Policy into Practice Presentation

Supporting

operational teams

to provide safe, quality information on recent changes which meets the needs of our service users.

Overview

What are the key considerations?

What information could we provide, and how can we support our teams to deliver it safely?

Key considerations in providing this information

Meeting the right needs within what is possible

Involvement & engagement

Our values and approach

Individual experiences

Existing casework practice, co-production principles, and a trauma-informed approach

Fear and confusion are specific to individual experiences and are usually set in a wider context.

Who might need and want to be involved? What about feedback?

What exactly is it that people need? What can we actually provide?

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What information might we provide and how can we support teams to deliver it safely?

Keeping protection and prevention at the heart of our work and focusing on an individual agency where that can exist - what can service users do to feel safe?

Teams also need to feel safe - can we can bring more transparency and oversight to the work, and build trust by listening to what it is that they need to support their service users and manage the risks they are holding, (alongside existing functions like PMHT and SAT).

We could take a tiered approach which reflects that we work with people in different ways. Our teams don't always want the same things and have varying capacity - e.g. their priority might be support within signposting; groupwork; triaging; SANAF, complex casework, PAPs, crisis intervention, etc.

Meeting specific needs: is there a new support letter, template or tool that could support a specific intervention (e.g. reconsideration request template) which then has wider relevance for other teams?

Second-tier advice: sometimes even though resources are great, nothing takes the place of talking something through in person, sharing risk, combining expertise, and strengthening everyone's capacity and reslience.

Generic information: grouping all of the quality resources in one place and creating new ones if there are gaps (e.g. Q&As, guidance, 'What we know so far", pictoral guides, etc.

Thank you!

Our values and approach

Putting new work in context

We need to make sure that any development or new work makes sense in the context of our existing work, our strategy and vision for RSRFLAT, how we approach casework, our values and our fundamental principles. Our development work needs to be sustainable and safe and have the user(s) needs at the heart. We're aiming to become a trauma-informed and anti-racist organisation - so we need to think about what that means practically! We need to remember to apply quality standards tools where it's relevant - e.g. Activity Definition tools, EQiA

Q: What makes sense in context?Q: What does the user actually need? Q: How do we practically put co-production principles into action?

Individual experiences

Fear and confusion are very individual experiences and likely someone is contacting us in the context of a casework need.Having information and knowledge is power, and when we don't have the right information, fear can come from not being able to see clearly how something will impact us. Where that confusion is coming from also gives us an indication of what else might be needed or what else we need to consider.

Q: What is the casework need? How is this policy change relating to someone's specific experience?Q: Where has the information come from? Is it things people are being told on arrival; at screening interviews; housing officers; community; sources that carry an element of risk, etc.?

Involvement and engagment

Tools that work for everyone

We need to think about who might need and want to be involved in creating a resource (if we do make something new) or information.There's a need to balance people's capacity with the opportunity to be part of development, or contribute their knowledge and skills. Making sure not to take an individual approach and make sure that plans are communicated regularly and clearly. Making it really simple and easy for teams to give feedback, suggest changes, and to monitor without creating loads of steps. Is there a longer term need that fits with what VOICES Ambassadors want to work on (and can we resource/support that?).

Q: How can we bring transparency to this process?Q: Who might know more about this? Can we involve them?Q: Are we talking to teams to make sure that what we're thinking of doing is what they actually want?

What is it that people need?

Q: What need isn't currently being met by the existing resources in the sector, or our own resources?Q: What exactly is it that our people and our service users need right now? Q: What is the easiest and simplest way to provide that information in a way that teams can actually use Q: What will complement our casework practice? Q: What is going to be the most helpful thing, while still being financially possible?