Understanding_Service_User_Perspective

Safety to practice assignment: Understanding the service user experience My two day visit took place at the Somerset County Council, with the Access and Assessment Team which is apart of Children's and Families Services. The Access and Assessment Team (AAT) is a local authority agency which carries out all Initial Assessments for Children's and Family services. 'An assessment is where all available and relevant information about a child, or children, is gathered to decide whether they may, or may not be 'in need'(Somerset Council). The AAT should also ensure that the child is seen when carrying out an assessment. You can become a user of the AAT service by self-referral, professional referral or by a concerned member of the public. The AAT works with many other departments within Somerset council and also external organisations such as Local Police, Teachers, Head Teachers, Hospitals, GP's, Health Visitor's, Connexion's, Youth Offending Team, Fostering and adoption agencies, Children centres, National Children Homes, Locality team, NSPCC, Barnardos, Child-minders, Nursery nurses, Playgroup workers, Housing officers and Benefit officers. The service users of the AAT are children and young people who come to the agency because they are or are likely to be at risk of physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse or neglect. The service provided by the AAT is to protect children and young people’s welfare. To do this the AAT will work with the child’s/young person’s family and/or carers, possibly providing/recommending services for them as well. However for the purposes of this essay any reference to service user refers solely to children and young people as they are the reason for the AAT’s involvement. A child or young person becomes a service user of the AAT, when either they or someone else raises a concern regarding their welfare. A concern is raised by calling Somerset Direct on 0845 345 9122 and the children's and young peoples team will obtain information from the caller. If they feel there is a concern regarding a child/young person’s welfare they refer the concern to AAT, who will then carryout an initial assessment. The AAT will then decide whether the case is that of child is in need, child protection case or that no action is required. When the ATT carries out their assessment they will try and work with the family to decide together on the services most suited to their needs. To ensure that this happens AAT use the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) when carrying out their initial assessment. 'It is intended to provide a simple process for a holistic assessment of a child's needs and strengths, taking account of the role of parents, carers and environmental factors on their development. Practitioners will then be better placed to agree, with the child and family, about what support is appropriate (DCSF).’ The NSPCC et al, state that ‘It is particularly important at turning points in their lives that ‘children are enabled to express their wishes and feelings; make sense of their circumstances and contribute to decisions that affect them (Department of Health, 2000 pg43).’ Statute enforces the participation of service users when deciding on services. Section 53 of the Children Act 2004 relates solely to Ascertaining Children’s wishes. The 2004 act broadens the Children’s Act 1989 by adding that before determining any actions or services the Local Authority should ‘(a) ascertain the child’s wishes and feelings regarding the action to be taken with respect to him; and (b) give due consideration (having regard to his age and understanding) to such wishes and feelings of the child as they have been able to ascertain (2004, p37).” Service users can refuse to co-operate with the AAT and their views will be taken into account. The Department of Health reiterates this in their guidance document ‘Framework for children in need and their families’, by stating ‘the importance, therefore of undertaking direct work with children during assessment is emphasised, including developing multiple, age, gender and culturally appropriate methods for ascertaining their wishes and feelings, and understanding the meaning of their experiences to them (2000 pg10).’ However, the AAT concern’s do not necessarily go away and the consequences of refusing to co-operate may mean the AAT will seek to obtain permission from the parent/carer or the courts if they feel the case is a child protection case or that the refusal will have a negative impact on the service-user, which may result in a deterioration of their welfare. Due to the nature of the services that the AAT provide, the service users do not have a direct say in its running. However, Somerset County Council has a ‘complain about children’s social care’ form, which enables dissatisfied service users to complain about the services they have used. This has a indirect impact on the services used as the Government’s objective for Children’s Social Services (DoH, 1999c) states ‘ Local Authorities are required to demonstrate that children and young people are becoming more satisfied with services (Walker, J 2007, pg 39).’ It is also a good way to measure whether the standards which have been set out by The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989, which ‘protects children’s rights by setting standards in social services (UNICEF)’ are being met. Another indirect way service users can have a say in the running of the running of the ATT is through the Office of the Children’s Right Director for England (OCRD) which works to the Children’s Rights Director Regulations 2004, providing ‘an independent human rights institution for children (HL & HC 2003 pg2)’ finding out ‘young people’s views about the social care services that they receive from their local councils (Walker, J 2007 pg 69).’ Taking the above factors into consideration I think the child/young person finds the experience of the ATT confusing, emotional and complicated. The child/young person can often feel uninvolved as most of the talking and planning tends to be between the social worker, parents/carers, and other adults. The parents/carers generally find the experience of the AAT as scary, bureaucratic and interfering, but I tend think the overall experience may actually depend on the social worker they are working with rather than whether or not the parents/carers welcome the involvement of the AAT. If parents/carers are working with a social worker who they feel is non judgemental and understands their daily challenges then the experience, although maybe not a required one, is a good one. If this is not the case the experience is generally viewed negatively. This is highlighted by Barnes, 2002, who states ‘the importance of the quality of the relationships that the social worker has with the service user’ is one of the key areas that mattered to service users (Walker, J, 2007 pg 68)’. The aim of the AAT is to change the lives of their service users through empowerment. The involvement of the AAT increases the service user’s chances of being heard and listened to, empowering them with a voice. The AAT also introduces the service user to services which they may not have been aware of or have known how to access, empowering them with choices and resources. The AAT also works with the parents/carers introducing them to services which will indirectly benefit their child such as anger management or parenting classes, empowering the service user with mutually respectful relationships. Involvement with the AAT can also have some negative consequences for the service users as involvement with the agency has a degree of stigma attached to it. Some service users may feel socially excluded as they are sometimes perceived negatively among their peer group and/or their peer groups parents/carers as a result of being a social services service user. The findings in the Scottish Government’s research paper ‘Public Knowledge of and Attitudes Towards Social Work in Scotland’ concluded that ‘There was clearly some stigma associated with using social work services, particularly for problems such as difficulties bringing up children or drug and alcohol problems (Scotland.gov.uk).’ When a service user is introduced to AAT a better description of what social workers do and the services which they provide directly or indirectly would improve the experience of the service user. This knowledge would remove the fear of the unknown and encourage greater participation from the service user. It would also remove the inherent ‘fear that comments, complaints or criticism about services could risk retaliation and withdrawal of support (Warren 2007 pg 54).’ Finally, the experience of being involved with the AAT could also be improved by social workers and other professional adults using clearer language and explaining the processes involved. They should also continually ensure that the service user and their families understand what is happening and the reasons for why decisions have been made. This is highlighted in the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s report on inter-agency working to prevent school exclusion, ‘Young people and their parents/carers who participated in the meetings valued their involvement, even though they did not always understand what was happening or the language used by some professionals. They sometimes found meetings intimidating or upsetting, but nonetheless indicated a clear preference for participation (jrf.org.uk).’ (1509 words) Bibliography Somerset County Council – ‘What is a 7-day or initial assessment'’ leaflet. Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), 2007. Delivering services, Common Framework Assessment. Available from: http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/deliveringservices/caf/ (Accessed 19 October 2007). S53 of the Children Act 2004, United Kingdom, The Stationary Office. Hodgkin, R & Newell, P, 2005. Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNICEF. Available from: www.unicef.org/crc (Accessed 19 October 2007). Warren, J, 2007. Servicer User & Carer Participation in Social Work, Exeter, Learning Matters. 2000. (1.35) Framework for the assessment of children in need and their families, Department of Health, United Kingdom, The Stationary Office. 2000. (3.41) Framework for the assessment of children in need and their families, Department of Health, United Kingdom, The Stationary Office. 2003. The case for a Children’s Commissioner for England, 2003. United Kingdom, The Stationary Office HL paper 96, HC, 666. Davidson S & King S, 2005, Public knowledge of and attitudes towards social work in Scotland. The Scottish Government publications. The Crown. Available from http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/09/15142858/28593 (Accessed 26 October 2007). Lloyd, G et al. 2001 Inter-agency working to prevent school exclusion, National Children’s Bureau. Available from http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/961.asp (Accessed 26 October 2007).