Seeking assistance from SOS

SOS provides a child protection service to young people who frequent the inner city and St Kilda areas and engage in high-risk activities.  The service operates from 4 pm to 1 am, seven days a week. See Streetwork Outreach Service – service description.

All SOS staff are protective interveners with authority to act under the provisions of the CYFA when a young person is in need of protection.

Divisional and after-hours practitioners can use SOS to act as a point of contact between young people and mainstream support services.

SOS practitioners may be able to support child protection practitioners in other ways by:

• assisting divisional practitioners to assess the risks that might affect young people who have not had contact with child protection for some time
• acting as the young person’s allocated practitioner
• intervening if immediate action is required
• recommending case management and case planning strategies
• attending planning meetings to assist in establishing and implementing plans for the young person.

Divisional or after-hours practitioner tasks

• If seeking assistance from SOS – provide identifying information about the client in CRIS and via direct contact, including:
  • physical description (recent photograph if available)
  • risk issues and behaviour patterns
  • associations and issues
  • issues of engagement
  • risk of sexual exploitation
  • possible locations
  • recommended approaches to engagement and intervention
  • known triggers to escalation of risk
  • summary history
  • legal status, active warrants and recommended action.
• Ensure SOS is regularly updated on high-risk young people and case plans by inviting SOS to planning and high-risk panel meetings and the provision of written summaries and assessments. 
• Ensure the essential information categories are up to date with all known information in the ‘child identity’ and ‘child characteristics’ categories.
• Ensure there is an up to date and endorsed risk assessment available to support SOS understanding the risks and child’s lived experience.

Supervisor tasks

• Provide ongoing supervision and consultation.

Team manager tasks

• Endorse risk assessments.

• High-risk youth

• Streetwork Outreach Service