Case Studies: Social Services

Systemic Approaches to Child Safety

• Case Studies: Social Services
• Making student loans work
• Reintegration of troubled youth
• An inter-agency response to family violence
• Systemic Approaches to Child Safety
• A strategy for developing strong families

SOCIAL SERVICES RESPONDing QUICKLY TO CRITICAL DEMAND. 

ISSUE
Child, Youth and Family (CYF) needed to respond to allegations of neglect and abuse against NZ children.

Since 2003, notifications to CYF have increased significantly. The year-end forecast in 2003 was 40,000 notifications. The forecast was close to 65,000 notifications for 2006/2007.

These rapidly increasing rates created wait lists and high numbers of unattended cases. Further, despite intensive efforts to eliminate the problem no approach addressed the fundamental causes of the problem. Therefore, the challenge for CYF was to:

A. Develop and implement explicit and sanctioned strategies to address demand for services; and

B. Move intake and assessment processes to prioritise service delivery to those children and young people most in need (based on risk of harm and severity of need).

Synergia worked with CYF to better understand the barriers to providing a consistent, appropriate, and timely service. Synergia used a combination of analysis techniques drawn from statistical process control theory, systems dynamics and soft systems analysis/appreciative inquiry to break through the multiple levels of organisational, process, and professional practice to reach the underlying ways of thinking that maintained the status quo – despite every effort to improve!

The process uncovered a number of key parameters that placed pressure on CYF social worker capacity, and created large variations in intake process achievement. These related to:

A. organisational mental models of social work;

B. individuals’ understanding of their role and purpose and their gathering and maintenance of professional esteem;

C. organisational and individual interactions between formal measures and personally perceived risks; and

D. collective actions within sites to preserve individual well-being in situations of stress.

SOLUTION
In seeking to demonstrate the opportunities available via a systems change, a depiction of two modes of operation was presented to the organisation; one mode represented the existing models and consequent problems, the second characterised a fundamental reorganisation of the intake and demand system built on existing successful practices already operating in small patches of CYF.

That is, Synergia used a systems approach to help CYF learn from its self, and to catalyse change within a complex system. The rethink highlighted to management and staff that large improvements in service could be achieved in short timescales within existing resources – once the problem has been reconceived into a solutions focused frame.

OUTCOME
CYF’s long standing backlogs have been eliminated, their responsiveness has increase, and despite further growth in demand and ongoing staff recruitment issues, the organisation is responding appropriately to request for service (demand). Additionally, there is a renewed sense of team capability and professional pride. This has replaced the embattled and dispirited environment of the past.

Synergia continues to work with CYF, operating within pressured demanding environments, to create positive outcomes for children and the organisation.