Listen Up - Social Welfare Portal

listenup!38 | Chapter 5Another spoke of how important the option ofhaving fun was to them:“If you want to have a jokey day and escape all yourproblems and have a bit of fun you can do that… butif you just really need to talk you can do that as well.”Young personYoung people’s sayYoung people using the services at theseorganisations were encouraged by their keyworkerto express their opinions and preferences about thecare and support they received and were supportedto take an active role in making these decisions.To help them make these decisions, theorganisations presented to each young personthe range of care and support the organisationcould offer them, talked through the pros and consof each type of care and support, and providedguidance as to which approach or approachesmight best meet their needs. The young personthen had the final choice of what care or supportthey would receive.“Individuals are encouraged to try a range ofapproaches if they wish until finding an option whichbest meets their needs.”Project worker, Streetwise, NewcastleThe young person’s progress was monitored by theirkeyworker on a regular basis. If they felt the care andsupport they were receiving was not meeting theirneeds, they could renegotiate their care plan withtheir keyworker. For all young people, having a say intheir care and support was a very empowering andpositive experience.Even so, choice is not without difficulties, as youngpeople may not be used to making decisionsabout their support and care or about their lives ingeneral. They reported that having choice could beoverwhelming and they were frightened of makingthe wrong decision. Some reported that they hadonly used statutory services before, where choiceand their power to influence their care had been verylimited, so the culture of choice was somewhat aliento them at first.Other young people reported that it took time to feelcomfortable in expressing preferences and openlysaying that they were unhappy with their supportand wished to try alternatives. One said they had justdecided to “grin and bear it in case workers say theywon’t help you”.Choice of keyworkersEach organisation involved in this projectacknowledged that young people might responddifferently to different workers, according to theirown personal preferences.“Staff recognise clients will naturally form betterrelationships with some workers more than othersand accept that young people’s perspectives mustbe considered carefully when or if they expressany concerns or preferences in reference to theirkeyworker.”Project worker, Sorted Not Screwed Up,Aberdeen Foyer, AberdeenIf at any point a young person felt they wouldbenefit from changing to a different keyworker, theywere provided with the opportunity to explore thereasons for this further. These requests were alwayshandled with care:“Considering the difficulties that the client groupoften have in forming and maintaining relationships,the project is wary of changing care co-ordinatorstoo readily. The reasons behind the young person’spreferences and issues are carefully considered, and,if it may be beneficial to the young person, staff willwork with them to try to overcome the barriers.”Project worker, Icebreak, The Zone, Plymouth