There are two distinct parts to the individual reviews undertaken by the Committee:
a) A first level review undertaken by the committee’s support staff that involves these staff members gathering information from a variety of sources and bringing this information together in a detailed chronology. The Committee’s support staff have access to first hand documents containing identifying information, as well as access to participants, including agency staff and family members.
b) A second level review and high level analysis undertaken by members of the Committee. Committee members do not have access to either first hand documents containing identifying information or participants, including agency staff and family members. Committee members will be provided with a de-identified chronology for each Individual Review completed.
Individual reviews aim to provide an understanding of the child or young person’s family and social context prior to his or her death and the facts to be outlined include:
- a genogram of the family, including family, extended family and household
- an ecomap mapping the service and community involvement with the family
- a child-centred chronology, based on information sourced from those agencies involved with the family, detailing involvement with the child or young person and their family and looking at all relevant agencies/professionals/others, including when the child was seen and the views and wishes of the child sought/expressed
- investigations/clinical summaries of agencies involved
- an overview summarising relevant information known to each involved agency about the family, including the parents, perpetrator (if applicable) and home circumstances for all children in the family.
Not every death of a child or young person that occurs in the ACT will be the subject of an individual review. This is because the time taken to conduct a high level review for every single death of a child or young person would be prohibitive.
The Committee will look at undertaking individual reviews into those deaths which are likely to provide significant insights or learnings. This is not to suggest that the death of one child or young person is more important than the death of another child or young person.
The Committee will include what is learnt from these individual reviews in information sheets and reports. The nature of what and how such matters are reported and used in a non-identifiable and yet informative way requires careful consideration by the Committee.