Summary
The Orange Door is the central entry point for women’s and men’s family violence services and family services, which are often the core ongoing support services for women, children and young people experiencing family violence, perpetrators and families in need of support with the care, development and wellbeing of children and young people.
Allocation refers to the process for allocating core services to clients for a service response. The Orange Door works closely with these services to ensure that the transition to these services is as seamless as possible.
As the central entry point for core services, The Orange Door is able to:
- identify the appropriate service and agree this with the person or family
- confirm that the person is eligible for the service and determine their access priority
- check the current capacity and availability of the service
- directly allocate services to the person – for example, making and confirming an appointment with a worker, ‘reserving’ a place in a group session or booking accommodation
What this will look like within The Orange Door
The Orange Door is the central entry point for allocation of the following core services:
- family violence women’s services (family violence case management and outreach)
- integrated family services (including family support, family preservation and family reunification services)
- family violence men’s services (men’s behaviour change programs and case management)
Allocation of The Orange Door begins with The Orange Door partner organisations at a minimum and will include other services over time to be part of an allocation process.
Allocation to services will be based on the initial assessment and plan that has been developed for the individual and, where appropriate, their family. The assessment and plan to inform allocation may be created by The Orange Door, by a networked service (for example, where someone has directly approached a core service) or by Child Protection (for example, where their case planning has identified the need for a family services response).
The allocation process enables The Orange Door and core services to work together to make best use of the range of service resources to meet the needs of the people and families accessing services in their area.
Where it is identified that a core service response is required, The Orange Door:
- allocates to urgent or priority cases within one day, with all other suitable cases allocated services within one week
- clearly allocates the responsibility to either The Orange Door or core services to provide active engagement and risk monitoring while the client is awaiting a more extensive service response
- provides the identified service with the client’s assessment and plan and any other relevant information.
Identifying the need for a core service response may occur as part of screening or following assessment as part of the planning process. In many instances, where the case is assessed as high priority, the core service required will be readily apparent, and where there is an identified suitable provider with capacity, this will be allocated directly by The Orange Door. This approach is to be used where there are factors indicating a need to allocate the service response promptly to reduce risk, such as allocation for family violence services.
Some clients may directly approach services or be referred from other programs – particularly where people have an existing relationship with an agency or worker. In this case, the person would not be rescreened by The Orange Door but would be assessed and allocated as appropriate.
To support the allocation process, core services will:
- accept the allocation and agree to provide a service
- confirm their ability to provide active engagement and risk monitoring if this is allocated
- receive the assessment and plan to ensure that the client is not reassessed.
Where the core service believes they are unable (for example, due to capacity changes) or unsuitable (for example, due to a conflict or lack of the appropriate skills and knowledge) to provide the service to the client, they should notify The Orange Door immediately on allocation. Where there is a dispute about the allocation that cannot be resolved between the parties, either party can escalate this to the FSV Hub Manager for resolution.
The process will support consistent decision making and prioritisation of case allocation. To achieve this requires:
- the ability for The Orange Door and core services to maintain a view of the demand for services (number of cases that require allocation) and the capacity of the system (the number of cases able to be supported or ‘places’ available in a program or intervention)
- collective responsibility between The Orange Door and core services for managing demand and providing services for all clients in the area
- agreed principles to guide prioritisation and decision making for case allocation.
Principles to guide the prioritisation and allocation approach include:
- prioritising allocation on the basis of risk level and need – with consideration to be given to balancing complexity, level of risk, opportunity for effective intervention, type of intervention, timeliness of response and prevention of risk and needs escalating
- seizing the opportunity to intervene early
- taking into account a client’s choice, wishes and preferences
- undertaking active engagement and risk monitoring for clients in the event that:
(a) a service response is identified as needed; and
(b) they are unable to be allocated a service response immediately, so that risk is regularly monitored.
This may be delivered by The Orange Door or by a core service or in partnership with a referring agency (for example, maternal and child health).
To support this, The Orange Door and core services will provide information about demand and capacity to FSV and the Hubs Leadership Group on a weekly basis. The Orange Door will also be required to hold information about the core services, what they offer, including types of programs, any specialisation they have (for example, with specific client cohorts) and any eligibility or program requirements they work within The Orange Door will use this information to identify the appropriate service when allocating.
Where assessment and planning identifies a need for multiple services, or where the appropriate lead agency response isn’t readily apparent, or where there is limited service capacity to meet the identified needs, The Orange Door and relevant core services will undertake collaborative decision making to determine how the case is allocated. This could be through regular or scheduled face-to-face or virtual meetings (for example, weekly) or discussions organised on an as-required basis.
To support the allocation process, it is expected that The Orange Door and core services regularly review and monitor the effectiveness of the allocation mechanism, the management of overall demand and capacity across the system, and work together to problem solve and coordinate system improvements.
These processes will support effective and efficient allocations to ensure the transition between The Orange Door and core services is as seamless as possible for clients and that clients receive the services that are right for them in a timely manner. FSV will continue to work collaboratively with core services to further develop the systems and processes required to create an allocation system that supports these aims.
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