to provide this feedback. Without your feedback we can’t address matters internally to enhance and strengthen the Police Referral process for you, our officers, and our most vulnerable.

As always, I welcome the opportunity to strengthen our relationships, to understand the support you provide to our referred clients, and to identify opportunities for improvement. Should you wish to arrange a meeting, please contact the team at Redbourne via rmcs@redbourne.com.au or contact the QPS Police Referrals team via Police.Referrals@police.qld.gov.au.

Until next month, thank you for all your work in helping to build safe, caring and connected communities, but most importantly, stay safe and well.

Project Coordinator Amanda Hagaman

Please inform us here at the Referral Coordination Service of any changes to staff managing/actioning the Police Referrals. We need to ensure that only those requiring access to the system have access and that our contact information is up to date. Keep us in the loop at rmcs@redbourne.com.au

 Process Reminders

When on-referring through the Police Referral system we must ask all our Service Providers to use the correct on-referral process. If the on-referral process is not followed step by step, the receiving service will not get all the content of the referral carried across. Please find the link below to the ‘On-Referral Quick Guide’ for your reference and please don’t hesitate to call with any questions.

How to On-refer

Email Notifications issues

We have had numerous Service Providers contact us over the last month to advise they are not receiving an email notification when a new referral arrives in their inbox. Infoxchange have been advised of this issue and their technical team are continuing their testing of the referral notification and working on a resolution. Until such time this is resolved we would ask all services to check in weekly to see if any new referrals might have arrived for action and we will advise once resolved.

We say thank you and welcome to the Police Referrals Network!

• JJ’s Counselling
• Salvage Counselling
• CRAICCHS – Cherbourg Regional Aboriginal and Islander Community Controlled Health Service

QPS Corner

COVID-19, what an impact this has had on all our lives both professionally and personally.

I remember travelling to Singapore in February 2018 and observing people wearing masks to avoid pollution or the spreading of germs if feeling unwell. I had to explain to my then 11-year-old son why people were wearing masks and why we had to use hand sanitiser. Fast forward to 2021, and my now 14-year-old son is the first one to remind us to grab our masks and hand sanitiser before we leave the house, just in case.

Our officers have been working tirelessly since the pandemic broke in early 2020 to logistically manage the QPS response across the entire state of Queensland. Officers monitor and secure our borders, check the border declarations of travelers, man hotel quarantine facilities, and perform many more tasks related to responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in so doing, expose themselves to the threat of contracting the virus.

Whilst we at QPS have been busy with the above, we cannot forget the ongoing support each of you have continued to provide. In supporting our Police Referrals program during this challenging time, in addition to maintaining your core business, you have made a tangible difference to the many at risk and vulnerable members of our community. Your continued support has not gone unnoticed, and we genuinely appreciate your incredible effort through this unprecedented time. I can only imagine the internal conversations within each of your agencies about how you will continue to provide support to those in need.

Since my last bulletin piece, I have had the privilege of meeting with some service providers across all support areas within our Police Referrals network. Thank you to those who have taken time out of your busy schedule to make time for me. I look forward to meeting with more of you and welcome the opportunity to enhance our relationships, understand the support you provide to our referred clients, and to identifying opportunities for improvement. Should you wish to arrange a meeting, please contact the team at Redbourne via rmcs@redbourne.com.au or contact the QPS Police Referrals team via Police.Referrals@police.qld.gov.au.

Whilst I know the incredible difference you make to our most vulnerable Queenslanders; I’d really like to highlight this work internally within the QPS and externally. To do this, I need your help, and ask that you take a moment or two to submit some Good News stories, de-identified of course, via email to the QPS Police Referrals team at Police.Referrals@police.qld.gov.au.

I look forward to the next few months in this role and to hearing from you.

Until next month, thank you for all your work in helping to build safe, caring and connected communities, but most importantly, stay safe and well.

Project Coordinator Amanda Hagaman

 Process Reminders

1. Strive to improve TAT – turn around times of Police Referrals actioned. Remember to try 3 attempts at contact with referred clients over 2 days and then the referral can be closed off in the Police Referral System.
2. Please complete the Outcomes Component for appropriate referrals. It’s so easy to do and benefits the Police Referrals Program results. See tip sheet here.
3. Please keep us updated with any service changes particularly around staff movement. We do regular user audits for the Police Referrals so any staff that may not require access please inform us to help maintain security.
4. It is worth sharing that the system will lock your access after 6 weeks of inactivity. If this does happen please email us at rmcs@redbourne.com.au and we can assist.

Calling all good news stories!!

A good news story can include good content/information provided in a referral by QPS that results in a successful Police Referrals outcome.

A good news story can be connecting a client/s into appropriate supports in their time of need.

A good news story can be a client thanking you for touching base with them and arming them with your information should they need to call on you in the future.

They come in many forms and we are calling on our Service Provider network to please share any good news stories with us!

These stories are vital in sharing with QPS, our referring officers, to encourage them to continue to offer referrals and put clients in touch with our specialist Service Provider network.

Service Provider Spotlight

Pine Rivers Community Legal Service

The Pine Rivers Community Legal Service (PRCLS) is a generalist community legal service which has provided free legal advice, information, referrals, and community legal education for those experiencing disadvantage in accessing the legal system in the Moreton Bay and the northern suburbs of Greater Brisbane for over 33 years.

The service began in 1983 as the Petrie Legal Service and was first funded in 2006. In 1987 PRCLS was auspiced by the newly formed Pine Rivers Neighbourhood Association Inc. which is now Encircle Ltd.

Legal advice is provided face to face, or over the telephone, during office hours Monday to Friday by appointment through our reception.

Pine Rivers Community Legal Service also provides a ‘self-representation’ service which assists disadvantaged people who are self-representing in the family law or domestic and family law system, to prepare their court documents. The service also provides the Duty Lawyer Services at the Pine Rivers Magistrates Court for Domestic and Family Violence matters and Child Protection matters.

Pine Rivers Community Legal Service

Phone: 3881 3500

Address: 4A/481 Gympie Road, Strathpine, Queensland

Email: prcls@encircle.org.au

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Pineriverscommunitylegalservice

Website: https://encircle.org.au/legal-services/

Below is some information relating to the Turning Corners program.

Bravehearts Turning Corners Program is an initiative that provides comprehensive and integrated response to working with young people aged between 12-17 and up to 21 for individuals with an intellectual impairment, who have engaged, or are at risk of engaging, in harmful sexual behaviour.

The Turning Corners Program is funded to provide free counselling and advocacy support to youth and their families throughout Queensland. The service is delivered face to face at our Arundel and Spring Hill offices, or via Bravehearts E-Health platform outside of those areas.

The program has a strong focus on early intervention and improved outcomes for the young person, their family, and the community at large. Turning Corners draws on the young person’s strengths and resources within their community by providing outreach, at home risk assessments, safety planning for families, stakeholder collaboration as well as individualised therapeutic intervention.

Our specialised team aim offer parent support groups and community awareness sessions across Queensland as well as deliver tailored training to professionals within the sector.

Turning Corners welcomes referrals from parents, external support agencies, and also self-referrals from young people. Referral forms can be downloaded from Bravehearts’ website bravehearts.org.au, or alternatively, can be made over the phone by contacting our Information and Support Line on 1800 272 831 (freecall).

We say thank you and welcome to the Police Referrals Network!

• Crossing Paths Carers Support Program – Wesley Mission – Gold Coast District
• Moreton Bay Regional Community Legal Service – Moreton Bay District
• Pine Rivers Community Legal Service – Moreton Bay District
• Youth Advocacy Centre – Brisbane North District

QPS Corner

Well, haven’t the last 2 months flown by, how are we in May already?

Since my last Bulletin piece, I have had the privilege of meeting with some service providers across all support areas with the intention of onboarding them into our Police Referrals network. This has been an enlightening process in opening my eyes to the amount of wonderful service providers we have available to at risk, disadvantaged and vulnerable people here in Queensland.

Over the coming months I welcome the opportunity to meet with some of you, our existing service providers within our Police Referrals network to enhance our relationships, understand the support you provide to our referred clients and identify any opportunities for improvement. Should you/your service wish to meet please contact the team at Redbourne via rmcs@redbourne.com.au or contact the QPS Police Referrals team via Police.Referrals@police.qld.gov.au.

Good News stories. Now I know you are all very busy providing support to our referred clients and your own clients, but I am seeking your assistance with de-identified Good News stories. These Good News stories significantly assist with promoting the successes of Police Referrals both internally within QPS and externally as required. If you are able to provide de-identified Good News stories please email them to the QPS Police Referrals team at Police.Referrals@police.qld.gov.au.

I look forward to the next few months in this role and hopefully hearing from you.

Until next month, thank you for all your work in helping to build safe, caring and connected communities, but most importantly, stay safe and well.

Project Coordinator Amanda Hagaman

A simple THANK YOU for all the work you do supporting our communities. Your continued support of the Police Referral Program is much appreciated!

A warm welcome to the newest Service Provider that has joined the Police Referral Network this month.

• Suicide Prevention Pathways Inc. – Brisbane North and South Districts

Set and Forget – Quick and Easy

Utilising the Auto-Response functionality helps your service to empower the client and is a set and forget option that RMCS configure for you with your approval.

Once configured each client referred to your service will automatically be sent an SMS/EMAIL with your contact number or website details so they can phone you should they wish.

The aim of this functionality is to give the client your details to ensure they can phone you when they are ready, at time of referral or in the future.

By setting up an Auto-Response does not negate the need to make 3 attempts at contact with the client.

We believe it adds to the Police Referral Process to ensure clients are empowered with service provider information they can use when they are ready.

For more information on the SMS/EMAIL and Auto-Response functionality please email or call the RMCS team via rmcs@redbourne.com.au

Get to know the Red Cross Fraser Coast Community Programs Service Provider

For nearly 6 years the Australian Red Cross Youth Support Service has provided the Hervey Bay and Maryborough regions with the “Red Cross Fraser Coast Community Programs”

Some key facts about the Red Cross Fraser Coast Community Programs:

• Number of staff – 3 staff – Team Leader, Case Worker and Case Support Officer
• Number of clients seen each year – Approximately 150 per year for case management with another 300 approximately for Information, Advice and Referral onwards
• Average length of time for client engagement – 3 to 6 months in case management
• Successful outcomes – approximately 85 completed their case plans each year

What are your service’s thoughts on the importance of the Police Referral Service?

As the Youth Support Service works with young people 12 – 21 years that are disengaging from community, education or training, family, we often find that many of our young people are linked in with the justice system. One of the roles we do is to support young people to reconnect with community and to look at barriers preventing this occurring. We also support the young person to complete any orders with Youth Justice, or to attend Restorative Justice Conferences.  We also work with the young people to look at reengaging with school or other training options.

To find out more information about this important service, visit their Facebook page.

As you may be aware, Project Manager Declan McNamara and more recently Acting Senior Sergeant Chris Stafford have left the Police Referrals team and March has brought to our team further changes. After being appointed to the Police Referrals Coordinator role, Senior Sergeant Vicki Barret, was called away to another role on her second day.

I have taken on the Police Referrals Coordinator role until end of May 2021.

Having had the pleasure of working alongside Declan and Chris since September 2018, I will take what I have learnt from them to continue providing the best service possible. Over the next few months, I hope to build on the strong foundations left behind to progress and identify opportunities for more efficient and effective processes.

I encourage Service Providers to keep reaching out to Rebourne or to contact me directly to discuss issues or ideas via email Hagaman.AmandaM@police.qld.gov.au or 3015 2588. Please know that I take all identified issues and ideas seriously and we are working hard to have voices on both sides of Police Referrals reflected in all decisions.

I look forward to the next few months in this role and hopefully hearing from you.

We are always looking for de-identified Good News stories from our service providers to showcase Police Referrals both internally within QPS and externally as required. If you are able to provide de-identified Good News stories please email them to the QPS Police Referrals team at Police.Referrals@police.qld.gov.au.

Until next month, thank you for all your work in helping to build safe, caring and connected communities, but most importantly, stay safe and well.

Project Coordinator Amanda Hagaman

A big welcome to the Services who have commenced being part of the Police Referral Network.

ATSICHS Mackay – Social and Emotional Wellbeing Service – Mackay District

Anglicare CQ Mental Health Programs – Capricornia District

Relationships Australia – Elder Abuse and Prevention Support Service – Sunshine Coast District

Mercy Community Services – Early Intervention Youth Counselling Youth Sexual Violence and Abuse – Darling Downs District

Nurtured Minds Counselling – Gold Coast District

Clarity Counselling and Consultancy – Brisbane North District

The below has been shared from an email sent from client to a referring officer based in Mackay. The referral was submitted under the Parenting Child/Youth; Difficult behaviour category with the family engaging with support services.

“I am definitely interested in services. Thank you so much for this, the police yesterday and now you offer me some hope that parents aren’t always the bad people when trying to teach children routine, rules and respect.”

With natural disasters, such as flood, fire and drought, as well as adverse life events we all experience at some point …

it is likely that you may know of women in the North Burnett who have experienced hardship or personal difficulties.

Please take 5-minutes or so to let those women know about our ‘Tag a Mate/ Take a Break’ wellness events for women …

in Mundubbera on 6 March or in Monto on 7 March 2021.

The event brochure and application form provides info on the interactive and fun activities on offer to nurture women’s wellness.

The events are FREE for participants and fully funded by Qld Health’s Tackling Regional Adversity in Communities (TRAIC) program.

Women who are interested in the March events need to apply by email (enquiries@bas.org.au) before 22nd February 2021.

Thanks for listening and spreading the word if you can. And thanks for helping your community.

This month we welcome on board ATSICHS Mackay – Social Emotional Wellbeing Unit.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Community Health Service Mackay Ltd (ATSICHS) commenced in 1978 from a community initiative and receives funding from the Department of Health.

The SEWBU – Social Emotional Wellbeing Unit was established to provide intensive support through early intervention services to ensure the wellbeing of children and families. This support is delivered through culturally appropriate programs, support groups and training. The team consists of:

• Social Emotional Wellbeing Social Worker
• Child and Maternal Mental Health Social Worker
• Suicide Prevention
• Mental Health
• Alcohol and Other Drugs Officer
• Community Support Worker

Steven Colbran is the Social Emotional Wellbeing Unit Manager in Mackay and has shared the below to highlight some of the good work being delivered across Mackay and surrounds;

“The Social Emotional Wellbeing Unit have had a fantastic second half to 2020 getting back out into our community and engaging with individuals and organisations to provide support.

 We have run wellbeing programs at schools, a men’s workshop at KMG and our AOD’s BBQ’s have extended to Sarina now as well as the Mackay weekly BBQ and they have become a great collaboration with various services.

Our Playgroups across Mackay and Sarina have been a hit too, as we engage with young Mums and Bubs, along with attending the Family Fun Day and running our own Children’s day as well.

 A job well done, and we look forward to working with everyone in 2021.”

GEEWHIZ 2020!.. despite all that you were, we still achieved so much!

It is with some sadness that I write this month’s article in the knowledge that it will be my last.  After having commenced in this position on 1 May 2017, I have decided to move on to a new challenge.  On reflecting on my time here I found my first Bulletin piece and note that we submitted 55 805 referrals for 44 447 individuals in the 12 months to 30 May 2017.  In 2020 we completed 116 626 referrals for 65 797 individuals.

Over this time we have seen significant changes through legislative changes around Domestic and Family Violence and Victims of Crime Assistance, policy changes around the way Child Safety referrals are processed, improved reporting processes and introduced a number of new referral categories.  Each and every change being driven by improving how we support our vulnerable Queenslanders.

It would also be remiss of me at this point not to acknowledge Declan McNamara who some of you may have had dealings with during the commencement of Police Referrals.  Declan commenced in what would become Police Referrals in 2014 and was instrumental in creating the structures we have today.  Unfortunately Declan’s contract was unable to be extended at the end of 2020 and after 6 years he too has moved on.

I believe Police Referrals is the best process we have available to connect vulnerable people with specialist services who can help start the process of making significant changes to that person’s life.  To stop and think about the number of people who have been supported to make those life changes over the years as a result of a Police Officer or staff member taking the 3 minutes to complete a Police Referral is what continues to motivate us to ensure Police Referrals continues to develop and stay as a key strategy of the Queensland Police Service in the prevention and disruption of criminal behaviours.

So, for one last time, I thank each and every one of you for the part you play in building safe, caring and connected communities.

A/Senior Sergeant Chris Stafford

As another year draws to a close it is time to take stock of what has been perhaps the most unstable year many of us have experienced.  The year has seen many of us have to totally reassess the way we do our business and make significant changes to what we knew as normal.  But it is more important to remember that what felt like instability to us was significantly more for the vulnerable members of our communities that everyone within the Police Referrals network support.  Every service provider deserves our congratulations and thanks after being so adaptable to be able to ensure that service delivery hasn’t faltered during this pandemic.  This is demonstrated through the number of referrals being up, but more importantly the percentage of referrals where service providers have been able to engage with a client has also increased which is something that continues to be a source of satisfaction.  To be able to see that the Police Referrals process continues to be as successful as it is with getting more and more people every year connected with services who can provide assistance to vulnerable people at their time of greatest need is what motivates us all to be part of this.

If anyone has any reflections or good news stories coming from this year, please feel free to share them with us at admin@policereferrals.org.au.

So, to wrap up this year, I thank each and every one of you for the part you play in building safe, caring and connected communities and I would like to wish everyone involved in Police Referral Services a happy and safe Christmas/New Year period.  For those of you getting a chance to have a break over Christmas, enjoy the time out and I look forward to working more with everyone in 2021 to continue providing the great services that we do.

A/Senior Sergeant Chris Stafford

A big welcome to the Services who have commenced being part of the Police Referral Network.

Nhulundu – Gladstone and Biloela

Red Cross Fraser Coast Youth Service – Fraser Coast

MenTER Behaviour Change Program – Gladstone

Practical Men’s Support Program – Gladstone

We welcome Nhulundu Family Wellbeing Service delivering culturally appropriate services to support positive outcomes for families in the Gladstone region, Biloela and Banana Shire.

The Family Wellbeing Service offers a range of services, including education, health, financial, and community based assistance. With the clients consent their storyline is supported by Nhulundu to provide a strong, family environment through home visits, support and access to specialist services along with parenting workshops to encourage families to engage in changing storylines and keeping children safe at home.

Learn more about this service here: NHS FWB_DL Brochure

As we all know the New Year can bring many changes so please keep us updated with staff movement, program enhancements or catchment changes.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and very Happy New Year and look forward to working with you to continue to improve processes in 2021!

We are very much looking forward to improving the information sharing between QPS and our Service Providers in 2021 with our planned system enhancements. These enhancements will allow additional information where required to be passed more easily between QPS and Service Providers. As we know, client details can change quickly, and having the most up to date information is crucial in making contact and offering support. QPS officers will be able to update/add the following details on a previously submitted referral:

• Address
• Mobile Phone
• Home Phone
• Work Phone
• Email
• Additional Information (max 250 characters)
• Safety concerns contacting the client

From a Service Provider perspective, where an update has been received on a referral an ‘update’ badge will be visible in the referral grid list as indicated below.

Unread Referrals
An information update is referenced in SRS as an ‘unread referral’ and a new search filter will be available in the referral grid (Home > Referrals) to provide the ability to filter by unread referrals. This will display all referrals that are either new or have an update that requires acknowledgment in both the Received and Accepted tabs.

Where to find the updated information
The updates made by QPS after a referral has been received will display within the Referral History section of the referral as per Figure 4 – Referral History below.

This QPS Referral Update will contain the updated information submitted after the Police Referral was initially received by the service provider, these updates require acknowledgment by the receiving service provider. Acknowledgment of the update is via the Acknowledge Update button.

Figure 4 – Referral History

In addition to the SRS enhancements for updates to a referral, an email notification will be sent to the service provider to advise a referral has been updated. In addition to the initial email notification regarding an update to a received referral, email reminders will also be sent to the service providers every 2 business days if the QPS Referral Update has not been acknowledged (to those service providers who have nominated for email notifications). Email notifications will not be received once the referral update has been acknowledged.

The Referral Coordination Service will prepare a Tip Sheet regarding these changes and post this on our Police Referrals website under the ‘Resources Tab’. Please don’t hesitate to call with any questions.

Each month the Police Referral Project Team put together an internal newsletter to share with all QPS Officers and staff members updating them on the Police Referral Program. They share updates on process improvement, service provider spotlights and any system changes.

Please consider putting together a brief service provider spotlight that can be shared on this internal platform and of course ‘Good News Stories’. Sharing good new stories goes a long way to ensure positive community policing continues to make a difference in people’s lives.  Send your QPS newsletter info to us at rmcs@redbourne.com.au

2020 marks another successful year for the Police Referral Program. Although most will be happy to close the door on the year that was, it has highlighted some exceptional work in the community and just how important service provider networking continues to be in supporting our most vulnerable.

We want to thank our amazing Service Provider network for your constant and unwavering support.  All organisations have had to learn new ways of providing support to their clients in challenging times but have done so with gusto. Again, we say thank you and look forward to working with you all in 2021.

Thanks to all those services who have sent in their Christmas Closure periods to RMCS.

With only 7 weeks (yes, 7 weeks….) to go until Christmas Day, we all know the holiday season is a particularly high need time for vulnerable persons.

To help us plan for this peak period, we ask Service Providers to consider providing as much assistance as they can to address the influx of referrals.

You may be able to assist by:

• Informing RMCS as soon as possible of any planned closure dates and times for your service over the holiday period.
• Minimising down times in answering referrals over that time.
• Organising skeleton staffing to continue to answer referrals over the high need period.
• Committing to addressing pending referrals as soon as possible after return to work.

We appreciate any assistance you can provide during the season and hope that most of all, you and your staff enjoy a break after such a challenging year.

As shared by Neami National ‘s Health Service Navigator Team  

QPS were called in relation to a male walking on a dark road in Darra. Police located an elderly man who was confused and unsure of his home address. QPS eventually returned the man to his home address to find the dwelling in a state of disrepair and extremely dirty. The dwelling had been without power for 3months, with the male living alone, having no family support or support network and appearing to be suffering from early dementia. QPS referred the man through the Police Referral System for Aged Support and Mental Health issues.

Due to the client having no phone/electricity on, Neami Health Service Navigator who received the referral was unable to reach the client but shared this with RMCS and that the best option would be for QPS to take him to hospital for a full assessment. The client has since been linked in with the Social worker at the local hospital and is now on his way to being linked in with numerous services and supports – he has had his electricity turned back on also.

Although an ongoing case, this is a fine example of what a Police Referral can accomplish with the help of our caring Referral Services and Service Provider network who go above and beyond to get clients the support they require.

Family and Child Connect Service (FaCC), based in Mackay is a consent based, voluntary service working with vulnerable families to connect them to support services.

Referrals to FaCC can only be for families where there is a child or children aged 0 to 18 years, and the children may be at risk of entering into the child protection system if no supports were put into place for the family.

FaCC works with families for a period of 6 weeks and is expected to make up to 18 contact attempts with a family during that 6 weeks to engage with the family.  The engagement attempts include home visits, phone calls and letters.

These are just a few of the following areas which FaCC can assist families – child abuse/harm, domestic and family violence, mental health, grief and loss, homelessness, financial stress, drug and alcohol issues, and disabilities.

FaCC has been operating in the Mackay region for 3 years and covers the Whitsunday, Mackay and Isaac regions.

FaCC has 8 staff including a domestic and family violence specialist. All staff are professionally trained including social workers and counsellors.

Opening hours are between 8.30am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday.  As the service is a not a crisis service, FaCC is not open on weekends or at night.

Police Referrals to FaCC have included domestic and family violence incidents, child abuse/harm, mental health issues, financial issues, drug and alcohol issues, parenting skills and grief and loss.

If you are in the Mackay, Whitsunday and Isaac regions, you can find out more about Family and Child Connect Service via their contact details below.

Hello,

Between July and December last year the Police Referrals team ran 16 workshops across 13 of the 15 Police Districts.  These workshops were about improving the percentage of referred clients who were able to be contacted by Service Providers through the introduction of the Model Referral Process.

Twelve months on from the start of these workshops, a review of July to September 2020 compared to April – June 2019 quarter shows the referrals where the service provider cannot make contact has reduced from 26.70% to 24.12%.

This signifies an improvement of 2.58% or, over a 12-month period, that equates to 3057 referrals to 2180 individuals.  I don’t know if this is directly attributable to the workshops and the introduction of the Model Referral process, but I am happy to run with it.

One of the surprising things to come from the July to September 2020 quarter was that Monday was the busiest day for Police Referrals.  A review of previous quarter reports also shows that busiest days are always the first three days of the week and the lowest numbers are always across Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There might be a variation in the order within these two groups and Thursday generally stays in the middle.

Until next month, thank you for all your work in helping to build safe, caring and connected communities in Queensland, but most importantly, stay safe.

A/Senior Sergeant Chris Stafford

3 Fast facts to action Police Referrals 

1. Strive to improve TAT – turnaround times of Police Referrals actioned. Remember to try 3 attempts at contact with referred clients over 2 days and then the referral can be closed off.
2. Completing the Outcomes Component for appropriate referrals. It’s so easy to do and benefits the Police Referrals Program results. See tip sheet here.
3. Share good news stories with RMCS whilst actioning the referrals by dropping us an email. We all need good news stories.

Mental Health Referrals

Focusing on our Mental Health space, the Police Referrals continue to explore the best way forward in order to keep Mental Health as a referral category for referring officers and are interested in speaking with those services that are commissioned to play a supporting role to vulnerable clients with Mental Health issues. Connecting clients to appropriate community services is the aim of the Police Referrals so please share this message within your networks to support this valuable referral pathway and those suffering Mental Health issues. Please share our details with any interested parties or alternatively send details to the Referral Coordination Service of potential services we could approach.

Mackay Mental Health Hub

1. The Mackay Mental Health Hub is an NQPHN initiative provided by selectability Ltd. The service has been operational since February 2020 and is currently supported by 2 staff members. Since commencement, The Mental Health Hub has grown significantly and now received referrals from all sources including self-referrals. Additionally, the service is now able to support individuals who have an NDIS package. The Mental Health Hub averages 170 hours of face-to-face support each month, with an additional average of 24 hours phone support each month.
2. We have, to date, received 28 Police Referrals. Of those 28 referrals, we were unable to make contact with 54%. Of the remaining 13 persons referred, 5 declined serviced due to prior engagement with another service who is meeting their needs or were on-referred to ensure their specific needs were met. The remaining 8 referred persons engaged and have completed an intake into our service. That is, of the people, we are able to contact over 60% complete an intake into our service to receive supports from the Mackay Mental Health Hub. When considering the average time that we work with persons referred by Police Referrals, this is difficult to gauge as most are still engaged with us at this time and the levels of engagement vary depending on the individual’s needs.

Successful outcomes – In one instance, The Mental Health Hub has been instrumental in providing support for an individual in a DFV relationship to exit that home and remain safe while working on supporting the individual’s mental wellbeing, physical and financial safety.

The success of the work we do at the Mackay Mental Health Hub is typically measured by the fact that participants keep returning to us. In addition to supporting an individual’s mental wellbeing, we also provide linkages to other community support groups, promote physical health and wellbeing through various groups and activities, and provide psychoeducation to enable a better understanding of what is happening for each individual. One of the most popular services on offer is the goal setting and structured action planning. This provides an opportunity for individuals to assume/resume some more capacity for control over their lives, remembering that the vast majority of persons who access this service are experiencing some level of crisis.

3. We believe that Police Referrals provides a valuable service, not only for individuals that are linked in with supports that they may not typically have the capacity to engage with on their own, but also for QPS officers. Having a simple and time-effective database and referral system ensures they are able to effectively meet a duty of care to community members and get some feedback on progress.

As with any referral, the more information we receive, the easier it is to direct our efforts for support. One of the most significant issues we have as providers is being able to contact the person being referred, thus, ensuring that phone numbers or email addresses are current is very helpful. Additionally, if you are referring an individual to multiple providers, this information is useful for us to know. One thing that we would also find useful is information about any services that the referred party is already engaged with, this ensures that we are not doubling up on the same services and enables us to direct our approach and provide a more collaborative and holistic service.

In terms of the value of Police Referrals for community members, we feel that it is absolutely essential for QPS as first responders to be able to provide linkages to support services in the community and have knowledge about local supports.

As we are all aware, Police Referrals differ slightly in the different districts and communities across the state. What we would like is to receive your feedback as Service Providers to ensure we understand what is happening at a local level. This might include feedback about the referral process itself, the content of information received or lack of, on-referrals, and/or gaps in service provision. What we might find is there are common themes across the state that we can then address and do our best to improve or it may highlight a particular issue for a particular district that we can address directly. A problem shared is a problem halved and continuous process improvement is the key! Email us at RMCS@redbourne.com.au

Whilst the majority of this year has been spent under the shadow of the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic, the year has continued to tick over so quickly, I cannot believe we are in October already.

A few important dates coming up in October one of those being October 10th World Homeless Day. Since its founding, World Homeless Day has been observed on every continent, except Antarctica. World Homeless Day was held for the first time on October 10th, 2010. 2020 sees World Homeless Day enter its 10th year of educating people about Homelessness, encouraging volunteering, showing those who volunteer appreciation for their continued work within the Homeless space.

Police Referrals currently have 80+ providers across the state providing support for Homeless related matters both at a local level or state-wide.

5th -11th October Mental Health Week is a national awareness event held in October every year. The aim is to raise awareness of the importance of mental health and wellbeing in the wider community, to increase community awareness and education about mental health issues, and to encourage participation in life-enhancing lifestyles. Chris has written about the topic of Mental Health before, COVID-19 has impacted all of us during the past 6 months, ensuring we take the time for a break to reset and refocus is very important.

Police Referrals currently have 140+ providers across the state providing support for Mental Health-related matters both at a local level or state-wide.

1st -31st October also includes Sexual Violence Awareness Month to raise community awareness about sexual violence, promote the support options available to people affected by sexual assault and sexual abuse and uphold a clear message that sexual violence will not be tolerated in our communities.

Police Referrals currently have 100+ providers across the state providing support for Sexually related matters both at a local level or state-wide.

For those of you who have primary school-age children, you’re welcome in advance for this reminder 17th -25th October is Book Week. So, put those thinking caps on and get those sewing machines out because we all know the kids love to dress up and show off their favourite book character or the book character you can manage during the night before dash like I have done on many occasions in the past.

We are always looking for de-identified Good News stories from our service providers to showcase Police Referrals both internally within QPS and externally as required. If you are able to provide de-identified Good News stories please email them to the QPS Police Referrals team at Police.Referrals@police.qld.gov.au.

Until next month, thank you for all your work in helping to build safe, caring, and connected communities, but most importantly, stay safe and well.

A/Project Coordinator Amanda Hagaman

Thanks to all those services completing the outcomes component on appropriate Police Referrals.

Below is some data on outcomes submitted over the last 3 months and the results speak for themselves in regards to the Police Referral Program making a difference in the lives of clients referred. It shows a client’s needs were met or somewhat met on 75% of outcomes completed. It also supports the value of QPS members connecting with clients in a positive community policing role.

We encourage all our service providers to be completing the Outcomes Component where appropriate. Should you have questions regarding this component please contact us on rmcs@redbourne.com.au

To ensure that your service is receiving appropriate referrals please keep us updated with any changes to your service delivery or contact information. Keeping this information current is one of the key points of our Model Referral Process so email or call the Referral Coordination Service to keep in touch.

Should any service be receiving referrals that are not appropriate, we would ask that you are NOT closing them off with a comment to suggest that they are not appropriate or ineligible and not contacting the client. We ask that a client is always contacted or on-referred appropriately.

As a result of the new enhancements coming soon, it is important to note that you can update a referral at any time in the life of referral in the Police Referral System.

Your service might receive an update from QPS sharing with you a new contact number for a client, address listing or new information pertaining to the situation. Your service might then contact the client on the new number provided and connect with the client. This will then need to be reflected correctly in system by selecting a new Service Provider Action and then Update. By updating the referral record it shows the work that is being done by your service and updates QPRIME and the referring officer of the updated action. If you have any questions regarding this process, please don’t hesitate to speak with us at the Referral Coordination Service.

IUHI Connect Plus

Significant points of risk in a person’s journey through the health care system arise at times when care is transferred.

In response to those elements of risk, IUIH Connect Plus connects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to every aspect of care, at all stages of their health care journey, whether connecting with them directly, in hospital, or through community support.

The program started as IUIH Connect in 2013, but after assistance from Queensland Health it was elevated to Connect Plus in 2020, allowing the service to expand its footprint from Metro North and Metro South to include Gold Coast and West Moreton.

The support structure introduced for IUIH Connect Plus allows the client to connect with GP services, social support, legal services, medication, medical aids and equipment, and programs and services.

The service is available seven days a week from 7am and 7pm and the holistic approach to care allows clients to call one number (1800 254 354) to receive access to a wide array of services.

Working with stakeholders, the IUIH Connect Plus team connects clients and their families to IUIH Network clinics, Mums and Bubs teams, Aged Care community providers, Allied Health Services, transport, home services, and anything else they might need in their transition to or from the hospital.

The service receives a large number of referrals from hospital and health services as well as from the Queensland Police Service (QPS).

Since 2016, IUIH Connect Plus has received 4287 referrals of which nearly 50 percent have been from QPS.

When compared to the last reporting period there has been an increase in personal counselling and a slight increase in mental health support which is likely due to either the COVID-19 pandemic or improved communication between QPS and IUIH.

The largest amount of referrals are concerning a respondent in domestic and family violence, followed by the aggrieved from domestic and family violence, and equally as frequent is personal counselling for emotional and mental wellbeing.

The IUIH Connect Plus team has had positive feedback from clients and referees alike all highlighting the difference IUIH Connect Plus can make in a wide array of situations.

One client said the program made a huge difference to their lives as their son had suffered a brain injury and without the IUIH Connect Plus support they would have had to leave Brisbane while their son was recovering.

“It is documented how beneficial family is to the recovery of brain-injured patients, staff commented on his recovery and the positive influence of our presence,” the client said.

“You and your valuable staff will never know how you have changed our lives.

“It means the difference between our son remaining bedbound or walking and being an active participant in his own life.”

Chris’s corner…

September sees a couple of very important dates come up. One of those is R U OK day on the 10th September. I know I have written before about this topic, but it is pertinent now to ensure that everybody’s mental health is being considered at this time. This isn’t a day to simply ask R U OK, but to take a real interest in how your colleagues are travelling. The last 6 months has been an incredibly difficult time for a lot of people, and if we don’t look after ourselves and each other, then we can’t support those people in our communities who are in need of our support.

September also includes Child Protection Week from the 6 – 12 September. A week that brings to the surface many issues around child harm. At this time I would like to particularly thank all of those staff working in an incredibly hard sector with what truly is one of our most vulnerable sectors of our community. The importance of the work you do can never be overstated.

Perhaps it is coincidental, perhaps a wonderful irony, that these two events fall at the same time and that midway through the week highlighting a very difficult space to work in, we are being encouraged to check in and ask those 4 simple letters, R U OK?

The month then rounds off with National Police Remembrance Day on the 29th when Police across Queensland pause to pay tribute to their fallen colleagues. This is our time to remember those 147 Queensland Police officers who gave their life serving the state, as well as remembering our colleagues who are no longer with us; those men and women who faithfully served the QPS and are now truly missed. This year with COVID restrictions we won’t be able to march, but we will still take the opportunity to remember our colleagues who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Until next month, thank you for all of your work in helping to build safe, caring and connected communities, but most importantly, stay safe.

A/Senior Sergeant Chris Stafford

Family and Child Connect Service Mackay

Who are we?

Family and Child Connect Service (FaCC) is a consent-based, voluntary service which works with vulnerable families to connect them to support services.

FaCC has been operating in the Mackay region for 3 years and covers the Whitsunday, Mackay and Isaac regions. They are 8 staff including a domestic and family violence specialist. All staff are professionally trained including social workers and counsellors

The opening hours are between 8.30 am to 5.30 pm Monday to Friday. As the service is not a crisis service the service is not open on weekends or at night.

What do we do?

FaCC assists families with many include but are not limited to child abuse/harm, domestic and family violence, mental health, grief and loss, homelessness, financial stress,  drug and alcohol issues, and disabilities to name a few.

FaCC works with families for a period of 6 weeks and is expected to make up to 18 contact attempts with a family during those 6 weeks to engage the family.  The engagement attempts include home visits, phone calls and letters

Referrals to FaCC

Referrals to FaCC can only be for families where there is a child or children aged 0 to 18 years, and the children may be at risk of entering into the child protection system if no supports were put into place for the family.

Police Referrals

Police referrals to FaCC have included domestic and family violence incidents, child abuse/harm, mental health issues, financial issues, drug and alcohol issues, parenting skills, and grief and loss.

We are very pleased to announce some exciting system enhancements that have recently been developed in the Police Referral System with a proposed September 2020 release. These enhancements will allow additional information where required to be passed more easily between QPS and Service Providers. As we know, client details can change quickly, and having the most up to date information is crucial in making contact and offering support. QPS officers will be able to update/add the following details on a previously submitted referral:

• Address
• Mobile Phone
• Home Phone
• Work Phone
• Email
• Additional Information (max 250 characters)
• Safety concerns contacting the client

From a Service Provider perspective, where an update has been received on a referral an ‘update’ badge will be visible in the referral grid list as indicated below.

Unread Referrals
An information update is referenced in SRS as an ‘unread referral’ and a new search filter will be available in the referral grid (Home > Referrals) to provide the ability to filter by unread referrals. This will display all referrals that are either new or have an update that requires acknowledgment in both the Received and Accepted tabs.

Where to find the updated information
The updates made by QPS after a referral has been received will display within the Referral History section of the referral as per Figure 4 – Referral History below.

This QPS Referral Update will contain the updated information submitted after the Police Referral was initially received by the service provider, these updates require acknowledgment by the receiving service provider. Acknowledgment of the update is via the Acknowledge Update button.

Figure 4 – Referral History

In addition to the SRS enhancements for updates to a referral, an email notification will be sent to the service provider to advise a referral has been updated. In addition to the initial email notification regarding an update to a received referral, email reminders will also be sent to the service providers every 2 business days if the QPS Referral Update has not been acknowledged (to those service providers who have nominated for email notifications). Email notifications will not be received once the referral update has been acknowledged.

The Referral Coordination Service will prepare a Tip Sheet regarding these changes and post this on our Police Referrals website under the ‘Resources Tab’. Please don’t hesitate to call with any questions.

QPS has also been busy conducting some work in relation to providing additional information to the relevant DFV service providers only. This information forms part of the QPS Protective Assessment Framework, known as the ‘the PAF’.

When this new development is complete, DFV service providers only will see a new section within the Referred Issue/s portion of the received referral titled ‘Protective Assessment Framework’. This will allow for QPS to send PAF indicators to relevant service providers.

Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 QPS was required to defer their development work in relation to this enhancement but are trying extremely hard to have this functionality implemented soon. Due to the development delay, this field WILL display with the following information within the referral received by the Service Provider but NO indicators can be passed from QPS until work is completed. Please see PAF ‘Not stated’ Placeholder below as will be viewed in SRS.

We will keep you informed of these changes as they progress.

Chris’s corner…

The information flow between Police and Service Providers is one of the key aspects of successful outcomes for Police Referrals. With this in mind, September will see a number of system enhancements aimed at improving the information that is provided to service providers, and any updates or new information is able to be easily and securely provided. The new ability to update referrals will mean that Police Officers can provide new contact details and any additional information. Updating Officers will also be asked again about whether there are any safety concerns with contact the client, just as they already do at the time of submitting every referral. Domestic and Family Violence Service providers will also see a placeholder appear in their referrals for where they will start receiving information drawn from the Protective Assessment Framework. This work required coordination between internal and external stakeholders and whilst the capacity to receive the information and place it in the referral will be completed, the other half being the capacity to send the information has been held up amongst delayed projects due to COVID 19. So initially, our DFV Service Providers will see the information box, but until the second side of the enhancements gets done the information won’t come across.

Further details of these enhancements are shown in another article within this Bulletin.

Until next month, thank you for all of your work in helping to build safe, caring and connected communities, but most importantly, stay safe.

A/Senior Sergeant Chris Stafford

A big welcome to the Services who have commenced being part of the Police Referral Network.

• Townsville Community Justice Group

Mackay Regional Community Legal Centre

About the Service Provider, location, how long in operation, number of staff, number of clients seen each year approximately, areas of speciality (in particular in relation to Police Referrals)

Established in 2003, Mackay Regional Community Legal Centre Inc. (‘MRCLC’) is a not-for-profit community organisation based in Mackay, providing free legal services to disadvantaged residents in the Mackay, Whitsunday and Isaac Regional Council areas. MRCLC primarily provides legal advice on family law and domestic violence law to clients from police referrals. MRCLC currently employs 7 permanent staff members and 22 volunteers, who help facilitate the delivery of MRCLC’s Legal Advice Evenings. MRCLC conducts Outreach once a month, which allows residents in Bowen, Cannonvale, Proserpine and Sarina to receive legal advice in person. In 2019, across its three main funding programs, MRCLC delivered legal advice to 922 clients, with many of these clients accessing our services more than once.

Number of Police Referral Clients they’ve worked with, average length of time for client engagement

MRCLC has received 245 referrals since we starting receiving police referrals. Some of these referrals have had more than one legal advice appointment. On average, the length of time for client engagement is one hour, as most clients only require one appointment. If it is appropriate for MRCLC to assist further, clients are welcome to book further appointments.

Thoughts on the importance of the Police Referral Service / the value they get from it / they see clients gaining from it / suggestions for improvements

The police referral service ensures that vulnerable residents in the Mackay, Whitsunday and Isaac Regional Council areas can be referred for free legal advice if they cannot afford a private solicitor. Those in need of free legal advice may not know about the MRCLC, and the police referral system bridges this gap to ensure that they can receive the advice they need.

SMS/EMAIL Functionality!

As most would be aware, you are able to create SMS/Email templates within the Police Referral System – SRS. We do encourage this in order to best connect with clients and a benefit for services is that it is a time saver for staff actioning the referrals. When you do create an email template you are able to set your return email as your service email so clients can reply to this. If creating an adhoc email message through the system it will come from the following email address  srs_notifier@infoxchange.org and clients are unable to reply. If you have any questions regarding this functionality please phone us for support.

Warm Refer!

The below services have been bought to our attention recently with the aim of including them in our Police Referral Network however they are all quite niche in what they offer and therefore not appropriate at this stage. With that said, we wanted to share them with you as an additional offering to any appropriate young people you might be seeing through your doors. With 2020 having been such an upheaval in many families lives, the services below are so important to ensure our young people are supported.

www.auntiesandunclesqld.org.au

https://kookaburrakids.org.au/connect

https://www.littledreamers.org.au/

Chris’s corner…

Police regularly get questioned about why we continue to refer people who have declined the services of the service provider when referred previously.

The key reasoning for this is that it is about the right time for the referred person to accept the service. We can’t stop referring someone, thereby stop trying to connect someone with specialist support, just because last time we offered it they declined the service. It may be the 6th or 7th time that someone finally feels they are ready and they need to make the step to speaking with a service provider about their circumstance.

In saying this, with the exception of Domestic and Family Violence, all Police Referrals are completed with the consent of the referred client. Police are referring people to Service Providers in good faith that they have accepted the offer of the referral, so they will hopefully accept the service provider’s service.

In relation to Domestic and Family Violence, section 169F of the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act allows a Police Officer to refer a person to a specialist DFV service provider if the Police Officer reasonably believes—

(a) the person fears or is experiencing domestic violence and there is a threat to the person’s life, health or safety because of the domestic violence; or

(b) the person has committed domestic violence against another person.

If a Police Officer reasonably believes that these criteria are met then they are able to refer without the consent of the person.

However, one key part of the referral process though is also outlined in the QPS Operational Procedures Manual where reference is made to conducting a ‘suitability assessment’ of the client to be referred considering:

(i) if the person is willing to access the referral service;

(ii) if the person is vulnerable to victimisation, repeat victimisation or harm;

(iii) if the person previously committed an offence, how likely the person is to re-offend without intervention;

(iv) if the intervention will provide a benefit or risk reduction for the person’s family, peers, neighbours, social network;

(v) if a referral is likely to reduce police calls for service; and

(vi) if completing a referral will be an appropriate response to the person and meet community expectations.

These points must be considered prior to any Police Referral being submitted.

Until next month, thank you for all of your work in helping to build safe, caring and connected communities, but most importantly, stay safe.

Thank you and stay safe and mentally healthy.

A/Senior Sergeant Chris Stafford

A big welcome to the Services who have commenced being part of the Police Referral Network.

• Centacare Gold Coast
• Act for Kids – Specialist Therapy Service – Rockhampton
• Whitsunday Suicide Prevention Network – Airlie Beach to Proserpine, Bowen to Collinsville, and Home Hill to Ayr
• RHealth – Health Service Navigator

3 contact attempts in 2 business days!

As part of your agreement with the Police Referrals we ask that services are making 3 attempts at contact over 2 business days and then for the referral to be closed off with a Service Provider Action in the system.

Please ensure where clients are unable to be contacted that you are, where safe to do so, sending a referred client an SMS/EMAIL with your contact details. We understand that there are a percent of referrals that are unable to be contaced but we also know that clients have and do phone back in at a later date, when they are ready, for support. Arming them with your contact details is key in connecting. Don’t forget the availability of sending SMS/EMAILS through the system – functionality lives in Linked Notes tab!

This month we shine the spotlight on The Centre for Women & Co. – Logan Central Office

Who are we?

The Centre for Women & Co. is a not-for-profit organisation, funded by the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women, and the Department of Education, Small Business and Training.  We provide assistance to those affected by Domestic and Family Violence as well as women’s health and wellbeing issues through crisis support, counselling and therapeutic/support groups. We play an active role in the provision of community education and development as an integral part of its role in the prevention of domestic and family violence, and the promotion of health and wellbeing.

We have been the regional domestic violence service covering the Logan district since 1995 when the service was known as Working Against Violence Support Services (WAVSS). In October 2018, WAVSS officially merged with women’s health service, Logan Women’s Health and Wellbeing, and The Centre for Women & Co. was born, allowing us to provide both specialised and holistic support to the women and children of Logan, Beenleigh and Redlands. Across the 3 sites, we have over 50 staff employed!

The Logan Central Office.

At the Logan Office, we are funded to provide support of quality, integrated, evidence-based service responses to women and children affected by domestic and family violence. This may present as a woman escaping an abusive situation or a woman who is experiencing domestic violence and who remains in the relationship. We provide free crisis support and counselling as well as practical support where appropriate. As we understand that domestic violence is complex and the issues around leaving an abusive relationship are multifaceted, it is important for us to assert to women experiencing abuse that we are here to provide assistance without judgement and regardless of the situation or her current circumstance.

Our diverse Logan team currently consists of 15 staff members each with a passion for spreading awareness and educating those around us on domestic violence, empowering women, breaking down barriers within the community and ultimately the cessation of violence against women and children. Our skillset as a collective is extensive as we come from a number of different educational and employment backgrounds including but not limited to social work, human services, visual arts and graphic design, justice and criminology and counselling.

Number of Police Referral Clients they’ve worked with, average length of time for client engagement, most successful client outcome.

From January 2019 – December 2019, our Logan site received 1242 referrals via QPS Redbourne. These come through to our Crisis Response Team who attempt to make contact with the clients and offer our services. If a client is wanting to engage, our team will complete an intake and risk assessment with the woman, and safety plan where appropriate. Client engagement varies and is difficult to measure as it often depends on their immediate safety, complexities and level of risk. On average, our clients will attend 6-8 counselling sessions.

Through QPS Redbourne referrals, we have been able to link in with women who have been at imminent risk of serious harm or lethality and may not have otherwise accessed our service. Within the past week, we have had 2 clients disclose numerous high risk factors during our intake and risk assessment with them following the QPS Redbourne referral. As a result, we completed referrals for a collaborative multi-agency response to assist in reducing the clients’ risks and increasing perpetrator accountability.

QPS Redbourne referrals are of immense value to our organisation and those affected by Domestic and Family Violence. It brings more awareness of our service and is the bridge connecting women to support that they may have never known existed.

Chris’s corner…

As we now start to see the relaxation of some of the restrictions placed on us all as a result of COVID19, it is not the time to lose sight of the end goal and think that the restrictions are over and it is a return to how we were.

As the numbers of active cases in Qld reduces (currently at three) the focus must remain on the ongoing mental health pressures that are placed on everyone. Whilst there will continue to be plenty said about the mental health of those that have lost family, lost jobs, lost other incomes, it is also important to remember to the mental health of your colleagues and work mates.

These are unprecedented times, never has there been such a fast change in how people have had to respond and adapt to new ways of doing what have always been routine things. Nobody could look at the last three months from a change management perspective and thought, “yeah that was exactly how I would have done it this time last year.”

In all of the sectors that Police Referrals works across, the one consistent factor is the desire to help others. But don’t forget to take the time to help yourselves as well. Make the time to call and check in on your colleagues who you don’t get to see because you’re are working remotely. Make the time to ask how they are doing. Because you are the base that their support structure relies on. Your role is vital, you are so very important to what happens next.

I normally finish with this but this month it belongs here instead, thank you for all of your special work in helping to build safe, caring and connected communities, particularly at this time of uncertainty.

On a lighter note, who missed their democracy sausage at March’s Local Government elections, who feels ripped off going to Bunnings and not having the waft of a sausage and onion? Well, for the month of June I have a solution, virtually. Throughout June before you log onto zoom, teams, goto, skype or whatever platform your virtual meeting is on, go to Beddown’s facebook page and purchase your virtual sausage sizzle. Money raised goes to Beddown, who are working hard in converting spaces that are commonly used and busy during the day but at night are left vacant or empty into pop-up accommodation to ensure that those who are sleeping rough are able to come and get into a bed at night.

Thank you and stay safe and mentally healthy.

A/Senior Sergeant Chris Stafford

Chris’s corner…

The efforts and commitment of Service Providers has continued to be a light for many vulnerable people over the past couple of months. This emergent situation has shown exactly what can be done when everyone has the same end-goal in mind.

To be in a position where in a month more than 700 people experiencing homelessness in Brisbane have been able to be placed into temporary accommodation is something that nobody would have predicted at the start of 2020. It has demonstrated that with some creative thinking and the willingness to make change, significant difference can be made.

At this time of so much instability it is worth having a look at how we are tracking with Police Referrals since the commencement of this pandemic compared to the same 7 weeks in 2019. Our overall referrals reports for this period this year is 10860, in 2019 it was only slightly fewer with 10770. Our DFV Aggrieved referral reports this year are 4053 and in 2019 was again slightly less with 3905, mental health support referral reports this year were 636 compared to last year being 610 and finally our homelessness referral reports have risen from 319 last year to 338 this year.

This month we observe Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month. This year we continue to reinforce that it is an opportunity for all Queenslanders to send a clear message that violence will not be tolerated, to speak out against abuse, and to empower people to work together towards prevention. We must continue to address Domestic and Family Violence in Queensland, and say Not now, not ever. Together, so that every Queenslander, everywhere in our community, feels safe, supported and protected.

Until next month, thank you for all of your special work in helping to build those safe, caring and connected communities, particularly at this time of uncertainty, but most importantly, stay safe.

A/Senior Sergeant Chris Stafford

As provided by Domestic Violence Action Centre – Toowoomba

Good News Story #1

We received a Police Referral for a woman in February 2020. The referral was for a woman who declined supports from previous referrals received over a 3-year period and as a service we had also attempted to connect with her through other avenues such as court due to the high-risk nature of referrals. Following this most recent Police Referral, Domestic Violence Action Centre contacted the client and despite initially declining supports, we were able to provide her with the service contact details using the SMS templates feature within the police referral system. Subsequently, the client contacted Domestic Violence Action Centre a week later for support.

During this contact we identified the respondent as being high risk and due to threats made by the respondent, the client was fearful of reaching out for support or to report multiple breaches of a current domestic violence order. The client did not want to continue the relationship but feared what that meant for her safety.

Our Domestic Violence Specialists gave the client the space to talk without feeling judged or forced and this was something that she commented on and was grateful for. Through ongoing safety planning, installing cameras on her property that were approved through our Safety Upgrades Program; and increased domestic violence awareness, the client developed the confidence to set boundaries with the respondent and to also report breaches.

The client is now better connected in the community and with friends and family. She remains connected with our service and we continue to work with her so that she feels comfortable in speaking with Police if she needs assistance in the future.

Good News Story #2

As a service, Domestic Violence Action Centre has seen a rise in adult children physically and financially abusing their elderly mothers. In early March 2020, we received a Police Referral for an elderly woman who had experienced domestic violence at the hands of her adult son, which resulted in him being incarcerated.

The client was concerned for her safety as the respondent was to be released from prison any time and had a set of keys to her home. The client felt partly responsible for his incarceration and was fearful of him coming to the home on release and his behaviour escalating.

Domestic Violence Action Centre was able to complete an emergency lock change to help the client feel safer in the home and assisted with safety planning around what to do if the respondent was to arrive. Naming the respondent’s behaviour and acknowledging the difficult choice the client had to make regarding protecting herself and potentially impacting her son’s freedom weighed heavily on the client however we were able to support her through this and walk through her options.

This month we shine the spotlight on Centacare Central Queensland (CQ)

About the Service Provider, location, how long in operation, number of staff, number of clients seen each year approximately, areas of speciality (in particular in relation to Police Referrals)

CentacareCQ is the longest running not-for-profit local social services organisation in Central Queensland, providing professional community services for over 40 years. Our reach extends from Mackay to Bundaberg in the south, and out to the Central West. While we have seven office sites (Rockhampton, Emerald, Bundaberg, Mackay, Gladstone, Yeppoon, Blackwater & Emerald), staff travel far and wide to deliver services. Our dedicated 200 + staff and volunteers provide professional community services, including a wide range of counselling and dispute resolution, family & community support and education to over 10,000 people each year. Link to CentacareCQ website: https://www.centacarecq.com/

Number of Police Referral Clients they’ve worked with, average length of time for client engagement

Most successful client outcome (or 2)

For the past 12 months, the client contact team have booked approximately 400-500 police referrals. The clients are usually engaged within 5 business days with a counsellor. Our team are the first point of contact for clients, ensuring clients receive relevant information and referral information if required.

Thoughts on the importance of the Police Referral Service / the value they get from it / they see clients gaining from it / suggestions for improvements,

The police referrals is anchored to assist and work with traumatised people and CentacareCQ clients find these referrals to be extremely helpful. These referrals made to CentacareCQ ensure that individuals, families and youth have access to an array of clinical interventions to ameliorate the effects of violence exposure and trauma caused to individuals.

Service Delivery, flexibility and responsiveness

Thanks to all those services who provided updates on their service delivery over the last month, learning and adapting to new ways of connecting. It sounds like you have all transitioned comfortably to supporting our most vulnerable where and when you can. With limited F2F contact with public and clients, connecting by phone and email has been the way of communicating and feedback from services suggests for the most part clients have embraced the phone or online platforms. For clients where the barrier is having no phone, credit or internet we have seen in some district’s services dropping off appropriate resources and essentials to client’s homes to ensure no one goes without.

An update from our Far North and more remote teams is that service is continuing in most communities with clinicians on the ground. The teams will be staying in some communities for extended periods and providing phone and video support for when they cannot be there.

With the health of all our clients our priority – we wish everyone the best.

2 to go!

At the end of 2019 we had completed 13 of our 15 District Engagement workshops across the state and how very thankful we are now to have managed this. We were all geared up to complete the remaining two – Capricornia and Wide Bay Burnett Districts in early 2020 however stopped in our tracks by COVID – 19 restrictions.

We have not forgotten about you Capricornia and Wide Bay Districts and will endeavour to meet and present the workshops when time allows, we look forward to meeting.

A big welcome to the Services who have commenced being part of the Police Referral Network.

• North West QLD Indigenous Catholic Social Service – Mt Isa
• Townsville Womens Health and Wellbeing Service – Townsville

Case Study 1

Police attended an incident involving domestic violence and served a police protection notice on the respondent. Feeling supported by police the female aggrieved made a statement to police with regards to domestic violence and being assaulted by the respondent.

Police made a referral to PRADO through Redbourne referral system. The female disclosed a significant history of domestic violence including serious assaults, strangulation, threats with a weapon, verbal and psychological abuse.

The female had fled her apartment which she had shared with the respondent. PRADO provided emotional support, advocacy for bank and Centrelink crisis payments and housing support. PRADO met with the female and provided safety planning and on-going case management.

The female was relocated with the support of her work and PRADO arranged with Rizeup for a full home kit out, providing all her furniture, kitchen, laundry and bathroom packs. PRADO also ensured she was referred to her local domestic violence service for on-going support and counselling. 

Case Study 2

Police liaised with the Pine Rivers PRADO caseworker and PRADO support worker with regards to a female that had presented at hospital with serious injuries. A referral to PRADO was made through Redbourne. Injuries to the aggrieved included evidence of multiple strangulation. Initially when talking with police the aggrieved did not wish to report any assault or make any statement to police. Police asked if the Pine Rivers PRADO caseworker and support worker would attend the hospital to speak with and offer support to the female. 

The female engaged very well with PRADO staff. She disclosed a very high risk situation where she had been seriously assaulted by her current partner. PRADO worked with the female assisting with emotional support, safety planning and case management. 

Case management included assisting the female to refuge, arranging transportation and the removal of her belongings. PRADO caseworker advocated on her behalf with Centrelink to assist financially and an urgent victims assist application. The female was extremely appreciative of all the help and support she received to get somewhere safe. 

Feeling supported and empowered the female decided to make a statement to police in order to hold the respondent accountable for his behaviour. Police served the respondent with a police protection notice and he was charged with 15 serious offences. The respondent is subsequently incarcerated.  

The client was relocated out of the area and a referral was made to her local domestic violence service for on-going support and counselling. 

About the Service Provider, location, how long in operation, number of staff, number of clients seen each year approximately, areas of speciality (in particular in relation to Police Referrals)

Celebrating 25 years of Service!

Kalwun Development Corporation Ltd is an Aboriginal community controlled organisation providing comprehensive primary health care, human services and community care interventions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, families and communities on the Gold Coast for 25 years.

Kalwun has 8 locations across the Gold Coast with165 staff.

• Kalwun Development Corporation is located at Level 1, 14 Cassia Drive Varsity Lakes.
• 3 Medical Services –  located at Bilinga, Miami and Oxenford.
• 2 Family Wellbeing Service –  Kortum Drive Burleigh Heads and Jowett Street Coomera.
• Kalwun Community Care 118 Bonogin Road Bonogin
• Jellurgal  Aboriginal Cultural Centre 117 Gold Coast Hwy Tallebudgera

Kalwun Health Service has 6500 active health patients including 78% Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent, 2952 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health check completed and 1405 new patients

Kalwun Family Wellbeing Service supported 481 families

Kalwun Foster and Kinship Care Team have trained 15 Carers

Kalwun Community Care 386 elder receiving support

Kalwun Housing have supported 140 families

Kalwun Development Corporation Emergency relief vouchers issued 306

Jellurgal Aboriginal Cultural Centre Aboriginal Dance performances provided 466

Number of Police Referral Clients they’ve worked with, average length of time for client engagement and most successful client outcome.

Kalwun has had 2 referrals with one outcome.  The POI was seen by a GP transported for a x-ray and transported back to his home address.

Client/POI has be referred to Kalwun Housing, Kalwun Social Wellbeing team, Kalwun Men’s group and an Application for Social Housing completed.  Communication is left open for POI to contact Community Support Officer.

Thoughts on the importance of the Police Referral Service / the value they get from it / they see clients gaining from it / suggestions for improvements.

Very important for the Gold Coast Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander community.  It’s a way to link our people and educate them on all Kalwun Services available and if we can’t support them within Kalwun we will refer to culturally appropriate service.

Making it easier – Auto-response function!

There has never been a more important time to be arming clients with your service contact details. The Auto-Response functionality is available to most and is a simple functionality that sends the client, where safe to do so, your contact details to ensure they can phone you when they are ready, at time of referral or in the future. This is a set and forget option that RMCS configure with your approval.

For more information on the SMS/EMAIL and Auto-Response functionality please email RMCS@redbourne.com.au or call 1300 058 910 to speak with us.

Please Share – Service Delivery Impacts

As a result of COVID – 19 we all continue to adapt and learn new ways of going about our daily lives. With our providers on the front line continuing to support our most vulnerable, this must have had quite the impact on service delivery and implementing new methods of connecting. As a network supporting each other, we thought it worth you sharing what is working well in your service, alternate ways of connecting with clients and even what technological platforms you are finding work well. We have over 450 services within our Police Referral Network all of differing sizes and offerings but if we use this platform among many to share ways of adapting this might just solve another’s problem of the day – and we all need that. So please send through any feedback, tips and tricks to RMCS@redbourne.com.au and we will compile and share in our next bulletin.

Chris’s corner…

As I sit here now in my home based, physically distant work space, it reinforces the different world we are now in compared to even at the time of writing this piece last month. It has been a month where we have all had to make a number of changes to the way we work and live. This has been particularly evident in seeing how people are going about ensuring services are maintained with the most vulnerable people in our community, be that the homeless, people with a disability or the elderly.

Whilst front line Policing continues to deliver the service delivered every day of the year, in addition to new Covid-19 relates functions, it is important to remember that the need for support and access to referral services will not change, and in some cases there will be an increase. It is for this reason that it is very important that some time is taken to review your current profiles in SRS to ensure it is accurate. If you have any change in your service delivery be it having to change the referral categories that you are able to assist with or to modify your catchment areas, then please attend to this now.

As everyone is looking at new methods of service delivery, the QPS is no different. We have developed alternative online/SMS options for members of the public to request police contact in relation to Domestic and Family Violence (DFV) incidents. These alternative options are live and have been specifically developed to capture those persons who may be isolating due to COVID-19.

The key messages in relation to the online/sms DFV reporting are:

1. If the offence is happening now or if you or someone else is in danger dial triple zero;
2. If you can safely call, do not use the online/SMS options;
3. If you have information about domestic and family violence and if the offence is not happening now and the person is safe then contact Policelink on 131 444;
4. If the safest way for you to contact the QPS is online or SMS, then use the online options;
5. Make sure you give clear details about what is happening, tell us if there are weapons involved and any other information that will assist with officer safety and your safety;
6. Download the Emergency + (Plus) App https://emergencyapp.triplezero.gov.au/ and the Queensland Police Service Policelink App https://www.police.qld.gov.au/units/policelink-131-444 on your phone.

At a time where our most vulnerable are most in need of our support, it is heartwarming to see everyone still offering that virtual hand. Until next month, thank you for all of your special work in helping to build safe, caring and connected communities, particularly at this time of uncertainty, but most importantly, stay safe.

A/Senior Sergeant Chris Stafford

A big welcome to the Services who have commenced being part of the Police Referral Network.

• Man Up Empowerment – Gold Coast
• Muran Djan Centre – Cherbourg

COVID-19 and it’s effect on your service

To ensure that your service is receiving appropriate referrals please keep us updated with any changes to your service delivery or contact information. Keeping this information current is one of the key points of our Model Referral Process so email or call the Referral Coordination Service to keep in touch. We appreciate there will be challenges ahead as we respond to the COVID-19 virus and will be working business as usual until further advised. We wish everyone well over the coming months.

Beaucare

Beaucare feels it is certainly beneficial to our clients as it supports them in accessing our services as well as to link them to supports via our partnership agencies. Beaucare has Youth- and Family teams, Childcare support, Aged Care- Home Maintenance- and Disability Supports; men’s and women’s group programs, hubs in outlying areas (Kooralbyn, Canungra, Tamborine Mountain and Beechmont); Emergency Relief Funding as well as  ARIA – the Intake team which supports persons with information, advice and referrals to other Beaucare services or specialist agencies in the Scenic Rim, Logan or Gold Coast. We also have multiple partnership agreements with other agencies and can access those supports, for example the Beaudesert Domestic- and Family Violence Program via YFS or the Metro South Alcohol and Other Drugs program for parents with children between 0 and 8yo. We have had referrals where we identified multiple areas of Beaucare support available and can give case examples. However, our involvement is always voluntary and we have a clear conversation with persons on whether they choose to engage with us or not. We usually can offer more than the identified referral need and as Beaucare is a place-based community agency, we then are able to establish  relationships with local persons which helps when they have future support needs.

Beaucare and their engagement within communities

Referral 1:

A referral was made by QPS for emotional support/ counselling for Young person (YP) who was in the house for a home invasion where father was shot and died at the scene.

Beacare Engagement:

Beaucare case management received the referral for YP to access emotional counselling and receive support pre and post funeral. Outreach sessions were delivered as YP was relocated out of region due to safety concerns. Accommodation was arranged and paid for by Beaucare for YP, carer (family friend) and family of 7.

Liaison with Homicide detectives regarding emotional wellbeing of YP. Family case meeting regarding custody care of YP as temporary order was made for YP to live with family member- Aunty

Referrals to external agencies specialising in homicide trauma and PTSD

Liaison with family member when YP was placed in care of brother

Outcome:

YP experienced support having her own advocate

Strategies to support YP with expression and grief and funeral process

Support offered to multiple family members to further support YP

Referral 2:

Beaucare received a Policelink referral in relation to a 38-year-old male client earlier this year in relation to mental health concerns following the loss of employment and a previous suicide attempt.

Beacare Engagement:

Beaucare met with the client and his partner to complete a biopsychosocial assessment. Emergency Relief support was provided to the client to purchase food and fuel.

An urgent financial counselling appointment was scheduled for the client in order to address current financial distress and advocate for bill relief.

It was confirmed that the client had attended a GP and accessed a Mental Health Care Plan.  The client was encouraged to maintain his psychologist appointments.

The client and his partner were referred to the Beaucare Family Team for case management for relationship- and parenting support, support in assisting their 3 primary school aged children to cope with their father’s previous suicide attempt, and for support in assisting the client with the ongoing management of his mental health.

Outcome:

The client and his partner attended financial counselling and developed a budget and accessed advocacy in relation to outstanding bills, alleviating some of the financial stress they were experiencing.

The client and his partner actively engaged with the Beaucare Family Team for several months to access support.

Chris’s corner…

It feels like a broken record but 2020 is another year commencing at a hectic pace.  Whilst it has been another busy start, the unfortunate side of being this busy is that it has lead to us losing a number of very large service providers who can no longer afford to assist with accepting Police Referrals.  Unfortunately, this has lead to us no longer having the statewide service provider coverage for the central referral category of Mental Health.  This is a major concern for us as it means that we are no longer able to provide a true service provider response for anybody requiring Mental Health or non-emergent suicide prevention support not in a location with a local service provider.  The best we can offer, and purely as a means of keeping this as a referral category for those locations with a local service provider, is to offer an auto generated response advising people to contact their GP or other inbound call service providers.

The only way this situation can be addressed is through the inclusion of new service providers for these categories across the state.  Again, if you know of any services in your local networks who are not currently part of Police Referrals, please speak with them and encourage them to join us.  If they are interested in becoming part of the Police Referrals network then have them contact our Referral Coordination Management Service at admin@policereferrals.org.au.  Alternately, if you would feel more comfortable with us contacting other services direct to discuss with them the benefits of being part of Police Referrals then please e-mail the details of the service provider (and preferable with a contact person) to this same e-mail address.

Until next month, thank you for all of your support and working with the Queensland Police Service in helping to build safe, caring and connected communities.

A/Senior Sergeant Chris Stafford

Set and Forget – Quick and Easy

Utilising the auto-response functionality helps your service to empower the client and is a set and forget option that RMCS configure for you with your approval.

Once configured each client referred to your service will automatically be sent an SMS/EMAIL with your services contact number or website details so they can phone you should they wish.

The aim of this functionality is to give the client your details to ensure they can phone you when they are ready, at time of referral or in the future.

By setting up an Auto-Response it does not negate the need to make 3 attempts at contact with the client. However we believe it adds to the Police Referral Process to ensure clients are empowered with service provider information they can use when they are ready.

For more information on the SMS/EMAIL and Auto-Response functionality please email or call the RMCS team.

Benevolent Society – Beenleigh/Bayside!

About the Service Provider, location, how long in operation, number of staff, number of clients seen each year approximately, areas of speciality (in particular in relation to Police Referrals).

Family & Child Connect [FaCC] services are funded by the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women, and have been established to support families who are at risk of entering or re-entering the child protection system. FaCC are local, community-based services that help families to care for and protect their children at home, by connecting them to the right services at the right time. Broadly, this may look like provision of information, advice and referral to necessary supports and services. Please note that FaCC services do not provide case management.

Family and Child Connect operates from 8.30am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays), with offices located  across Queensland. Prescribed entities under the Child Protection Act 1999 can complete referrals to our service without consent from the family where necessary, however non Prescribed Entities do require consent from the family before completing a referral. Families can also self-refer by contacting FaCC services directly. Referrals can be made by completing the referral form at https://qld-families-referrals.infoxchangeapps.net.au/ or contacting 13 FAMILY (13 32 64).

Referral criteria:

• the referred family has a child under 18 years of age, and
• the child is not currently in need of protection, and
• without support the child, young person and family are at risk of entering or re-entering the statutory child protection system, and
• the family would benefit from access to intensive and specialist support services, either:
• active engagement provided by FaCC, or
• case management and intervention services provided by an intensive family support service
• the family has multiple and/or complex needs;
• There is at least one family member presenting with behaviours or circumstances that are having negative consequences for the family, particularly children. Consider if there is:
• more than one issue impacting on the child or family’s wellbeing; or
• there is a complex issue/s impacting on the child or family’s wellbeing. Examples of issues include, but are not limited to: family violence, parenting challenges, mental health, substance misuse, learning difficulties, housing instability and financial stress.

Number of Police Referral Clients they’ve worked with, average length of time for client engagement, most successful client outcome (or 2)

In the 2018-2019 financial year FaCC received approx. 247 referrals via QPS Redbourne

Upon receiving a referral via QPS Redbourne, attempts are made to contact the family within 2 business days to offer support. In some cases, information and/or advice is able to be provided to the family at the time of the call and the referral is then closed. Alternatively, if there are multiple and complex issues identified within the referred household and further assessment or referral to services is required, an active engagement case is opened with the family and work can occur for a period of up to 6 weeks with a goal of service connection.

Thoughts on the importance of the Police Referral Service / the value they get from it / they see clients gaining from it / suggestions for improvements.

With regards to the importance of Police Referral service:

QPS are often first responders when families are experiencing times of stress. During these times, it is encouraging to know QPS can be a pathway for families to connect with appropriate supports, at the right time. During times of stress, families are not always able to articulate their worries and/or needs. With a referral to FaCC, Child and Family Practitioners are able to have conversations with the family directly, sometimes when issues leading to QPS contact have de-escalated, allowing FaCC to complete a holistic assessment in relation to areas of strength and need.

With regards to suggestions for improvements, we have identified:

• Importance of consent being obtained from the family prior to referring a family to FaCC;
• Including as much information as possible in the referral regarding the incident leading to QPS involvement, as well as any risks/safety issues to FaCC workers in engaging with the family;
• Ensuring contact details provided for the family are correct and current;
• Ensuring there are children in the home under the age of 18, and concerns being reported have, or could lead to, an impact on the wellbeing of the children in the home;

Partnership Response at Domestic Occurrences (PRADO) case study 2019

This is just one of many ‘good work stories’ as a result of the QPS Redbourne Referral system and the collaboration between police and PRADO.

A client was referred to PRADO in November 2019 by way of the QPS Rebourne referral system. The referral was made following a domestic violence incident at her home address. Police had attended in the past and having concerns for the aggrieved had applied for a protection order. This order was granted for 5 years in order. Due to extenuating circumstances, the aggrieved allowed the respondent (ex-partner and father of her children) to stay temporarily at her home address. The aggrieved did this to try and support the respondent who was going through a tough time and she was hoping he would be able to support her caring for their children while she completed her university studies. The home situation did not work out. The respondent started to use controlling behaviours and physical violence towards her. PRADO provided on going emotional support, case management, awareness/education of domestic violence, cycle and impacts on herself and her children. PRADO provided weekly safety planning. Using the DVPO, the aggrieved was able to enforce the respondent to leave her address. PRADO made a referral for home security upgrades, as the she was concerned the respondent’s behaviour may escalate. She felt supported by both police and PRADO. She felt comfortable to reported breaches of the protection order to police and the respondent has been charged. The client receives ongoing support from PRADO.

A big welcome to the Services who have commenced being part of the Police Referral Network.

• Neami National Health Service Navigator
• Strengthening Family Connections
• Selectability – Mackay
• Selectability – Townsville

Chris’s corner…

2019 what a year it was for Police Referrals involving some significant travel for the Police Referrals team around Queensland. We attended various police districts within the second part 2019, conducting District Engagement workshops with both Police and Service Providers. These workshops proved to be an invaluable experience for both Police and Service Providers, not only to connect with their local police/service providers but also to understand and showcase what part each party plays to assist our vulnerable persons of Queensland via Police Referrals.

During these District Engagement sessions, the Police Referral teams were able to provide guidance, advice and tips for Police and Service Providers regarding the model police referral process, including emphasis on Quality vs Compliance.  It was also an opportunity for Police and Service Providers to collaborate, enhance interagency communications and form an understanding of the whole Police Referral process.

The model police referral process consists of the following five (5) points:

1. Inform and Consent

Ensure the referred client has been ‘Informed’ of the process/what will happen, and ‘Consent’ has been obtained from the client.

2. Contact Details

Confirm referred client’s contact details are correct/updated prior to completing the Police Referral. This enhances the ability for Service Providers to contact the referred client to provide required support or connect referred client with another more appropriate service.

3. Most appropriate referral category

This aligns with the theme ‘See the Person’ make every contact count, is there more going on than meets the eye?

Referring against the most appropriate referral category could mean the difference between someone receiving the correct support initially vs multiple police engagements.

For example: Is the client requiring support for homelessness? By seeing the person, it may be identified that the client is homeless due being struck with grief of the recent passing of a family member or friend, they’re unable to attend work, the client subsequently lost their job and was no longer able to pay their rent/mortgage. This client may benefit from a referral for Homeless, Grief Counselling and Financial Counselling.

4. Safety Concerns

As more Service Providers are utilising some of the available system functionality e.g. Email and SMS functions to contact the referred client prior to engaging by phone or provide information to the referred client where there are no other safe means of contact

5. Occurrence Summary

Reminding Police this field is often the only free text field police have to provide information to the Service Provider. Providing information within this field for the Service Provider can:

• reduce the possibility of re-traumatisation for the referred person having to repeat the information recently told to police, to the Service Providers
• provide valuable additional safety information for those Service Providers who offer outreach services
• assists Service Providers to triage referrals internally and on refer to other Service Providers if required

We would like to thank those Service Providers and Police who were able to attend our District Engagement sessions in 2019.

So as 2020 commences, we thank each and every one of you for the part you play in building safe, caring and connected communities and we look forward to working more with everyone in 2020 to continue providing the great services that we do..

Acting Senior Sergeant Chris Stafford

The final Service Provider spotlight for 2019 – Goodna Youth Service

What service do you offer?

GYS has a strong background in the provision of a wide range of youth development and support programmes in the region since its establishment in 1984. GYS provide support to young people who find themselves homeless, at risk of homelessness or transition from care.

During our 30-year history, GYS has remained the same, but throughout, we have remained agile, responsive and innovative. We remain a small agency addressing diverse needs in the rapidly expanding communities we serve.

To date, we have delivered services from a single location – the same accommodation which has housed our organisation since its formation. We have been creative and resourceful in progressively adapting our workplace to suit expanding needs, but its limitations are increasingly in evidence.

Our current funded programs deliver workshops, support and guidance to some of the most disadvantaged and venerable young people who struggle with their different backgrounds, cultural identities and personal goals.

We provide support to young people who find themselves homeless, at risk of homelessness or transition from care, and provides accommodation support, case management, life skills training and social connection. We can provide a QHIP assessment for housing, provide a place to have a shower, do laundry or just grab a coffee and a chat.

At our service Young people are treated with dignity. Their knowledge, culture, experience, strengths and choices are respected. Our learning framework is built upon difference, inclusiveness and participation.

GYS have 7 staff and are funded by the Department of Housing and Public Works, and the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women, to provide services to young people who are our most vulnerable in our community.

GYS believes that all people including young people have the right to safe, secure, and to be treated as equal people in our society, and believe that people need opportunities to become active in decision making in order to improve their lives.

Number of Police Referral Clients they’ve worked with, average length of time for client engagement and most successful client outcome?

14 out of the 38 police Redbourne referrals engaged with Goodna Youth Services with an average of 20 weeks duration within the program. We have seen much success with many of these clients gaining independence and re-engaging within family, education, employment or the community. We recently closed off a client’s file who was referred to us on the 25^th Feb 2019. She had been referred due to an incident of abuse from a family member. When we first engaged with the 17-year-old female, she was struggling at school and disengaged from family. Our youth workers assisted her to work through her journey plan including obtaining support around her schooling, mental health, social and family relationships. After being connected with CYMHS with their DBT sessions. The 17-year-old was diagnosed with ASD, ADHD, PTSD and suffering from borderline personality disorder. While working on herself confidence and worth, the youth worker witnesses the timid client grow in confidence and become a member of the Goodna youth service youth coalition which meets regularly each month to discuss issues revolving around the youth of the Ipswich community. The 17-year-old female is enjoying school as she completes her final term of school to achieve her QCE and then intends to attend the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) next year with aspirations of becoming a social worker or teacher. She is also working towards obtaining her provisional licence which is something she never thought would ever happen.

Why is the Police Referrals Program important?

GYS feel that Redbourne referrals are a vital part of the response for young people experiencing issues such as mental health and social disconnection. We know that police are seeing an increasing number of individuals with severe mental health problems who live in the community and the ability for Redbourne to refer to services where there is need is important.

New Year – New You!

As we all know the New Year can bring many changes so please keep us updated with staff movement, program enhancements or catchment changes.

A big welcome to the Services who have commenced being part of the Police Referral Network.

• Yumba Meta Ltd – Townsville Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander DFV Service
• Surfers Paradise Anglican Crisis Care Inc.
• Drug Arm – Cunnamulla
• Texas Health Service
• Central Queensland Indigenous Development – Family Wellbeing Service

Let us continue to inspire and acknowledge

As we wrap up another year of our Police Referral Program we would like to acknowledge everyone that has made it possible. We send our heartfelt gratitude to you, our valued Service Providers who continue to provide inspiration and hope to those in their time of need and our amazing Police members who support individuals and families every day to stay safe in their communities. We look forward to working with you all to continue to improve processes in 2020. Merry Christmas and thank you!

Below are some words written by a Service Provider after working on the Police Referrals over the past year;

“I now have a greater appreciation for the work of our Qld Police Service. I’ve always admired the service, courage and professionalism of our Police. Through Police Referrals I’ve also seen the care the officers take to make referrals and in talking with clients they often comment that individual Police Officers have been helpful and shown them care”

Chris’s corner…

On Saturday night I attended The World’s Big Sleep Out event at The Gabba.  This was one of 52 events held on the same night around the world as a global movement to end homelessness.  The Brisbane event was attended by around 500 people all there for this singular reason.  In recent Bulletins I have talked about the importance of connection, and being part of this event I really felt a sense of connection to this group of 60 000 people around the world all there for a common purpose.  It made me think that if someone who is living a comparatively privileged lifestyle feels this sense of connection in this scenario, how important that sense of connection and belonging is to any vulnerable person who may not always have that sense of belonging.  Another take away for me from this night was listening to Australian author Trent Dalton reading his bedtime story, a story he had compiled for the event called the “Very Big Book of Acts of Kindness”.  Some of the stories he discovered and had written about emphasised the big impact a small Act of Kindness can have on somebody.  Things that seem routine to one person, can be a turning point to someone else, and surely as we come into this time of the year, the act of kindness can be no more important.

So as 2019 draws to a close, I thank each and every one of you for the part you play in building safe, caring and connected communities and I would like to wish everyone involved in Police Referral Services a happy and safe Christmas/New Year period, and I look forward to working more with everyone in 2020 to continue providing the great services that we do..

A/Senior Sergeant Chris Stafford

SandBag’s Domestic Violence and Family Counselling Program

What service do you offer?

Our Domestic Violence and Family Counselling Program consists of a team of around five counsellors who work with women and young people affected by domestic and family violence. We provide individual counselling and group therapy, in addition to raising community awareness through hosting events, training and networking opportunities.

Where are you located?

SANDBAG has offices in Sandgate and Bracken Ridge. Our organisation has been providing community services in the Sandgate, Bracken Ridge and surrounding areas of north Brisbane for over twenty-five years

Why is the Police Referrals Program important?

We received our very first Redbourne referral when the system kicked off in January 2016. Prior to that, our domestic violence program commenced taking police referrals in approximately 2008/2009 via the Fax Back program, which then became Supportlink and is now known as Redbourne.

We receive 400-500 referrals each year for women and children impacted by domestic family violence, from all over the north Brisbane region. Some women want a listening ear and information, some need to be linked with other service providers in addition to counselling, some engage for a few sessions and some for several years – we work with what women need and towards their goals in addition to ongoing risk assessment and safety planning. Most women we contact are so grateful for the call, and to know that someone cares about their situation. We regularly receive feedback that our service is unique in offering free, long term counselling that assists women beyond the initial crisis period. Our team is committed and honoured to journey with women and young people as they regain power and find happiness and stability in a life free from abuse.

The Redbourne system provides a valuable platform for police to link Queenslanders with the services they might not know exist to support them. In addition, we reach out to those people to offer support and assistance when they might be facing immense challenges. We have heard how much it means when workers take time to understand the needs of the person and endeavour to link them with wrap-around supports.

SANDBAG is proud to be part of such a coordinated response.

Domestic Violence and Family Counselling Coordinator: Kylie Heenan

Phone: 3269 0277

Website: https://www.sandbag.org.au/

A big welcome to the Services who have commenced being part of the Police Referral Network.

Allity, located in Brisbane

Kalwun, located in the Gold Coast

St Johns Crisis Care, located in Surfers Paradise

District Engagement Events continue

We have now conducted 9 District Engagement workshops across Queensland.

• Brisbane North
• Brisbane South
• Cairns
• Sunshine Coast
• Mount Isa
• South West District – Roma and St George
• Ipswich
• Moreton Bay
• Townsville

We thank all our Service Providers and Queensland Police staff members who have attended to date.

Feedback is positive, highlighting the benefit of both QPS and Service Providers sharing their perspectives and appreciation of the Police Referral Program.

It has certainly been promising to see the impacts of the workshops as we move from district to district with a huge increase in services completing the outcomes component and a number activating the auto-response functionality.

Keep an eye on our District Engagement page with our next workshop being held on the Gold Coast on 7 November.  (Email invitations have been sent to nominated persons.)

Planning your support in this high need time of the year.

With only 7 weeks to go until Christmas, we all know the holiday season is a period of particularly high need for vulnerable persons.

To plan for this time, we ask Service Providers to consider providing as much assistance as they can to address the influx of referrals.

You may be able to assist by:

• Informing RMCS know as soon as possible of any planned closure dates and times for your service over the holiday period
• Minimising down times in answering referrals over that time
• Organising skeleton staffing to continue to answer referrals over the high need period
• Committing to addressing pending referrals as soon as possible after return to work

We appreciate any assistance you can provide during the season.

We all need to read good news.

As shared by Drug Arms Breakthrough for Families program in Mackay.

“A mother whose son had been arrested and charged with drug offences has been referred to our service by Police Officers in Mackay.

She had not been aware of the Breakthrough for Families Queensland program (BFFQ) which assists families who are impacted by their person’s substance use.  BFFQ has been able to assist and as a result she is now better equipped to help her son and her family. A good outcome for all concerned and also our community.  Thank you and please continue to share with the families who may benefit from this valuable program.”

Do you have a good news story you would like to share in the next Bulletin? Send it to rmcs@redbourne.com.au simply titled “good news story“.

3 fast facts re: Model Referrals Process

1. Auto-Response feature for email and SMS. As the referral arrives in your inbox, where safe to do so, the client automatically receive an EMAIL or SMS with your services details. Contact us and we can do it for you, email here.

2. Set up SMS and EMAIL templates in the system in order to best connect with referred clients – click here.

3. Finished a referral? Complete the Outcomes Component in the system. Assessing effectiveness of the Police Referrals Program is important for all involved. – click here.

Chris’s corner…

Sitting in church at my nephew’s confirmation on Sunday and the Bishop was talking about All Saints Day and the taking over of Halloween by the focus on witches and zombies. During this sermon he referred to zombies and the rules around zombies of never looking them in the eye and not engaging with them in case you become one.

At this point my reflection was on my morning spent with The Big Issue vendor and the way society approaches homelessness amounts to the same rules. The sad reflection of modern society is that nothing makes people divert their eyes quicker or be less engaging than homelessness. We have seen some horrific images in the media of an attack on a homeless person on the Gold Coast recently, but again people felt it more appropriate to record it on their phones than to step in and do something about it.

This month Brisbane City Council will again be working with a number of the homelessness service providers to run Homeless Connect. This event brings together 50 service providers as well as a number of other medical and allied health and well-being services to connect with homeless people from across the greater Brisbane area. The last event in June was attended by more than 700 guests.

On December 7th, Brisbane will be the only Australian location participating in The World’s Big Sleep Out (www.bigsleepout.com). This is a one night sleep out at 60 locations around the world on the same night. In Brisbane it will be at the Gabba and predominantly to help raise funds for an identified local homelessness service as well as to start the conversation across the broader community about homelessness and hopefully plant the seed about some of the practical steps every single person can do.

I believe this message will largely be preaching to the converted, but it is time we all took the lead, don’t just walk past a person in need, for those of you in cities with The Big Issue sellers either buy a magazine as this is their income, or just stop and say G’day.

Engagement is the first step to a sense of belonging and this sense of belonging and the positive experiences gained from these interactions can be such an important part in supporting any person through difficult times.

Until next month, thank you for all of your support and working with the Queensland Police Service in helping to build safe, caring and connected communities. Don’t forget to Say G’day.

Acting Senior Sergeant Chris Stafford

New functionality helps you empower your clients

As you are aware, we are sharing the Model Referral Process as part of District Engagement Events across the state.

The aim of sharing the Model Referral Process with you is to ensure we are all doing what we can to successfully connect with vulnerable clients through the Police Referrals Program.

At the workshops we demonstrate the Model Referral Process from a QPS perspective and from the Service Provider perspective. We encourage you to use the system functionality to its full potential. The aim is to improve take up rates and to do this by using a couple of key features of the system.

1. SMS/EMAIL templates that services can create in the system and use to let a client know they are phoning or have phoned.
2. Auto-Response functionality is a set and forget option that RMCS configure for you with your approval.

How does the Auto-Response work?

Once configured each client referred to your service will automatically be sent an SMS/EMAIL with your services contact number or website details so they can phone you should they wish.

The aim of this functionality is to give the client with your details to ensure they can phone you when they are ready, at time of referral or in the future.

By setting up an Auto-Response it does not negate the need to make 3 attempts at contact with the client. However we believe it adds to the Police Referral Process to ensure clients are empowered with service provider information they can use when they are ready.

For more information on the SMS/EMAIL and Auto-Response functionality please email or call the RMCS team.

A big welcome to the below Services who have commenced being part of the Police Referral Network.

Ferdy’s Haven, located on Palm Island

Strong Families Strong Communities, located in Cunnamulla

We have now conducted 6 District Engagement workshops – Brisbane North, Brisbane South, Cairns, Sunshine Coast, Mount Isa, South West District – Roma and St George.

We thank all our Service Providers and QPS members who have attended to date.

Feedback has certainly been positive, highlighting the benefit of both QPS and Service Providers sharing their perspectives and appreciation of the Police Referral Program.

One of the key take away points has been the importance of acknowledging that each District is unique and manage their processes according to their own needs.

This means the role of policing in different Districts can determine the type of service delivery on the ground. We all need to keep working at streamlining the Police Referral processes to adapt to this.

Keep an eye on our District Engagement page with our next workshop being held in Ipswich on the 15^th October. (Email invitations will be sent to nominated persons.)

This month we share with you a little bit about one Service Provider – Red Nose Grief and Loss.

What service do you offer?

Red Nose provides Bereavement Counselling free of charge to any person affected by the sudden and unexpected death of a baby or child during pregnancy, infancy or childhood. The counsellors at Red Nose understand that the expression and experience of grief is individual, and can tailor sessions to best meet individual needs.

Where are you located?

Our Red Nose office in Queensland is in Mt Gravatt. We have qualified Bereavement Counsellors available to support people by phone, face to face or online via video-chat. To find out more or arrange to access to Bereavement Counselling please call the Red Nose Grief and Loss Support Line on 1300 308 307.

Why is the Police Referrals Program important?

The Police Referral Service is important as Police are often the first responders when a death occurs. It is reassuring to know that Police can provide the right pathway for assistance for the families they encounter who need support.

Having access to the right support at the critical first stage is important because it means that grieving families can access the support they need without having to search for the information themselves in what is often a highly stressful and desperate time for them. This is because when someone is experiencing grief they often feel incapable of doing much more than basic tasks of life. Having the Police Referral Service refer them to Red Nose means there is one less thing they have to worry about.

The Police Referral Service also provides the ability to refer grieving families directly to specialised services for families affected by the death of a baby or child, meaning they get the right support from the beginning rather than having to find a counsellor with the relevant experience on their own.

Supporting the community in this high need time of the year.

As we know the Christmas and holiday season is a period of particularly high need for vulnerable persons.

To plan for this time, we ask Service Providers to consider providing as much assistance as they can to address the influx of referrals.

You may be able to assist by:

• Informing RMCS know as soon as possible of any planned closure dates and times for your service over the holiday period
• Minimising down times in answering referrals over that time
• Organising skeleton staffing to continue to answer referrals over the high need period
• Committing to addressing pending referrals as soon as possible after return to work

We appreciate any assistance you can provide during the season.

3 fast facts to action Police Referrals

1. Strive to improve TAT – turnaround times of Police Referrals actioned. Remember to try 3 attempts at contact with referred clients over 2 days and then the referral can be closed off.

2. Completing the Outcomes Component for appropriate referrals. It’s so easy to do and benefits the Police Referrals Program results. See tip sheet here.

3. Share good news stories with RMCS whilst actioning the referrals by dropping us an email. We all need good news stories.

National Police Remembrance Day, Friday 27 September 2019

In commemoration of National Police Remembrance Day, police across Queensland paused on Friday September 27, to pay tribute to their fallen colleagues.  This is our time to remember those 147 Queensland Police officers who gave their life serving the state, as well as remembering our colleagues who are no longer with us; those men and women who faithfully served the QPS and are now truly missed.

National Police Remembrance Day is held every year to honour those who have lost their lives and ensure the magnitude of their sacrifice is never forgotten.  It is now arguably one of the most important days on the policing calendar, NPRD is a time for members of the Service and the community to remember, honour and together say a ‘thank you’ to the dedicated men and women who have died whilst on duty.

This year commemorates a 30-year milestone for National Police Remembrance Day services, which have been held annually in September as it marks the Feast of Saint Michael (the Archangel), Patron Saint of Police, who was always fighting evil.

Until next month, thank you for all of your support and working with the Queensland Police Service in helping to build safe, caring and connected communities.

Take a look at a few photos from recent District Engagement Workshops – Sunshine Coast and South Brisbane below!

A quick thank you to infoxchange from Queensland Police Services

Providing as much feedback from a referral back to referring officers is always well received. Referring officers are genuinely interested in the outcomes of the referrals they generate and whilst we understand services are bound by confidentiality to their clients, any additional information you can provide is much appreciated. To send information back to a referring officer you need to be adding a comment after you have selected your service provider action. Once the referral is then closed the referring officer will receive an email with the action and attached comments. Below shows the exact comment box to complete should you wish to pass on additional information.

Sometimes a comment or conversation highlights how far we have all moved in relation to an appropriate Policing response to vulnerable people.  In a recent conversation with an “older” lady I was quizzed about why Police would be involved in supporting homeless people.  Her view of Policing is still that it is all about the reactive, lock up the offenders’ process as opposed to the provision of support to vulnerable people to reduce the likelihood of victimisation or re-victimisation.

Twenty years ago, I put together a local level process where we had met with 80 local services and had everyone on board across Government and non-government agencies to initially support the family identified as being central in youth offending in the area.  It was where everyone congregated, where boredom was resolved by wandering and playing out a range of anti social behaviours and epitomised the generational learned behaviours that we now identify as risk indicators.  Unfortunately, not long after the groundwork was done and the family started working with us, we were pulled from the program being told it was not Police work and is social work.

As the State Coordinator for Police Referrals, I am now privileged to be in a position where I get to see the great work where Police have the opportunity to be the initiators, commencing the support process for vulnerable people.  A process where we acknowledge that we don’t have the answers to everything, but realising that repeatedly arresting everyone on its own, is simply not going to resolve the issues.  A process of working closely with an amazing network of nearly 500 Services across Queensland to support people through the process of finding a pathway to assist them in achieving the outcome that will work best for them.

So why do Police have this non-arresting role?  Because a key part of our charter is about keeping our communities safe, this includes every person irrespective of where their current fortunes lay.  Police officers have an obligation to take that bit of time and offer some support to every person who wants it.  Every person from those safely secured in their homes each night, to those who for a range of different circumstances are couch surfing, sleeping in cars or parks deserve the same support and have the same right to a feeling of safety.  As Police we have the opportunity through thousands of ad hoc contacts with all of these people to help them achieve that increased level of safety.

Until next month, thank you for all of your work in helping to build safe, caring and connected communities.

A/Senior Sergeant Chris Stafford

The Womens Centre FNQ is a specialist domestic violence and homelessness support service.

We have been providing services to women and their children escaping Domestic and Family Violence for over 30 years in both the Cairns and Tablelands region. Our target group includes women and children fleeing violence, women who are homeless, tenancies at risk, families at risk of entering or reentering the statutory child protection system, women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Our professional staff – made up of 9 in the Cairns office and 3 in Atherton, are committed and passionate about working tirelessly to ensure that women and children have options for a safer future.

Our service in Atherton has 8 units of temporary secure accommodation for women escaping DFV. Referrals come from a large catchment area across the Tablelands and the Cape and are made via DV Connect and other services. Over the past year we have provided support to over 120 referrals made via Redbourne. One of the most positive things we find with Redbourne is that we’re able to link women in with the services that will best suit their needs as well as providing information and support about our own service. This is particularly useful for women in rural and remote areas like ours. Sometimes it’s just the sound of a friendly, supportive voice on the other end of the phone that clients find most comforting and reassuring.

You can find further information about our service on our webpage www.wirc.org.au

We have now conducted four District Engagement workshops – Brisbane North, Brisbane South, Cairns and Sunshine Coast.

We thank all our Service Providers and QPS members who attended. Feedback has certainly been positive highlighting the benefit of both QPS and Providers sharing together their perspectives and appreciation of the Police Referral Program.

Keep an eye on our District Engagement page with our next workshop being held in Mt Isa. Invites will be sent to nominated persons.

Welcome to the Police Referral Network.

A big welcome to the below Services who have commenced being part of the Police Referral Network.

Artius Health – West Moreton and Darling Downs

Mossman Elders Justice Group

IUIH Connect – Inner City Referral Team

Lives Lived Well – Whitsunday Region

Is there a new person in your team learning about the Police Referral Process?

Do you need to show them what to do?

Check out the Resources section in the Police Referral website. We have helpful guides to assist everyone learn the process.

Did you know you can contact the Police Officer who submitted the referral directly via email?

This can be done by emailing the officer’s rego number that can be found in the content of the referral information. Example as below would be 4008846@police.qld.gov.au

BUT it is important to remember, Police Officers are shift workers so a reply will not be immediate.

This month has seen the commencement of our Police Referrals engagement sessions that will be held across 13 Police Districts before December, with the remaining 2 to be held in early 2020.

In addition to the introduction of the components of the Model Referral Process, this process is also an opportunity to ensure we have engaged with every appropriate local service provider who could be part of the Police Referrals network.

The implementation of a model referral process is introducing, or reinforcing, some simple steps with the ultimate end goal of increasing the percentage of referrals that result in the successful engagement by clients with service providers.  The model process covers the whole process from the initial contact by Police through to the client being contacted and accepting the service offered by the service provider.

Our current list of over 485 Service Providers has come from a range of processes through working with Government Departments to build an initial list, but then largely working on word of mouth.

To this end, I am asking each of you to think about what other Service Providers are you working with in your local networks and are they involved in Police Referrals.  If there are Service Providers that you deal with that are not part of Police Referrals, please speak with them about what we are doing and what we are working towards. If they are interested in becoming part of the Police Referrals network then have them contact our Referral Coordination Management Service at admin@policereferrals.org.au.

Alternately, if you would feel more comfortable with us contacting other services direct to discuss with them the benefits of being part of Police Referrals then please e-mail the details of the service provider (and preferable with a contact person) to this same e-mail address.  The more local level service providers we are able to have engaged with Police Referrals the more we are able to spread the load of attending to.

Until next month, thank you for all of your work in helping to build safe, caring and connected communities.

A/Senior Sergeant Chris Stafford

As we continue to explore the best way forward to support Mental Health as a referral category for referring officers, we wish to extend a special thank you to Artius Health for their continued support and taking over the management of the State Wide referrals for Mental Health.

Without your support we would be facing a Police Referral Service unable to refer vulnerable community members to appropriate mental health support services. THANK YOU.

There are occasions when Service Providers need to on-refer clients to a more appropriate referral point.

In most instances this can be done through the Police Referral system and can begin with a QPS Directory Search.

Please visit the ‘How to On Refer’ resource section of the website to ensure you are using all available functionality to assist in this process.

https://policereferrals.org.au/resources/

This functionality is configured as a set and forget feature and is part of our Model Referral Process rollout across Queensland.

Once set up the auto-response feature will EMAIL or SMS the client when a referral is created. As the referral arrives in your inbox, where safe to do so, the client will automatically receive an EMAIL or SMS with your services details.

If this is something you would like to have set up or more information about, please contact the Referral Coordination Service on rmcs@redbourne.com.au or 1300 058 910.

This month’s District Police Referrals Coordinator spotlight is with Senior Sergeant Kevin Thomas

About me:

How long have you worked in the Queensland Police Service?

• I have worked for the QPS for 40 years.

When did you become a District Police Referral Coordinator?

• I became the District Police Referral Coordinator in 2016.

What do you like about being a District Police Referral Coordinator?

• I like providing advice about the referral practice and policy to our front line officers in the Wide Bay Burnett region.

Making a Difference:

What policing priorities are you targeting within your District and how is Police Referrals supporting that?

• We focus on our support in the Domestic Violence and Vulnerable Persons areas for our region.

What Referrals categories are most common in your District?

• Our top category would be Domestic Violence.

Thinking about the future:

What is your goal in Police Referrals?

• Increase and improve the opportunities to refer Vulnerable Person’s to agencies that are better equipped to deal with their issues.

No story is too small to share. To show how much the Police Referrals program contributes to safer and more supported Queensland communities, please send through any good news stories to nicolad@redbourne.com.au. Nicola is our Marketing Communications Manager.

The Family Mental Health Support Service by Accoras

In this month’s Service Provider Spotlight, we talk with  Fabrianne Russell.

Fabrianne is the Intake & Program Support Coordinator of Family Mental Health Support Service, Secondary to Intensive Family Support Service & Settlement Engagement and Transition Support Program Child, Youth & Family Services at Accoras.

Can you tell us about the Family Mental Health Support Service by Accoras?

The Family Mental Health Support Service (FMHSS) is delivered by Accoras – a not for profit organisation committed to supporting and promoting mental health and positive wellbeing in South East Queensland. The organisation has been around for 25 years and have been delivering the FMHSS contract for the past 5 years.

We are based in Yeerongpilly in Brisbane’s south and we provide outreach services to the Brisbane South Region.

We are a free early-intervention mental health service that works with children and young people aged 0-18 years. We provide assistance with challenges the young person maybe be facing in regards to their mental health and support them to overcome barriers they may be facing. We utilise a strengths-based approach, using the young person’s strengths to help them work through their difficulties.  We work with children and young people to support the development of positive coping strategies as well as upskilling the family to support their child/young person’s needs.

What is the average length of time for client engagement?

On average most clients achieve their goals within 3 to 6 months. However, some clients can be on-referred to help with a different need.

Why do you think Police Referral Service is an important community service? 

We believe it is really important to help people especially our troubled youth, we believe that if the Police can get to the kids that are in the community or the ones that seem to slip through the gaps then that can make a big difference to helping them before it’s too late.

Do you have any suggestions on how the Police Referrals Program could be improved?

The only suggestions would be for the Police Officers on duty to get to know the services in their area better, so that they can refer to the best and most appropriate service available for that young person.

A link to our website to view all programs and more detail about us: www.accoras.com.au

We are excited to advise that we have conducted our first two District Engagement workshops – Brisbane North District and Brisbane South District. We thank all our Service Providers and QPS members who attended.

Feedback has certainly been positive highlighting the benefit of both Queensland Police Service and our Service Providers sharing their perspectives and appreciation of the Police Referral Program.

Keep an eye on our District Engagement Events page with our next workshop being held in Cairns and on the Sunshine Coast.

Invites will be sent to nominated persons.

Welcome to the Police Referral Network!

A big welcome to the below Services who have commenced being part of the Police Referral Network.

Gungarde Family Wellbeing Service, located in Cooktown

Inala Youth Service, located in Brisbane

Welcome to the Police Referral Network

New Service Providers now accepting Police Referrals.

A big welcome to the below Services who have commenced being part of the Police Referral Network.

• The Compassionate Friends QLD

DPRC questionnaire with Megan Armour from Policelink and Programs Group

About me:

How long have you worked in the QPS?

• I have worked for the QPS for 13 years, since 2006

When did you become a District Police Referral Coordinator?

• I became the District Police Referral Coordinator in 2017

What do you like about being a DPRC?

• I love being able to spread the word about the importance of Referrals as a stand-alone option or as part of a Policing response. I am a strong believe that the simple process of a referral, can make such a large difference to the lives of so many.

Making a Difference:

Thinking of the referrals that have been made in your district, can you give 1 or 2 of your best examples of where the referral has made a genuine difference? (provide de-identified examples)

• Providing Referrals give our Client Services Officers a sense of pride and accomplishment.  Dealing with the public over the phone can be difficult and rarely do we see the outcome of the calls that we take.  Referrals provide our Client Service Officers with that immediate outcome and “feel good moment” of being able to assist and help shape the lives of people.

What policing priorities are you targeting within your District and how is Police Referrals supporting that?

• Policelink is very different to any other area within the QPS. We receive over 2 million contacts per year, providing us with a unique and priceless opportunity to really make a difference with Police Referrals.  We can offer Police Referrals to our Callers, ensuring assistance is offered, even if Police do not attend.

What Referrals categories are most common in your District?

• Our top 3 categories would be Victim Assist, Domestic and Family Violence (aggrieved) and Personal Counselling.

Thinking about the future:

What is your goal in Police Referrals?

• To increase the number of Referrals offered at Policelink and have a greater impact on the Community.

Where would you like to see Police Referrals in the next 5 – 10 years?

• Referral service providers continue to increase to support the Community with the support and services they require.

Elder Abuse Prevention Unit Profile

The Elder Abuse Helpline is a statewide service available to anyone who suspects, witnesses or experiences abuse of an older person. All calls to the Helpline are confidential and callers are welcome to remain anonymous; we do’t record calls or keep notes. Each call explores the situation in depth and options are explored based on individual needs. The program is operated by UnitingCare and funded by the Queensland Government. Hours of operation are Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.

The Helpline is older person focussed, respectful, non-judgemental and offers you the time to talk things over at your own pace.

Elder abuse is a complex issue and our role is to work with you on what the best options may be for you and your family. Sometimes, contact with a number or other agencies may be suggested.

Workers can call the helpline to discuss intervention and support strategies for their clients.

The Elder Abuse Prevention Unit also offers free community awareness sessions. Call the Elder Helpline on 1300 651 192 to book a session.

Police Referrals are still exploring the best way forward in order to keep Mental Health as a referral category for referring officers and are interested in speaking with those services that are now commissioned to play a supporting role to vulnerable clients with Mental Health issues. Connecting clients to appropriate community services is the aim of the Police Referrals so please share this message within your networks to support this valuable referral pathway and those suffering Mental Health issues. Please share our details with any interested parties or alternatively send details to the Referral Coordination Service of potential services we could approach.

The 4th July saw a number of new additions to the information service providers will receive when receiving a referral through the Police Referrals System.

The biggest of these changes is the removal of the Disability Support referral category.  From now on people with a disability will be referred against the presenting issue (eg. a person with a disability requiring alcohol support would be referred to an alcohol support agency).  This approach is consistent with the intent of the referral program which seeks to address underlying issues.  This is also in line with the QPS approach for officers to take the time to “See the person and not just the incident”.

In addition to this change there are now three new fields that will show under the referred persons detail on the referral.  The first is “Does the Client have a Disability”.  A yes answer will open a follow up question to identify which type of disability the referred person has from 6 options.  This option allows multiple disabilities to be selected.  This question has been introduced to inform the receiving service providers if the referred person has any disability.

The second new question appearing on Person Details page is whether the referred person “Identifies as LGBTI”.  There are three options that the referring Officer will be able to select from, Yes, No, or the referred person would prefer not to state.

The third new question is whether the referred person has any Outlaw Motor Cycle Gang affiliations.  If yes, the referring Officer will be asked to identify which group and what the affiliation is.  This question has been introduced as the result of a recent example where clients were brought together in a group counselling scenario and found that two members of the group had affiliations with rival gangs.

These questions don’t require any change or difference in your current procedures or actions, it is purely a case of keeping service providers as well informed as possible.

Until next month, thank you for all of your work in helping to build safe, caring and connected communities.

A/Senior Sergeant Chris Stafford

Opening hours: Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm

Staff:

• Shannon Cotter
• Karen Wolanski
• Louis Dimech
• Georgina Rutley

Phone: 1300 058 910

Email: rmcs@redbourne.com.au

We would like to acknowledge and thank all those who have been managing the Police Referrals within their roles but are now moving on to new endeavours, it is forever transient and a changing space. It is not without your ongoing support that the Police Referrals continue to make a difference in people’s lives and working in such a network based field we would love to hear from you in your new positions to continue the partnerships between QPS and our valuable Service Providers. We also ask that all Services update us with staff movement when in relation to the Police Referrals.