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• What multi-agency working means for me

Police

Danny used to be a community beat officer in charge of a large estate. Most of his time was spent on the beat, and he could be patrolling from early morning till late at night. This involved meeting with businesses and residents, and visiting the school on the estate. He was on patrol until late in the evening. The main challenge was gaining acceptance and getting through to the younger generation. It was hard to deal with them because of the poor reputation of the local police. Danny felt that he spent a lot of time outside the off licence, just preventing young people getting access to alcohol. So when there was an opportunity to work directly with young people in the area, Danny jumped at the chance. He thought this was a real opportunity to act as a positive role model, while changing local perceptions of the police and improving young people's lives.

"Individually, we haven't got all the answers, but together, we can put together packages that really make a difference to people's lives."

Danny now works with 13 schools in his area. Originally, he was involved in establishing a Safer Schools Partnership between the schools and the police. More recently, the area has used this partnership as a foundation to establish a behaviour and education support team (BEST). Danny works with social workers, community development workers, a psychologist and an education welfare officer, as well as the staff in the schools. Before, he felt that he was just 'fire fighting', but the multi-agency preventive approach means now he is able to challenge difficult behaviour from the beginning.

• Danny begins the day with an assembly in a school. The end of this assembly is always interactive, with students encouraged to talk about issues concerning them, why the problems have arisen, and what they can do to tackle them.
• Danny also spends a lot of time in classrooms or working with small groups. He works with the young people to address issues such as bullying, good behaviour, honesty and racism.
• Danny also carries out work with individual students, particularly in using restorative justice between victims and offenders.
• Danny spends some time writing reports for youth offending teams (YOTs) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), and will act as an advocate for some young people.
• He carries out some joint working with other people in his team; including some family visits.

Challenges in setting up the new service

• It was difficult to agree the protocols which would establish how the partnership would work, and to set out the expectations on both sides.
• It was especially hard to be involved from the beginning because there were no precedents for him to follow.
• He had to work hard to convince the schools that his presence would make a difference and to get them to provide the support and resources he needed.

Despite these challenges, Danny feels that having persevered he is now making a real difference to the young people and their schools.

• His team always put the needs of the young people before their other work. Danny will do his best never to turn a young person away, and will always follow up enquiries and self-referrals that day.
• Danny says the differences in the school are unbelievable. He has built such a positive relationship with the students in the school that most of those that he works with now are self-referred.
• Students are also taking more responsibility for their own actions and challenging their own behaviour in schools. For example, Danny mentioned a broken window in an assembly, and afterwards the young person responsible confessed to him and offered to pay.

Working in partnership

A recent survey Danny carried out showed that 99 per cent of the staff he works with are convinced of the benefits of his involvement. Danny thinks there are a number of reasons why the partnership has been so effective.

• Danny spent a lot of time and energy building personal relationships with both the students and the staff at the beginning, so now everyone knows where he is and how to get in touch with him. Danny thinks that being compassionate is the key to these relationships.
• He and the team are able to react flexibly to issues within the school, and provide an alternative response to using the court system.
• He has been able to set up a network of contacts which means "if I want to put on a disco, I can just make a few phone calls and I will have a venue, staff and resources. I would never have had that when we were all working in isolation".

But Danny doesn't think joint working is for everyone. He thinks services should not 'volunteer' people, but that posts should be open to application to ensure that successful applicants are committed and enthusiastic about the opportunities. He thinks it is a big commitment in terms of time, and says "you have to be prepared to go the extra mile".

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Last updated on 30/04/2009