Planning for engagement
Content
Case summary
Inspectors comments
Take-away learning
Back to engagement in case supervision Next chapter: Implementing for engagement
Planning should focus sufficiently on engaging the service user. Practitioners should:
- meaningfully involve the service user and take their views into account
- take sufficient account of the service user’s diversity and personal circumstances, which may affect engagement and compliance
- take sufficient account of the service user’s readiness and motivation to change, which may affect engagement and compliance
- set out how all the requirements of the sentence or licence/post-sentence supervision will be delivered within the available timescales
- set a level, pattern and type of contact sufficient to engage the service user and support the delivery of specific interventions.
Case summary
Lisa is a 24-year-old female who received a 12-month community order with a 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement for an offence of driving while under the influence of alcohol. She was three times over the legal limit and lost control of her car. She reported having committed this offence following an argument with her partner and had committed a similar offence just four months earlier. In the earlier offence, Lisa stated that she drove in similar circumstances following an argument with her partner’s brother. As a consequence of this repeat offending, the responsible officer assessed Lisa as posing a medium risk of causing serious harm.
Due to health issues, Lisa failed to attend three initial appointments. Despite the absences, the responsible officer completed the initial assessment and sentence plan within 15 days of sentencing but recorded clearly on the case file that this would be revisited as soon as Lisa attended an appointment and had been properly inducted onto the order. In the meantime, the responsible officer kept in contact over the phone and managed to develop a positive relationship with Lisa, despite the early absences.
During the first office appointment with the responsible officer, Lisa disclosed that she was a victim of domestic abuse, suffered from extreme anxiety and, at times, resorted to alcohol abuse to self-medicate. Following this meeting the responsible officer carried through with their intention to review the assessment and sentence plan, having heard Lisa’s perspective. The result was a very good assessment of Lisa’s personal circumstances, how they affected her, her readiness to change and how best to work with her to achieve this.
- an explanation of the need for a flexible approach to supervision, with office appointments and home visits being used; the first few contacts were conducted at home to enable Lisa to build trust with the responsible officer and to form a relationship
- detail about the need for reporting arrangements to fit around child care commitments, as she had a one-year old child
- a referral to the local women’s centre, including one-to-one counselling sessions and safety planning, given Lisa’s experience of domestic abuse
- alcohol counselling
- a referral to a community psychiatric nurse who attended weekly at the local women’s centre, to enable deeper assessment and onward referral regarding Lisa’s anxiety.
Inspector’s comments
Planning in this case was excellent. So often we see plans that were completed within the required HMPPS timescales but in the absence of the service user, to meet the relevant service level measure. Although this happened in this case initially, the responsible officer made sure that, once Lisa did attend, the initial assessment and sentence plan were reviewed in order to fully incorporate her views. Subsequently, the responsible officer took into account Lisa’s personal circumstances, her anxiety and the fact that she was a victim of domestic abuse. Supervision was tailored to Lisa’s needs and home visits were used during the initial stages to help build trust and gain her confidence.
The detail included within the sentence plan was good and relevant interventions to address criminogenic factors were sequenced appropriately. The plan acknowledged that attendance at the women’s centre, a busy community hub, would not initially be conducive to Lisa’s needs and readiness to engage. The plan was also clear that, for the first 12-weeks of supervision, all appointments needed to take place on a one-to-one basis, such was Lisa’s level of anxiety. This was later reviewed.
Take-aways – applying the learning
- What stood out for you in this case illustration? Can you identify similar elements in your own approach to planning for engagement?
- What changes will you make to your practice when considering service users’ complex personal circumstances? How will this impact on engagement and compliance themes when you put together a suitable plan?
- How can you develop further your understanding of planning for engagement?
This case summary is intended for training/learning purposes and includes a fictional name.
