15 - Multi-Agency Working Flashcards
Multi-Agency Working
Existing forms of practice and coordination – with some evidence of joint working
Virtual links between agencies that aid the sharing of information and multi agency decision making (MAPPA)
Co-located hub of agencies enabling real time information sharing, decision making and communication Often referred to as MASH
First Approach
The first approach is the lightest touch, involving few resources and largely depending on the individual commitment of the professionals involved.
This may be a Social Worker, Probation Officer or local Beat Manager ensuring they follow best practice regarding the sharing of information between relevant agencies, or they may be going the extra mile because a case has sparked a personal interest.
While it is an everyday part of practice in the criminal justice system, multi-agency liaison is not always possible in every case. This is because the resources deployed within agencies may not support
Second Approach
The second approach, utilising virtual links can develop in a number of ways. Sometimes this involves the involvement of a SPOC.
This is the Specified Point Of Contact approach. Here, the idea of professional relationships are fostered and maintained through the construction of a sub-network of specialist professionals.
Thus, for example, rather than having the potential for any midwife in the country turn up to safeguarding meetings, there is a designated Safeguarding Midwife in hospitals whose role includes developing specialist knowledge and experience of safeguarding procedures.
This individual acts as a proxy for their colleagues, removing the necessity for all midwives to maintain a comprehensive understanding of the wider process – they can focus on their clinical duties and understand if a safeguarding event occurs, they know who to go to.
Safe Guarding…
The Safeguarding processes are a good example of Type 2 arrangements: mst of the work is completed by professionals undertaking their normal, day-to-day role.
However, at set times and for specific tasks, a group is convened to consider the risks to specific individuals at that time.
These area almost like task-and-finish groups, in that they only exist for the duration of an identified risk.
Precision and a strong evidence–base are the key elements of the process. Information exchange is the primary mode of risk management, with further actions coordinated and agreed by the group, who take collective responsibility for the development and implementation of the risk management plan.
Other examples of this type of partnership include MAPPA, MARAC and Community Safety Partnerships, though the exact configuration of these groups and their focus differ substantially.
Third Approach…
The final type of partnership is the co-located, or integrated multi-agency team.
Most recently this type of working has emerged through the development of Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hubs.
These are, in part, a response to professional failures to manage risks in high profile cases involving children. The most common finding from inquiries into failings in multi-agency working is the breakdown of effective information exchange.
Commonly this is a lack of awareness of other agencies being involved, or the failure to pass-on ‘soft’ intelligence.
This is the type of information you just sort of know, because you are working the case. It never makes it into the formal record, because there is a lack of corroborating evidence, or it is a ‘hunch’.
However, often this information is the focus of conversations amongst colleagues around the office, or within a beat team.
Other examples of this type of working include, Youth Offending Teams, which combine police, probation, local authority social care and education and health practitioners; and the former UKBA Local Immigration Teams, which had police, UKBA and local authority representation.
Most of the LITs have been disbanded since UKBA lost its executive agency status in 2013, and the National Crime Agency was implemented in 2014.
Conclusions
Probation always involved a mixed economy of providers (Voluntary, Statutory & now Commercial)
Probation has always had a focus on substance misuse & treatment
