A new pilot project out of Toronto could help better protect victims of intimate partner violence.
The feds are spending nearly $871,262 for a group to implement a new model that would help multiple agencies coordinate their responses to intimate partner violence to protect more victims, according to a news release from the federal government.
Kylee Nun, with the Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia, says it is fantastic.
“It’s like looking at, how can we work together across agencies, pulling in different, you know, sectors of police, health, child protection specialists, community agencies to really create safety and plans to move forward safely for victims. I think that’s really important work,” says Nun.
The federal government announced the funding for the pilot project on Friday. The government previously funded part of the project, with $920,917 to test the model in a Canadian context, according to the release. But the funding announced on Friday will let the group test out the model in Toronto.
The group is the Woman Abuse Council of Toronto, also known as WomanACT. The model itself is called the Community Wellness – Canadian Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) Pilot.
“The model has previously been implemented and evaluated in other settings, where it has led to fewer women being repeated victims of intimate partner violence, provided holistic support, and improved the quality of life for victims and survivors,” the government writes.
Nun says the response model can assess risk as well, particularly for victims of high-risk domestic violence, or people at risk of homicide or serious injury.
At least in Nova Scotia, she says, groups do not necessarily work together to assess safety or create safer situations for people at high risk or harm.
She says she has worked on several projects that looked at responses involving multiple agencies. One example, called RAMP (Restorative Approach to Multiple Proceedings), looked at supporting families experiencing intimate partner violence, and that involved Child Protection Services, as well.
“We faced major challenges within that project, with regard to collaboration across these, you know, various different agencies and organizations, because there’s differences in approach to the work,” says Nun.
Different organizations have different ways of assessing risk, she says, and different systems are set up to operate on their own, so there are a lot of challenges.
If police are under-resourced, she says, or child protection is under-resourced, then that creates another set of issues.
“However, I do still think it’s the right move forward, and I would love to see more collaboration and practice here in Nova Scotia,” says Nun.
She says she looks forward to seeing the results of the pilot in Toronto and their final takeaways, their successes and failures, and how it could be implemented in different places.
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