Community Led Initiatives Wellbeing Check-in’s

Community Led Initiatives (CLI) deliver a mentoring service within the Integrated Offender Management & Intensive Community Order cohorts for Cheshire and Greater Manchester Community Rehabilitation Companies and the National Probation service with the aim of supporting service users to reduce their re-offending. 3SC contract manage this service and are impressed by the way in which CLI are always looking for new ways of working that best meet the needs of their service users and improves their delivery model.

CLI looked at the impact of Covid-19 on their service users and the support they may need during lockdown and have introduced the C19 wellbeing check-in as part of their standard support package.  They have already gone above and beyond their normal service supporting their users in additional ways including:

• Picking up prescriptions for service users with underlying health needs.
• Supporting with shopping.
• Helping service users to order shopping online.
• Applying for benefits electronically.

They have also introduced a new Covid-10 wellbeing questionnaire. The below standard questions are being used in wellbeing phone call check-ins for new and existing caseloads of service users:

• Have you got somewhere to stay/isolate?
• Have you got essential food supplies?
• Have you got income/benefits up and running?
• Do you have internet access?
• Do you have access to outgoing calls?
• Do you have access to up to date Covid-19 information?
• Do you have support from other services?
• Do you have support from family or friends?
• Would you be interested in accessing some group video chats with the team and other people we support?
• What support would you like from us?
  • None at the moment
  • Phone call check ins
  • Send wellbeing activities
  • Info about food banks/suppliers
  • Info about benefits
  • Anything else
• What days/times would that support be helpful?

This approach and questions appear to be working very well in identifying issues and enabling bespoke support to be provided for each service user. 3SC would recommend that they are utilised by any organisations that are supporting service users through this time.

Simone Langley, Director of Operations at CLI, had the below to say…

“Community Led Initiatives have implemented this checklist after completing everybody’s action plan review that we have been in contact with over the last couple of weeks. Now we are trying to ensure we are offering more generic and current support around the pressing issues that would not have necessarily been a priority when the mentoring support began. Some of the questions have already been asked previously in more general conversations but we have rolled this out across the whole team as we want to provide consistency in what we are doing for everybody and responding efficiently if/when any of the answers to these questions change. We have completed 2 of these this morning and one person has requested we send him a wellbeing pack that we have put together and will post out to him.

 

We have asked the question of timing of support as we are accounting for the change in regular routines (kids off school and needing to support them during the day etc.), including staff and volunteers and, should the need arise, we have discussed the possibility of offering support outside of usual working hours. We are collating all the answers in a questionnaire format that we can export and evaluate further down the line when things are back to a sense of normality.”

• During the initial 2-week period CLI staff were adjusting to working from home, introducing new ways of working as well as getting used to using new technology etc. This phase also included prioritising those who were currently active where CLI were still working from the original assessments by revisiting each person’s action plan to see if there was anything that could be done remotely to help achieve the goals they originally set out.
• As part of the development of the support and to standardise their approach across their business, CLI introduced a new “assessment” which they called COVID-19 questionnaire. This was to look at areas of immediate need and areas where they could establish how and when to support people remotely. They responded to each person’s support needs based on this new assessment.
• CLI are now in the third phase and are using the COVID 19 questionnaire to establish that people have got the essentials they need and assess what means of communication they have with all the current caseload and new referrals so CLI staff are clear on the best way to support those people, if they want remote support at all and if CLI can support any challenges that the individuals are facing. Once CLI have supported with immediate need they will complete their usual initial assessment, set goals and measure progress which will be part of any further support.

It only takes a few minutes to run through the questions, but these few minutes could make the biggest difference to a person’s life and could be the support that they require to help them get through the day. Take the time out to check the well-being of your service users, your colleagues and your teams – be a part of the wellbeing movement that is offering the support that is required at that times that it matters!”

Gareth Snaith, Contract Performance Manager, 3SC