Appendix B: Program logic model: Child Information Sharing Scheme

A key priority for the Victorian government is that children are kept safe from harm and have every opportunity to thrive…Victoria’s Roadmap for Reform: strong families, safe children …builds upon the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Family Violence, and calls for improved multi-agency collaboration and information sharing to address family violence and other risks that can affect the emotional, behavioural, social and educational development of children…The Children Legislation Amendment (Information Sharing) Bill 2017 proposes measures to enable critical new connections between services who work with children. It will enable them to share information confidently and for the right purposes…These reforms are an important step towards ensuring the wellbeing and safety of all Victorian children. [1]

• To improve early risk identification and intervention.
• To shift a risk averse culture in relation to child information sharing.
• To increase collaboration to deliver more integrated child and family services.
• To support child and family participation in services [2].

• $43.4M in 2018-2022 & $5.2M annually ongoing
• Organisational record keeping systems and processes
• Helpline email and phone for workforce enquiries
• Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (FVISS)
• Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management Framework (MARAM)
• Child and family service reforms (Roadmap for Reform: strong families, safe children 2016)
• The Orange Door
• Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005
• Child Youth and Families Act 2005
• Related privacy and secrecy provisions in other legislation
• Child Information Sharing Scheme Ministerial Guidelines. Guidelines for information sharing entities
• Information Sharing Entities (ISEs)
• Wider child and family service system
• Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Sexual Abuse (R8)
• Interdepartmental Child Information Sharing Steering Committee

• Training of Phase One and Phase Two ISEs
• ISE systems, practices and procedures developed to enable CISS
• Local arrangements agreed to facilitate CISS
• Enhancement of local referral pathways
• ISE child information sharing under CISS and FVISS
• ISE engagement with children and families about information sharing
• ISE monitoring and review of child information sharing activity

• Understanding of legislative provisions for information
• sharing will reinforce ISEs’ roles
• and responsibilities
• Local systems and arrangements will support good and consistent practice within and between ISEs and other service providers
• Timely sharing of up to date information will assist ISEs to respond earlier and effectively to the wellbeing and safety needs of the child
• Aggregate information to inform assessment will include input from the child and their family
• Monitoring and review of information sharing activity will support ISE compliance with legislative requirements and contribution to improved wellbeing and safety outcomes for the child

• ISE workforces participate in appropriate CISS training
• ISE systems that routinely record child information sharing
• New arrangements developed by ISEs to strengthen information sharing between ISEs
• New arrangements developed by ISEs for local referral pathways to facilitate access to prevention and early intervention services for children and their families
• ISE information sharing requests and responses including engagement with children and their families, as appropriate
• ISE review mechanisms for
• information sharing

• ISEs are aware of their roles and responsibilities related to CISS
• ISE workforces are confident to share child information
• ISEs demonstrate quality, timely and appropriate child information sharing
• ISEs are sharing information with a child or parent to manage a risk to a child’s safety, as appropriate
• ISEs collaborate to provide integrated and coordinated services to children and their families
• ISEs can intervene earlier to protect children and assist them to thrive and develop
• ISE systems and processes enable child information sharing record keeping and monitoring

• A shared understanding and commitment to child wellbeing across services and communities
• Respect and trust between families, professionals and services
• A dominant professional practice ethic among ISEs of shared responsibility
• The predominant strengths based, child and family centred practice model prioritises early intervention and prevention
• Improved service system coordination and collaboration in the interests of the child
• Improved support for child and family participation in services

• Children are safe and thriving
• Children’s engagement in services is optimised
• Effective, efficient, responsive and agile systems and data support collaborative practice
• High human service job satisfaction

• Timely access to current information about children will support decisions about effective interventions to improve child wellbeing and safety outcomes.
• Information sharing enables primary prevention and early intervention.

• ISEs engagement and leadership.
• Effective training and ongoing support of ISEs.
• Ability for regulatory reform to drive workforce cultural change
• Child focused practice.