In this issue

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