The research showed that domestic violence experience has negative impact on individuals, including immediate impact (emotional and behavioral disturbance) and long-term impact (depression, low self-esteem, poor academic achievement, PTSD, and substance abuse). As domestic violence episodes are associated with child and youth protection issues, the complexity of the intervention process will be increased. The nature of domestic violence is multicultural, and many of the services and interventions provided are not entirely suitable for clients or relevant to their day-to-day life experiences. For example, the collaboration between child protection and domestic violence sectors is often problematic. Indeed, the two sectors operate relatively independently and with little integration. However, it is widely recognized that the two sectors need to work more closely together to enhance both adult victims’ and children’s safety. Since no single agency or professional is able to deal with all the needs of a family alone, the premise of this article is focused on the collaboration and shared governance of professionals to offer comprehensive interventions in order to enhance the likelihood to satisfy the needs of clients and families. The collaboration and shared governance is defined as multiple professional workers from different backgrounds working in cohesion with clients, families, and communities to deliver the highest quality of service. Research and documents have shown that multiple professional collaboration models are not just effective but are also essential for competent, cost-effective, culturally responsive mental health care. The highest quality of service means that multiple professional workers provide coordinated, appropriate, consistent responses aimed at enhancing victim’s safety, reducing secondary victimization, and holding abusers to be accountable for their violence.
This study aimed at exploring the factors that influence multiple professional workers dealing with the domestic violence involved with child protection and the collaboration and shared governance model. The researcher recruited and invited 21 professionals with over three years of working experience and whose specialty was focused on domestic violence interventions and preventions in government or community agencies. Individual interviews were conducted to gather data, and the data was then analyzed based on the grounded theory and processed by the sequential extractions of open coding, axial coding, and core coding. During the analysis, the core theme was identified as energy of professionals which included three categories: autonomy and flexibility to act, perspectives on problems, and trust development. Autonomy and flexibility to act included understanding the role of each professional, the flexibility between rules/ethics and practice, and the case complexity and caseload. The perspectives on problem included training and professional background, practice experience, personal value and style, and multicultural viewpoint. Trust development included appreciating diverse contributions, transparency and clear communication, and mutual support.
Participants reported that the professionals of social welfare in the government should be the one to organize network meetings based on families’ needs. All of the professionals who provide services to the family should attend network meetings and perform the necessary tasks for their role. The functions of the network meetings should include facilitating healthy conversations, sharing information, connecting resources, and reaching an intervention agreement. When a suspected case is reported and evaluated on whether it should be open, the network meeting should be held immediately. Network meetings may also be held during the period of intervention or during the moment that the case is evaluated to be closed. The meeting should be held immediately and continuously. The results raised several important implications for training and clinical work. The recommendations from the study include continuing to inspect and be aware of their own energy level as professionals , participating in the network meeting and implementing its true value and meaning, and instilling courage for professionals to walk out of their comfort zone. These recommendations are essential for domestic violence and child protection professionals to collaborate with each other in the future.
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