EXTERNALLY FUNDED RESEARCH PROJECTS
Child and Young Person MARAM Lived Experience Engagement project
Background
In its 2016 landmark report, the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence (RCFV) made recommendations related to improving the assessment and management of family violence risk for children and young people (CYP). Recommendation 1 set out the need for a redeveloped and comprehensive framework that specifies the roles and responsibilities for screening, risk assessment and management, information sharing and referral throughout Victorian agencies. Recommendation 1 stated that the new framework should incorporate evidence-based risk indicators specific to CYP. The revised framework, named the Family Violence Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management Framework, or MARAM, was released in 2019 and contained new child risk assessment and management tools. At the time of the MARAM's release it was acknowledged that more work was needed in order to comprehensively address the risk assessment and management needs of CYP experiencing family violence. The need to strengthen wellbeing assessment for CYP was also identified at this time.
In 2022 Family Safety Victoria (FSV) established the "Child and Young Person Risk and Wellbeing MARAM" project which seeks to address identified gaps in in service system responses to family violence risk and wellbeing for CYP across all of the workforces prescribed as relevant by the Victorian Government.
Aim
The Monash "Child and Young Person MARAM Lived Experience Engagement" project will support FSV to deliver high-quality child and young person-centred MARAM risk assessment and risk management practices, as well as wellbeing tools and guidance, by engaging directly with young people who have lived experience of family violence. The Monash team is seeking to include the voices of young people from diverse communities including First Nations young people, young people with disability, LGBTQ+ and intersex young people, culturally and linguistically diverse young people, rural young people and young people who are victims of adolescent intimate partner violence.
The Monash project team acknowledge that seeking, listening to and acting on the voices of young people recognises and respects their unique and valuable insights, knowledge and expertise. The aims of this project align with emerging best practice in the field that recognises children and young people as victims of family violence in their own right.
Methods
As part of this project, a series of in-person and remote focus groups and small group interviews will be conducted with Victorian children and young people who have lived experience of family violence. The focus groups and small group interviews will be used to gather children and young people’s insights on wellbeing; strategies for engaging children and young people in discussions about their experiences of seeking help; their risk; their support needs; and resilience and resistance.