Trial a new model to link Youth Justice Group Conferencing with an Adolescent Family Violence Program

The Department of Justice and Community Safety and Family Safety Victoria have been working with Adolescent Family Violence Program (AFVP) and Youth Justice Group Conferencing (YJGC) providers to develop a service model that links the 2 services to provide a Restorative Family Meeting (RFM) to eligible families participating in government-funded Adolescent Family Violence Programs.

Youth Justice and Family Safety Victoria collaboratively developed a service model to link AFVP and YJGC in order to deliver a RFM. The trial commenced in December 2018 and ran for a 12-month period. An evaluation of the trial has been finalised. This evaluation reflected upon the low numbers of uptake of the RFM service and highlighted the need for further work to consider the adaption of restorative processes to address the complex needs of families experiencing adolescent family violence.