Establishing New Therapeutic Spaces to Explore Family Violence Risks with Children and Youth
Tracks
Room 4: In-Person Only
| Tuesday, November 26, 2024 |
| 1:45 PM - 2:15 PM |
| Room 4 |
Overview
Dr Jamie Lee & Tonia Keating, Relationships Australia SA
Speaker
Ms Tonia Keating
Regional Manager West
Relationships Australia South Australia
Establishing New Therapeutic Spaces to Explore Family Violence Risks with Children and Youth
2:10 PM - 2:40 PMAbstract
A majority of Australian children and young people (CYP) have been maltreated, according to the recent Australian Child Maltreatment Study, yet these CYP frequently don’t disclose abuse while they are children. Non-disclosure can result from abuse tactics of silencing child victims or having them self-blame; but non-disclosure may also be because health and community-services practitioners don’t ask suitable questions and hence may not realise if they are already seeing maltreated CYP.
Here we present a framework for practitioners to use with CYP 5-17 years to open the space for conversation about possible violence and abuse in the home: the Kids’ DOORS (McIntosh, Bailey, Lee & Ralfs, 2023). Based on Family DOORS framework (McIntosh & Ralfs, 2012), Kids’ DOORS uses a structured series of purposeful questions where each “Yes” is an opportunity to elaborate possible abuse indications and for practitioners to respond appropriately.
By way of outcomes, a review of 155 cases children a community-based counselling service found that 42% of children answered that they had felt unsafe at some point with a parent and 23% had been hurt by a parent or other adult in a non-accidental way. An anonymous survey after implementation found 84% of practitioners using Kids’ DOORS thought it helped them identify risks quicker compared to their usual practice and 79% thought it identified risks they wouldn’t have otherwise known about.
We conclude with a discussion of implementation of risk screening with Kids’ DOORS in routine practice and present a case study where a family therapist identified and responded to violence in the home using Kids’ DOORS.
Key Learnings:
1. Practitioners appreciate the likelihood that children and young people in their care have been maltreated or abused but have not yet disclosed this.
2. The presenting issue for parents and carers to bring children and young people to community-based counselling may not be abuse-related, meaning practitioners must use intentional questions to open a space to talk about abuse.
3. Practitioners see that risk screening tools like Kids' DOORS can create an appropriate space to ask CYP about risk of abuse.
Here we present a framework for practitioners to use with CYP 5-17 years to open the space for conversation about possible violence and abuse in the home: the Kids’ DOORS (McIntosh, Bailey, Lee & Ralfs, 2023). Based on Family DOORS framework (McIntosh & Ralfs, 2012), Kids’ DOORS uses a structured series of purposeful questions where each “Yes” is an opportunity to elaborate possible abuse indications and for practitioners to respond appropriately.
By way of outcomes, a review of 155 cases children a community-based counselling service found that 42% of children answered that they had felt unsafe at some point with a parent and 23% had been hurt by a parent or other adult in a non-accidental way. An anonymous survey after implementation found 84% of practitioners using Kids’ DOORS thought it helped them identify risks quicker compared to their usual practice and 79% thought it identified risks they wouldn’t have otherwise known about.
We conclude with a discussion of implementation of risk screening with Kids’ DOORS in routine practice and present a case study where a family therapist identified and responded to violence in the home using Kids’ DOORS.
Key Learnings:
1. Practitioners appreciate the likelihood that children and young people in their care have been maltreated or abused but have not yet disclosed this.
2. The presenting issue for parents and carers to bring children and young people to community-based counselling may not be abuse-related, meaning practitioners must use intentional questions to open a space to talk about abuse.
3. Practitioners see that risk screening tools like Kids' DOORS can create an appropriate space to ask CYP about risk of abuse.
Biography
Bio coming soon...
Dr Jamie Lee
Practice Manager Family Doors
Relationships Australia SA
Establishing New Therapeutic Spaces to Explore Family Violence Risks with Children and Youth
Abstract
A majority of Australian children and young people (CYP) have been maltreated, according to the recent Australian Child Maltreatment Study, yet these CYP frequently don’t disclose abuse while they are children. Non-disclosure can result from abuse tactics of silencing child victims or having them self-blame; but non-disclosure may also be because health and community-services practitioners don’t ask suitable questions and hence may not realise if they are already seeing maltreated CYP.
Here we present a framework for practitioners to use with CYP 5-17 years to open the space for conversation about possible violence and abuse in the home: the Kids’ DOORS (McIntosh, Bailey, Lee & Ralfs, 2023). Based on Family DOORS framework (McIntosh & Ralfs, 2012), Kids’ DOORS uses a structured series of purposeful questions where each “Yes” is an opportunity to elaborate possible abuse indications and for practitioners to respond appropriately.
By way of outcomes, a review of 155 cases children a community-based counselling service found that 42% of children answered that they had felt unsafe at some point with a parent and 23% had been hurt by a parent or other adult in a non-accidental way. An anonymous survey after implementation found 84% of practitioners using Kids’ DOORS thought it helped them identify risks quicker compared to their usual practice and 79% thought it identified risks they wouldn’t have otherwise known about.
We conclude with a discussion of implementation of risk screening with Kids’ DOORS in routine practice and present a case study where a family therapist identified and responded to violence in the home using Kids’ DOORS.
Key Learnings:
1. Practitioners appreciate the likelihood that children and young people in their care have been maltreated or abused but have not yet disclosed this.
2. The presenting issue for parents and carers to bring children and young people to community-based counselling may not be abuse-related, meaning practitioners must use intentional questions to open a space to talk about abuse.
3. Practitioners see that risk screening tools like Kids' DOORS can create an appropriate space to ask CYP about risk of abuse.
Here we present a framework for practitioners to use with CYP 5-17 years to open the space for conversation about possible violence and abuse in the home: the Kids’ DOORS (McIntosh, Bailey, Lee & Ralfs, 2023). Based on Family DOORS framework (McIntosh & Ralfs, 2012), Kids’ DOORS uses a structured series of purposeful questions where each “Yes” is an opportunity to elaborate possible abuse indications and for practitioners to respond appropriately.
By way of outcomes, a review of 155 cases children a community-based counselling service found that 42% of children answered that they had felt unsafe at some point with a parent and 23% had been hurt by a parent or other adult in a non-accidental way. An anonymous survey after implementation found 84% of practitioners using Kids’ DOORS thought it helped them identify risks quicker compared to their usual practice and 79% thought it identified risks they wouldn’t have otherwise known about.
We conclude with a discussion of implementation of risk screening with Kids’ DOORS in routine practice and present a case study where a family therapist identified and responded to violence in the home using Kids’ DOORS.
Key Learnings:
1. Practitioners appreciate the likelihood that children and young people in their care have been maltreated or abused but have not yet disclosed this.
2. The presenting issue for parents and carers to bring children and young people to community-based counselling may not be abuse-related, meaning practitioners must use intentional questions to open a space to talk about abuse.
3. Practitioners see that risk screening tools like Kids' DOORS can create an appropriate space to ask CYP about risk of abuse.
Biography
Jamie Lee PhD, is Practice Manager for Family DOORS at Relationships Australia SA (RASA). He is also a Counselling Psychologist, working with children and their families affected by parental separation. He has also worked at the Child Protection Service of the Women’s and Children’s Hospital and the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. In his time at RASA, Jamie has worked on many key initiatives around identifying and responding violence, abuse, and mental health. Jamie has presented and published on many aspects of universal screening, collaborating closely with Prof Jenn McIntosh, Dr Anna Booth, Dr Claire Ralfs and others.
