See procedure Protective intervention phase outcomes for tasks that must be undertaken.
A case remains in protective intervention phase until one of the following occurs:
- A protection order is made. The case then proceeds to protection order phase.
- The court decides not to make a protection order either because the application is not found proven or the application is withdrawn. The case then proceeds to closure phase.
- In the absence of a protection application, the protective concerns have been sufficiently addressed and no further child protection involvement is required.
It is at these three points of decision making that the concluding stage of protective intervention phase begins. A risk assessment must be endorsed prior to phase movement. For the practitioner there are a number of casework actions and tasks to be completed.
Child protection practitioners are expected to share information appropriately to support effective collaborative practice and service provision to children and families in relation to protecting children, promoting their wellbeing and development, and assessing and managing family violence risk. See Information sharing in child protection practice and Assessing and managing family violence during protective intervention phase.
Aboriginal decision making
In accordance with the principles of case planning for an Aboriginal child, ACSASS must be consulted in relation to all case planning decisions.
Where appropriate, ACSASS must be invited to participate in decision making meetings. Placement planning, and Aboriginal family-led decision making (AFLDM) meetings that occur as part of case planning are included in the decision making forums that ACSASS should be invited to if this is in accordance with the wishes of the child and their family. ACSASS may wish to attend a closure home visit to the family, where they have been directly involved previously. See procedure Additional requirements for Aboriginal children.
If a decision has been made to close the case with support services and programs in place, a case closure meeting will assist in the clarifying of roles and responsibilities of all services after child protection involvement ceases, including confirmation of lead case management responsibility, where required. This will also assure the family that support, and monitoring will continue and make clear what actions need to be taken if circumstances change and risks increase. A risk assessment must clearly articulate decision to close the case and be endorse before the case is moved into closure phase. Do not create a risk assessment or review risk assessment in closure phase.
If the court decides not to make a protection order either because the application is not found proven or the application is withdrawn then there is no further basis for Child Protection to be involved with the family. As such, the case then proceeds to closure phase, where a review risk assessment is completed and endorsed before closure.
Once a protection application is found proven and a protection order is made the case automatically proceeds to the protection order phase and the practitioner needs to complete the recording requirements in CRIS, including a review risk assessment before phase movement to closure.
If a case is to be transferred to a different practitioner or a different team it may also be necessary to arrange a handover meeting and a meeting to introduce the child and the family to the practitioner taking responsibility for the case. A review risk assessment is recommended at case transfer.