RISE Up: Facilitating Frontline Responder Collaboration on Co-Occurring Child Welfare and Intimate Partner Violence...

Area of Science:

• Social Work
• Public Health
• Sociology

Background:

• Intimate partner violence (IPV) necessitates collaboration across human service systems.
• Child welfare workers encounter significant barriers in collaborating on IPV cases, often due to client primacy conflicts.
• Effective inter-agency collaboration is crucial for addressing the complex needs of clients affected by IPV.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore qualitative experiences of Florida child welfare workers regarding collaboration on IPV cases.
• To identify factors that facilitate strong collaborations between child welfare workers and other responders in IPV cases.
• To develop a conceptual model for improving inter-agency collaboration in IPV service delivery.

Main Methods:

• Thematic analysis of qualitative responses from 526 Florida child welfare workers.
• Data collected from Wave 4 of the Florida Study of Professionals for Safe Families.
• Focus on open-ended responses to "What is most helpful in establishing strong collaborations..." on IPV cases.

Main Results:

• Identified key facilitators of collaboration including communication, rapport, teamwork appreciation, and consistent process understanding.
• Developed the Responder InStitutional Empathy (RISE) model, emphasizing cumulative building of empathy.
• Highlighted the need for leadership support to enhance frontline worker collaboration efforts.

Conclusions:

• Strengthening inter-agency collaboration in IPV cases requires fostering institutional empathy among frontline workers.
• Leadership initiatives such as cross-training and colocation can significantly bolster collaborative efforts.
• The RISE model provides a framework for improving service delivery for individuals impacted by intimate partner violence.