Professional supervision

The Victorian model of child protection supervision (individual) is based on the 4x4x4 model, first developed by Tony Morrison in 2005, and later built upon further by Jane Wonnacott (2012). 

The 4x4x4 model has practical application and one that promotes reflective supervision. It also positions supervision in the broader context in which it occurs. It identifies 3 primary components: 

• the stakeholders in supervision
• the functions of supervision
• the elements of the supervisory cycle. 

Within each component are 4 essential ingredients that the model identifies, hence the 4x4x4 name. To read more on the application of the model, refer to the ‘Supervision in Child protection practice - Operational practice guide’

Good supervision is a responsibility shared by the supervisee, supervisor, and the organisation. 

All parties to the supervisory relationship should be motivated and committed to ensuring the health and effectiveness of the supervision process, and to resolve any issues or difficulties in a timely and appropriate manner. Each party to supervision can bring strengths and value to the supervision process and contribute to the development of a trusting and safe supervision environment. 

As with any other relationship, challenges can arise, and as such – both have an equal responsibility to ensure issues are identified and tackled at the earliest possible opportunity. Development of a supervision agreement at the outset should reflect the agreed conflict resolution or troubleshooting strategies to mitigate risk of delay in matters being addressed early. Respectful and open communication between supervisor and supervisee must be maintained throughout. 

Management: 

• Ensures practitioners understand their roles and responsibilities as child protection practitioners and public servants. 
• Reinforces understanding and adherence to policy, procedures and legislative mandates and obligations. 
• Management of resources including leave arrangements and access to resources and training required to carry out their roles and functions. 
• Promotes accountability. Reinforces the ‘structural scaffolding’ that legislated delegations provide. These delegations are attached to different levels and classifications of the organisational structure. 
• HR-related processes can be considered a management function. These include:
  • PDPs
  • probation plans
  • performance improvement plans.

Development: 

• Supports practitioners to develop and more deeply embed the risk assessment framework (SAFER) into all aspects of their practice, decision making and planning. (Consider using SAFER practice tools to guide discussions about risk and decision making.)
• Supervision offers space to reflect on the 5 components of professional judgement. It does this by: 
  • building skills and knowledge
  • exploring values
  • developing practice wisdom 
  • examining emotional awareness 
  • honing analytical and reasoning skills. 
• Focuses on professional development and growth. Supports progress against the identified goals in the practitioner’s PDP between formal review events.
• Encourages exploration/clarification of individual learning styles. Responds to these to maximise effectiveness of the practitioner applying their learning into everyday practice. 
• Supports identification of and access to learning or professional development opportunities. These include formal training, shadowing and mentoring.

Support: 

• Provides a safe and confidential environment where the supervisory relationship: 
  • develops mutual trust and respect
  • promotes open and honest communication.
• Offers opportunities to recognise and reflect on the impact of the practitioner’s work. 
• The supervisor models and encourages safety and wellbeing practices. This includes supporting access to extra support as needed (CP Health Program, EAP, etc).
• Enables reflection on professional boundaries, lived experiences and exploration of own values, attitudes, and beliefs. Looks at how these may influence a practitioner’s work generally or with a specific family.

Mediation: 

• Engages the practitioner with the system in which they work. Considers both their own organisational context and the broader service sector.
• Considers individual and structural factors that affect the practitioner in their work. Factors might include: 
  • power and authority
  • cultural safety
  • gender.
• Supports a practitioner to develop their organisational awareness in the program, not limited to phase in which they work. 
• Develops awareness of the broader service sector and the importance of multi-agency approaches and stakeholder relationships in improving opportunities for clients and organisational efficiencies. 

Supervision tools and templates have been developed, along with an operational practice guide for supervision, to support consistent application of the 4x4x4 model across the child protection workforce. 

Tools available include: 

• Supervision agreement (template) 
• Supervision record with embedded agenda (template) 
• Reflective case supervision tool (fillable/printable and tear off pads) 
• Case supervision and decision record (template) 
• Self care and wellbeing plan (template) 
• Inclusion of the PDP- Career Development and progression Plan into the model (via Our People ) 
• Reference Card and checklist for supervisors (template/reference card) 

The operational practice guide provides more detail on the model and the use of resources in practice. This includes prompts and questions to support supervisors in practice. 

See Staff Supervision.

Who provides supervision?

In many cases, a child protection practitioner is supervised by their direct line manager. There are occasions, however, when another suitably experienced and senior person may be asked to supervise. 

Examples of this may be:

• When the usual supervisor is on leave or unavailable for another reason, and someone else is backfilling their role
• When a particular case or client matter requires a specific level of expertise not held by the usual supervisor (for example, if the concerns relate to a person convicted of severe sexual harm to a child, or other complexity - the practitioner and their supervisor may have case specific supervision by a Principle Practitioner or a Deputy Area Operations Manager). 

If a supervisor is to be away for a period of time, or otherwise unable to provide their regular supervision – arrangements should be made for the practitioner to access a nominated person for both ad-hoc informal supervision and formal supervision. 

With the exception of usual leave arrangements and cover, changes in supervisor should be kept to a minimum to promote consistency and maintain opportunities for the supervisory relationships to develop and maintain their health and effectiveness. 

Supervisor capability

Supervising and managing staff often requires the development of new skills and knowledge. 

All supervisors of staff should be appropriately supported to transition to supervisory roles. Supervisors should enrol in and complete training via the Professional Development and Training unit prior to, or soon after commencement as supervisors. 

Supervisors continue to require their own individual professional supervision, and care should be taken to ensure that their needs continue to be met through supervision. This transition can be a time when practitioners/supervisors need additional support and guidance in supervision as the nature of their role and responsibilities expand, they face new challenges and start to develop and apply new skills.  

Frequency and duration of individual supervision

Individual supervision frequency and duration is established at a minimum of: 

Recording compliance

Supervisors and supervisees are responsible for ensuring that scheduled supervision meetings are recorded and entered into ESS. The responsibility for reflecting supervision on ESS should be agreed in the supervision agreement or otherwise as agreed and noted in the supervision record template.

Area child protection directors and leadership teams are ultimately responsible for ensuring supervision is occurring and that it is recorded appropriately. 

Further guidance about supervision compliance can be found in the ‘Child Protection professional supervision - tip sheet' . 

Rescheduling sessions

At times, because of the unpredictable nature of child protection work, supervision may need to be cancelled or postponed. 

There is guidance in the Child Protection professional supervision - tip sheet on the requirements for compliance when cancellation or postponement is unavoidable. Where supervision must be postponed, catch-up supervision should be arranged to occur within the following fortnight and should be identified as a catch-up session in order to meet reporting requirements.

Supervision is considered a shared responsibility, and both the supervisee and supervisor are responsible for ensuring that supervision is re-booked and prioritised when it has to be unexpectedly postponed or cancelled. The supervision agreement is the best place to reflect these expectations and establish a common understanding as to a reasonable basis on which supervision may be unable to progress (for example, unplanned absence or illness, or a critical client matter requiring the practitioner to respond to immediate risk of harm  to a child). 

• Area child protection workload review and monitoring panels
• Child Protection professional supervision - Tip Sheet 
• Staff Supervision tools
• the Code of Conduct
• Management of unsatisfactory work performance policy and guideline 
• Supervision in Child Protection practice - Operational practice guide
• CPP3 - CPP6 Supervision agreement (template)
• Supervision record with embedded agenda (template)
• Reflective case supervision tool (fillable/printable and tear off pads) 
• Case supervision and decision record  (template)
• Self-care and wellbeing plan (template)
• Reference Card and checklist for supervisors (template/reference card) 
• Inclusion of the PDP- Career Development and progression Plan into the model (via Our People)