Dear Justin,

Thank you for working with integrity and compassion last week to support Cherie through her difficult situation.

Following this incident, I am concerned about the risk to our clients, their families, our staff and the wider community if there is a lack of awareness among any of our staff or volunteers about our legal and ethical obligations in terms of providing a space free from abuse. Our number one priority as an organisation now is to ensure that all of our staff and volunteers have complete, up-to-date information about our legal and ethical obligations in this area.

I believe this message would be most powerful coming from team members rather than management. To that end, I would like you to be responsible for convening a new work team here at First Access, namely the Safety and Respect team. This team will include support workers, our onsite counsellor, and our nurse.

The responsibilities of this team are as follows:

• Educate the entire staff of First Access about their responsibilities in providing a safe and respectful facility free from physical, verbal, emotional and sexual abuse.
• Ensure every staff member clearly understands their responsibilities in reporting such abuse.
• Train staff in communication strategies so that they will respond in ways that build trust, openness and rapport if a client reports abuse.
• Ensure staff are fully aware of the main messages of the Incident, Injury, Trauma and Illness Policy and Procedure.

Could you please take the following steps to enact this plan?

1. Look at the First Access Staff Directory. Select a team of four people to work with you on the Safety and Respect team. As stated above, the team should include a senior counsellor, as well as the nurse and youth worker. It might also be a good idea to involve the Case Manager too. Ensure that you select people working in our counselling area.
2. Write a list of invitees for the meeting.
3. Prepare an agenda for the first meeting of the Safety and Respect team. This should include discussing the four responsibilities listed above.
4. Write an email to all invitees and cc me. The email should explain the purpose of the group and its aims. The email should set a clear time, date and location for the first meeting. The email should also include a full agenda so the attendees can prepare.
5. Send the email to the other participants and cc me.

Thank you. I look forward to working together on this project. I believe you have shown great skill and sensitivity in handling the issue so far, which gives me confidence in your ability to handle this project. You will, of course, be offered a pay rise to take on this extra responsibility. I am currently negotiating that with HR and will keep you informed.

Best wishes,

Lou-Ellen

General Manager

46 Yarrabilba Street, Melton 3337

Phone: 03 7654 3210

firstaccess.eduworks.com.au

1. Prepare an agenda for the meeting:

2. Refer to the First Access Staff Directory. Select a team of four people to work with you in the Safety and Respect team. Make sure you incorporate the suggestions from the email above.

the people involve:

Senior counsellor Monica Earnest

Youth worker Bella Reid

Nurse Raymond Wu

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