Child Protection is responsible for the oversight and monitoring of children placed in care and is a service provider under the Client Incident Management System (CIMS) policy Client Incident Management System (CIMS) policy.
This responsibility includes investigation of allegations of abuse, neglect, or unexplained injuries made about a child or young person in care.
Reporting and investigation of allegations of abuse, harm or unexplained injury of children or young people in care are subject to CIMS incident reporting processes Client Incident Management System (CIMS)
Such allegations may also be subject to Social Services Regulator (SSR) notifications https://www.vic.gov.au/ssr-reporting-notifiable-incident or the Reportable Conduct Scheme.
In CIMS, client incidents are events or circumstances that occur during service delivery and result in harm to the child or young person or are reasonably likely to cause serious harm to the child or young person https://providers.dffh.vic.gov.au/client-incident-management-system-policy-and-guidance-word
‘Harm’ in CIMS is defined as the resulting impact of abuse, neglect, exploitation or improper treatment of clients, or discrimination against clients. Harm includes physical, emotional, cultural, sexual, psychological and financial impacts. Harm can be a single or repeated occurrence (cumulative). Harm may be inflicted by self or others.
For children involved with child protection, all incidents which occur while the child is outside of parental care, whether in a statutory or voluntary capacity, are in scope of CIMS reporting. Child Protection is responsible for CIMS requirements when a child or young person resides in a kinship care or respite arrangements endorsed and managed by child protection.
Where a child or young person resides in kinship care that is managed or contracted to a Community Service Organisation (CSO), in home-based care, residential care or lead tenant arrangements, the CSO is responsible for completing CIMS requirements.
Intake or investigation phase
A new allegation received during intake or investigation will only require a CIMS incident report if a care arrangement has been endorsed by Child Protection during that intervention. New protective intervention reports should follow usual Child Protection investigation processes (investigated concurrently with the initial report), and Child Protection ‘service delivery’ in CIMS commences after a care arrangement is endorsed.
For pre-existing kinship care arrangements where the case was closed, or for any care arrangement not previously endorsed by child protection (such as family arrangements), a CIMS incident report will not be required unless the new protective intervention report has been investigated, and the pre-existing care arrangement is assessed and endorsed. See Kinship care for kinship care procedure.
When a child is in the care of a practitioner
A CIMS report will need to be completed for all allegations of abuse, harm or neglect made against a child protection practitioner when a child was in their care. Such circumstances may occur during a transport or contact visit supervised by child protection or when a practitioner is one-on-one with a child in the community. See also Reportable Conduct Scheme and Managing Misconduct Policy and Guideline for further advice.
Historical incidents
A CIMS incident report is required for historical incidents that are reported to have occurred during service delivery. For further advice on incident reporting for historical incidents, see CIMS policy and guidance https://providers.dffh.vic.gov.au/client-incident-management-system-policy-and-guidance-word
Protected information
CIMS incident, investigation and review reports are accessible by multiple people who are not protective interveners. Protected information, such as reporter name and information which may lead to the identity of the reporter are not to be disclosed. If unsure, do not include identifying details of the reporter, and seek legal advice if required.
For advice on recording new allegations information in CRIS, see the New Allegations
Case practitioner tasks
- Before commencing any investigation into a new allegation in any phase determine if the new allegation is in scope of CIMS, the SSR or the RCS contact the Integrity Unit, Executive Services Division for advice on whether an allegation is in scope of the RCS and for next steps https://dhhsvicgovau.sharepoint.com/sites/dffh/SitePages/Reportable-conduct-scheme.aspx
- For CIMS, refer to the CIMS policy for further advice on tasks required to determine if an incident report is required. In summary:
- Review CIMS policy Appendix 1 – Incident types to determine if the incident or allegation meets the criteria for an incident report
- Determine who was responsible for service delivery at the time of the incident (child protection or a CSO). This will determine who leads the CIMS process.
- CSOs are responsible for incident reporting when a child is residing in care services, such as home-based care or residential care, or when the kinship placement is contracted to a CSO
- Child protection is responsible for CIMS incident reporting when the child is residing in kinship care or respite care that is approved and managed by child protection
- Decide if the child has experienced harm that is major or non-major using the list below (or CIMS incident categorisation table (table 3.2, page 41 of CIMS policy). Please note: all incidents of staff-to-client or client-to-client abuse, neglect, sexual exploitation-grooming, or unexplained injury must be categorised as major
- Always major impact incidents are:
- Attempted suicide
- Death
- Emotional and psychological abuse
- Escape from a secure facility
- Financial abuse
- Neglect
- Physical abuse
- Assess impact incidents are:
- Absent client
- Explained injury
- Medication error
- Self-harm
- Always non-major impact incidents are:
- Emotional and psychological harm
- Inappropriate physical treatment
- Inappropriate sexual behaviour
- Serious risk
- Sexual exploitation - suspected
- All major-impact incidents will require a CIMS investigation or incident review
- For any incidents classified as ‘assess impact’, review the major and non-major impact definitions in the Glossary on page 8 of the policy to determine which is the most appropriate for the harm that has occurred.
- Repeated non-major impact incidents should be considered with the cumulative harm of incidents of that type, and whether this meets the definition of major impact
- For incidents in scope of CIMS, review CIMS policy for requirements for responding to incidents (Chapter 2: Responding to incidents) including:
- Secure the immediate safety of the child or young person
- Arrange medical attention for the child or young person (if needed)
- Establish a basic understanding of what occurred
- Recognise and acknowledge the impact of the incident on the child or young person
- Reassure the child or young person the incident will be taken seriously and dealt with in a fair and equitable manner
- For Aboriginal children or young people, consult ACSASS or ACAC provider
- Report the incident to police (if needed) – ensure any actions taken do not impede on a criminal investigation
- Inform next of kin, guardian or key support person(s) (confirm with police before informing others of the incident)
- Plan to prevent contact between the client and subject of allegation while an investigation is undertaken – if this is not possible, ensure a safety plan is in place, endorsed by the Area Director
- Explain to the client what actions will be taken in response to the incident, include speaking with them about their rights and taking their wishes into consideration
- Support planning for the carer if they are the subject of allegation
- Document all actions undertaken on CRIS
Reporting requirements
- Complete a SSR critical notifiable incident notification if required by the next business day https://www.vic.gov.au/ssr-reporting-notifiable-incident
- Complete a CIMS incident report https://cims.vic.gov.au/#/introduction if required within 3 business days.
- If the incident is in scope of the RCS, follow DFFH RCS policy and procedures:
- Incidents requiring both CIMS and RCS investigations will be conducted as one investigation to satisfy both schemes
- The investigation will be conducted by child protection, and completed using the DFFH RCS template
- When completed, the Integrity unit will review and endorse, and will submit the report to the CCYP
- The Integrity Unit will confirm when child protection can submit the endorsed RCS report into CIMS
- Conduct any investigation in line with the respective CIMS/RCS policies and procedures, in addition to the phase-based child protection procedures – see New Allegations.
CIMS incident investigations or reviews
If the incident is in not in scope of the RCS, follow Chapter 4 of the CIMS policy to complete a CIMS investigation or review. For a CIMS incident investigation:
- Develop an investigation plan that includes any additional considerations required for Aboriginal clients, client-to-client incidents, or investigations involving kinship carers
- Inform the subject of allegation in writing of the details of the allegation, including potential impacts of a substantiation decision
- Complete a CIMS investigation report using the available templates on the CIMS providers’ page:
- Seek Executive Director (or delegate) endorsement
- Complete and submit the endorsed investigation report within 28 business days of incident report
- Inform relevant parties of the outcome of the investigation in writing (client, subject of allegation, other service provider if relevant, ACSASS or ACAC for Aboriginal children and young people), including the opportunity to review the decision
For a CIMS incident review:
- Complete an incident review plan
- Complete an incident review report using the available template on the CIMS providers’ page - CIMS investigation report template - general (word)
- Seek Executive Director (or delegate) endorsement
- Complete and submit the endorsed review report within 28 business days of incident report
Supervisor tasks
- Determine if the new allegation is in scope of a CIMS incident report, the RCS, or the SSR before commencing an investigation
- Determine how the new allegation of harm should be investigated
- Ensure a SSR critical incident notification is completed, where required
- Ensure a CIMS incident report has been completed, where required
- Ensure CIMS and RCS policy and procedures are followed
Team manager / practice leader tasks
- Complete the SSR critical incident notification, where required
- Notify and consult the Integrity team for any incident that may be in scope of the Reportable Conduct Scheme
- Endorse key decisions including:
- Immediate response planning
- Investigation or review plan
- Investigation outcome and report
- Incident review outcome and report
- Recommendations
Executive / Area Director tasks
- Maintain oversight of critical incident notifications submitted to the Social Services Regulator
- Endorse CIMS investigation and review reports, including high-level recommendations to promote the safety and wellbeing of the client and improve the quality of service delivery
- Use CIMS data for Analysis and Learning, including the following:
- Identify opportunities across the organisation for continuous improvement
- Use organisational or system-level investigation and review recommendations to leverage existing work in progress or to influence future project development
- Action organisation and system level recommendations.
- Analyse CIMS data to inform continuous improvement activities at the organisation level
See Chapter 6 of CIMS policy and guidance – providers’ page https://providers.dffh.vic.gov.au/cims for further information
The CIMS policy and guidance can be found on the department’s Funded Provider webpage about CIMS.
This page includes the CIMS policy document, that describes each of the actions and responsibilities of service providers and the department during the management of client incidents.
Please use the CIMS funded provider’s webpage to source the most recent guidance.
- The CIMS webpage includes email addresses for the teams who provide help on CIMS: CIMS@dffh.vic.gov.au – email contact for specific questions about organisation and user registration support, or issues using the departments CIMS IT platform.
- StatewideCIMS@dffh.vic.gov.au – email contact for specific questions or issues relating to reporting ‘potential’ incidents, or queries regarding incidents or outcomes which have been submitted for endorsement. An example is seeking further clarification about whether actions taken satisfy CIMS policy minimum requirements.
- internalinvestigations@dffh.vic.gov.au or call 1300 131 431 (and select option 3) – the Department’s Integrity Unit, who can provide advice on whether an incident is also in scope of the Reportable Conduct Scheme, and next steps
- Client Incident Management System (CIMS) policy
- Client Incident Management System (CIMS)
- CIMS policy and guidance – providers’ page https://providers.dffh.vic.gov.au/cims
- CIMS policy and guidance – policy document https://providers.dffh.vic.gov.au/client-incident-management-system-policy-and-guidance-word.
- Reportable conduct scheme
- DFFH RCS policy and procedures
- Managing Misconduct Policy and Guideline
- https://www.vic.gov.au/ssr-reporting-notifiable-incident
- CIMS and CRIS Process Map
- Kinship care