title: Victoria's Child FIRST and IFS differential response system: progress and issues.
abstract: Differential response has long been utilized by statutory child protection systems in Australia. This article describes the advent and history of Victoria's differential response system, with a particular focus on the Child FIRST and IFS programme. This program entails a partnership arrangement between the Department of Human Services child protection services and community-based, not-for-profit agencies to provide a diverse range of early intervention and prevention services. The findings of a recent external service system evaluation, a judicial inquiry, and the large-scale Child and Family Services Outcomes Survey of parents/carers perspectives of their service experiences are used to critically examine the effectiveness of this differential response approach. Service-user perspectives of the health and wellbeing of children and families are identified, as well as the recognized implementation issues posing significant challenges for the goal of an integrated partnership system. The need for ongoing reform agendas is highlighted along with the policy, program and structural tensions that exist in differential response systems, which are reliant upon partnerships and shared responsibilities for protecting children and assisting vulnerable families. Suggestions are made for utilizing robust research and evaluation that gives voice to service users and promotes their rights and interests.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, Victoria Park Road, Kelvin Grove, Queensland 4059, Australia.
authors.forename: Bob
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lonne
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Services, 50 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia.
authors.forename: Gerry
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, Victoria Park Road, Kelvin Grove, Queensland 4059, Australia.
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, Victoria Park Road, Kelvin Grove, Queensland 4059, Australia.
authors.forename: Kerri
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gillespie
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D018166:Health Care Reform; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D010290:Parents; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011640:Public Policy; D012944:Social Support; D012947:Social Work / Q000379:methods*; D014739:Victoria
keywords: Child abuse and neglect; Differential response; Parental views; Program evaluation; Service experience