ABSTRACT

As described earlier, interventions grounded in the Culturally Integrative Family Safety Response (CIFSR) model are made along a continuum (see Figure 5.1). These range from preventative responses (see Chapter 2), to early identification and intervention (see Chapter 3), to more complex and high-risk interventions that involve mandated services and perhaps several different agencies. In this chapter, we discuss supports and interventions related to these latter, higher-risk situations. These more critical and complex interventions (see Figure 5.2) utilize the same tools, organizational context, and CIFSR approach described to this point (i.e., Coordinated Organizational Response Team [CORT] and Four Aspects Screening Tool [FAST]). However, due to potentially greater risk for families, these circumstances demand careful and ongoing attention to assessing and addressing the safety of potential victims, and coordinating the roles of multiple service-providing organizations and support persons. Most often, in these cases, leadership for the overall intervention is provided by the mandated service provider rather than the cultural organization/broker. In these situations, the police or court systems and the child protection system are already involved in addressing family violence and safety concerns in the family. When a mandated response is required, there may be less flexibility initially in customizing a response and the case conference managed by the mandated organization will be guided primarily by their typical protocols and procedures. However, this does not preclude a CORT being formed to function in a more advisory capacity, particularly over time, to ensure a culturally integrative response in the longer term. The role of the cultural organization/broker is different here than it may be with preventative and earlier responses and interventions. The immediacy, risk, and complexity of these situations require attention to priorities and risk, as well as relevant mandates for safety and protection.