Social Work Now, Issue 32, pages 19-22.
A Differential Response Model (DRM) is one of Child, Youth and Family’s strategic initiatives. It is based on a legislative framework that has been proposed as an amendment to the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989 (CYP&F Act). This model has new assessments processes for streaming work and offers significant opportunities for social workers to broaden their relationships with families and other providers, and increase their job satisfaction. It also has the potential to reinforce the investigative skills that Child, Youth and Family social workers have developed. The DRM project team is visiting Child, Youth and Family sites, community providers and government agencies to talk about the DRM and how it can be developed. Testing elements of the DRM process will begin at a small number of Department sites in 2006.