Community Safety And The Protecting Our ... - Auckland Council

FAMILY VIOLENCE PREVENTION TRAINING FOR HOME VISITORS ANDAGENCIES THAT WORK MOST CLOSELY WITH UNDER 5SPROJECT OVERVIEWA large number of agencies from a wide range of sectors are involved with families and youngchildren under 5. A broad intersectoral understanding of family violence issues and collectiveownership of interagency roles in solutions will be critical if family violence is to be stopped.Family violence prevention is everyone’s business and all social service agencies should haveprotocols/policies about family violence.Home visitors for example see families in a wide range of situations, often stressful ones, andcould be better trained to pick up “early warning” signs of violence and know what appropriateaction to take. It is also important that family violence prevention (identification/referral) trainingpackages are consistent across sectors so that citywide standards can be developed,communicated and maintained.There are a number of family violence training packages, courses and providers already inexistence. To some degree, training packages are transferable across sectors. Theknowledge/training processes and support materials (eg. database of referral agencies) that willbe developed in the health sector for example, could be shared with other sectors and agencies.A Waitakere specific cross-sector training package could be developed and offered twice yearlyfor community and government agency staff to attend. Having a low cost, centrally coordinatedand organised training course should reduce costs/organisation time for smaller agencies andensure consistency in messages/teaching across the various sectors and home visitoragencies. Such a process would also likely enhance communication and networking betweenhome visiting agencies.NOTE: in the first instance, this project will dovetail in with the Health Sector FamilyViolence Prevention Training Project described on pages 14-16. This is to ensureconsistent messages, supporting information and approaches to training are developedacross both the health and broader social sector.qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqSOME KEY STAKEHOLDERS AND/OR RECIPIENTS OF CROSS SECTOR TRAININGWAVESWaitemata DHBChild focused social service agenciesHousing NZMinistry of EducationEarly childhood education/care providersWINZ staffAnimal welfare officersSocial workersFiremenPoliceYouth workersCABx and community house staffBudgeting agenciesSocial service agencies such as Salvation Army, James Family etcAnd other interested agencies and individualsPAGE 17