High-risk youth panels and schedules

The high-risk youth schedule and panel assists with identification of vulnerable clients, decision-making, service integration and case planning.

Each division maintains local arrangements to identify the highest-risk young people (generally aged 12 years and over, but sometimes as young as 10 years) within the divisional child protection program to ensure that:

• each high-risk young person has an effective multiservice case plan and care team
• intervention and risk management are reviewed by a high-risk youth panel and documented by a senior manager at CPP6 level.

The decision to place a client on or remove a client from the high-risk youth schedule is made by the chair of the high-risk youth panel (CPP6) in consultation with the panel.

The high-risk panel meets monthly or more often. It is chaired by the area operations manager or their delegate at CPP6 level. Records are provided to the Director, Child Protection.

For additional information see High-risk youth panels and schedules - advice.

Case practitioner tasks

• Consult your supervisor to determine if a young person aged 12 years or older should be placed on the high-risk youth schedule. In exceptional circumstances, children under the age of 12 years may be placed on the schedule when they display indicators typical of high-risk youth.
• Ensure that the care team for all high-risk youth meets at least monthly.
  • The care team supports and oversees the day-to-day administration of the case plan and is a forum for consolidation of the multiservice view of the client.
  • The care team provides the platform for reporting to the high-risk youth panel.
• Communicate with the CSO case manager, if case management is contracted, identifying actions and responsibilities and support the CSO case manager to report to the high-risk youth panel.
• If the child is Aboriginal, invite ACSASS to the care team and high-risk youth panel meetings.
• Create a detailed record for each child in CRIS, including using the high-risk schedule function (located in the planning section within the case practice component in CRIS). Record a child on the high-risk register as:
  • ‘acute’ – the highest risk and most vulnerable clients. All clients identified as acute must be discussed individually at each high-risk panel meeting
  • ‘high-risk’ or ‘maintenance’.
• Enter a rationale on CRIS when moving clients on or off the schedule or changing the categorisation of risk level.
• Enter a ‘high-risk alert’ in CRIS (from the 360 degree view page) for a client on the high-risk schedule.
• Ensure that only the relevant part of the high-risk youth panel minutes relating to each client is placed on the respective client file. Do not upload the minutes in their entirety to CRIS.

Supervisor tasks

• Provide ongoing supervision and consultation.
• Focus on the immediate circumstances and direction of the case and the level of support available.
• Proactively manage issues of vicarious trauma.
• Make formal debriefing available to the practitioner whenever appropriate or requested.
• Consider consultation with a practice leader or principal practitioner.
• Ensure that only the relevant part of the high-risk youth panel minutes relating to each client is placed on the respective client file. Do not upload the minutes in their entirety to CRIS.

Area executive director or director, child protection tasks

• Establish and maintain multisector high-risk youth panels with coverage of each divisional area.
• Develop processes to identify and refer clients for registration on the high-risk schedule. 
• The composition of panels will be determined at a divisional or area level as relevant to the client group and local service arrangements. Panels are chaired by the area operations manager or a delegated senior practitioner at CPP6 level.
• Take into consideration service delivery catchments, including case management service providers.
• High-risk youth schedule panels should generally include, where appropriate:
  • child protection practitioner and team manager responsible for the registered client
  • youth justice
  • disability services
  • out-of-home care and case management services
  • mental health services 
  • drug and alcohol and other drugs treatment services
  • therapeutic treatment services
  • ACSASS
  • Department of Education and Training
  • other programs or professionals as appropriate: such services may include Victoria Police, Secure Welfare Services, AHCPES, adult mental health services, adolescent/paediatric specialists - if a service has a relationship with a specific client or family, it may be appropriate for them to attend a care team meeting or other case planning forum.  
• Monitor the operations of the high-risk panel and schedule and make sure they meet no less than monthly.

High-risk panel chair tasks

• Determine whether to register clients on the high-risk schedule. Clients can be registered as required.
• If you have been delegated to chair the meeting, seek endorsement of the area operations manager/director, child protection if removing a client from the high-risk schedule between panel meetings.
• Convene the high-risk panel no less than monthly.
• Ensure that each client categorised as ‘acute’ is discussed at the high-risk youth panel meeting.
• Provide each member of the high-risk panel with the Privacy Statement for members of high-risk panels.
• Ensure minutes are taken at each meeting that record decisions made. Endorse and distribute minutes to panel members and the area executive director or director, child protection (as well as, if you have been delegated to chair the meeting, the area operations manager/director, child protection) within two business days.
• Provide a monthly report of the high-risk schedule to the area executive director or director, child protection.

Area operations manager/director tasks

• Where you are the chair of the high-risk youth panel, make decisions about removing a client from the high-risk schedule between panel meetings.
• Where you are not the chair of the high-risk youth panel, endorse recommendations from the chair to remove a client from the high-risk schedule between panel meetings.

• High-risk youth

• High-risk youth panels and schedules
• Privacy statement for high-risk panels