The family violence Integrated Safety Response (ISR) pilot was officially launched in Christchurch on 4 July 2016. A second pilot site (Waikato) came into operation on 25 October 2016. Both sites were initially funded for one year. In early 2017 the government agreed to extend pilot funding for a further two years, to the end of June 2019.

This report presents evaluation findings from the second and third year of the pilot, following an earlier evaluation of year one with a report published in August 2017 (#5536).

The Joint Venture Business Unit commissioned and oversaw this evaluation, on behalf of the ISR National Project Board. Dr Elaine Mossman was contracted as overall research manager. A Research and Evaluation Reference Group, made up of academics and government sector representatives, was set up to provide advice and ongoing feedback.

This evaluation was undertaken in six discrete but interrelated projects. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, the six projects were carried out by a number of independent researchers and evaluators, who also drew upon evaluative work undertaken by the ISR National Team. Each project was intended to specifically or collectively address four high-level evaluation questions.

- What are the distinct features of ISR, and what are the conditions required for it to work
optimally?

- Is the ISR model effective?

- Does it represent a good return on investment?

- Have there been improvements since the last evaluation? What is now working well, and what improvements could still be made?

A 4-page Snapshot is also available. Access the website for the Kaupapa Māori report (#6410), and more information.
Record #6409