3. Ongoing intervention
Purpose
Ongoing intervention refers to intervention by Child Safety Services that occurs with a child and family following the completion of an investigation and assessment, when either a child is assessed as being in need of protection, an unborn child is assessed as being in need of protection following their birth or a child is assessed as not being in need of protection, but the level of risk in the family is assessed as 'high' or 'very high'. Ongoing intervention may also occur for a young person who has transitioned from care, following their eighteenth birthday.
Ongoing intervention may occur with either the authority of a child protection order, or with the consent of the parents, pregnant woman or young person.
The purpose of ongoing intervention is to meet the child's protection and care needs, reduce the likelihood of future harm to the child or unborn child or provide ongoing support and assistance to a young person, following their eighteenth birthday, if required.
Key steps
- Decide the type of ongoing intervention
- Decide the type of child protection order, if required
- Undertake ongoing intervention activities
- Close an ongoing intervention case
What ifs - responding to specific ongoing intervention matters
Standards
- Ongoing intervention is provided for any child who has been assessed as being in need of protection.
- Ongoing intervention is offered for any child who has been assessed as not being in need of protection where there is a 'high' or 'very high' outcome on the family risk evaluation.
- Ongoing intervention is offered to a pregnant woman, and where applicable her partner, when it is assessed that an unborn child will be in need of protection after their birth.
- When deciding the type of ongoing intervention and other significant decisions about an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child, the recognised entity is given an opportunity to participate in the decision-making processes.
Practice skills (key areas for reflection)
- Have I provided the child and parents with information about the matters affecting them, to inform their involvement in decision-making?
- Have I genuinely consulted and actively included the child and parents in the decision-making processes?
- Have I selected the most appropriate type of ongoing intervention, and if a child protection order is required, am I confident it does not exceed the level of intervention needed to secure the child's safety?
- Have I ensured that the type of child protection order to be applied for, if applicable, reflects the needs of the child and their family, and is consistent with the case plan goal?
Authority
- Child Protection Act 1999, section 5, 6, 7, 10, 51C, 51ZB, 54, 59, 61, 63, 64, 65, 73, 159A-159H, 159M-159N, 159(O), 187, 188 and Chapter 7
- Policy No. 395-2: Administrative access to child safety records
- Policy No. 391-3: Critical Incident Reporting
- Policy No. 403-2: Information exchange and service delivery coordination
- Policy No. 408-2: Information privacy
- Policy No. 401-2: Interstate transfers of child protection orders and proceedings
- Policy No. 343-4: Intervention with Parental Agreement
- Policy No. 369-1: Participation in Decision-Making - Children and Young People in Alternative Care
- Policy No. 372-2: Recordkeeping
- Policy No. 406-2: Support Service Case
- Policy No. 347-4: Transferring matters between CSSCs
- Protocol for the Transfer of Child Protection Orders and Proceedings and Interstate Assistance 2007
- Last updated
- 21 September 2009
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