I often get asked why I wanted to be a social worker, and more specifically, why I want to work with people who break the law and often do horrible things. I guess the simple answer to that question is that everyone needs support and that people who’ve broken the law are no different. They’re often viewed as a group of people who are undeserving of help because of the things they have done, but the reality is that most of the people criminal justice work with have a lot of problems. If we really want to try and prevent them from committing further offences, they need support to be able to change their behaviour and to improve their life circumstances. Obviously, this isn’t easy and as with any form of behaviour change, this will only happen if the person wants to make changes. The work can be frustrating at times, but when you see someone making positive changes, it can also be very rewarding.
Here’s a typical day for a social worker at Community Justice Services…
9am – Catching up on case recording in relation to the service users I saw yesterday. Returning phone calls and replying to emails received from other professionals. Arranging a prison visit for a service user currently serving a custodial sentence but who is due for release in two weeks.
10am – Community Justice Social Work report interview with Carl. The Sheriff requests a criminal justice social work report when they want to know a little more about the service user and their circumstances before deciding on an appropriate sentence at court. It’s my job to assess the suitability of the range of disposals available [1], but the Sheriff makes the final decision about what happens. Carl has assaulted an adult male and a police officer and he has a history of committing crimes of violence. I’ve known him for several years and he is a “regular” at CJS. Carl attends his appointment and tells me that he cannot remember what happened in relation to the offences because he was drunk at the time. This is similar to most of his previous convictions. Carl assures me that he’s made changes in his life but he’s unable to evidence this. I’m aware that a custodial sentence is likely and know that he’s keen to avoid going back to prison so wonder whether he’s telling me the truth. The decision of whether or not to give him another chance in the community needs to be balanced carefully with the need to protect the public from potential harm.
11am – Completion of the LS/CMI risk assessment [2] for Carl’s criminal justice social work report. He has a total of 76 convictions and over 20 have been for violent offences. He has been subject to the full range of community disposals and this has had little effect on his behaviour. Does he need/deserve another chance? If he goes back to prison this will protect the public for a short period but will it affect change in his life? All of the positives in his life (stable accommodation, family support) will be interrupted and this will cause further difficulties for him in the long run.
12noon – Telephone call from Lewis. He’s in a panic because his daughter was removed from his care last night. Social work visited and felt that he presented as under the influence of substances and despite assuring them that he wasn’t, they took his daughter to her aunt’s for the night to ensure her safety. He doesn’t know what’s happening now and is concerned. Telephone calls to Lewis’ daughters’ social worker, his drugs worker and to Lewis in relation to what is going to happen next. A meeting is arranged for the following week and I arrange to carry out a home visit to see him at 10am tomorrow to see how he is managing this - my concern is that he might use substances in an attempt to cope with how he is feeling and this could lead to more permanent care arrangements for his daughter. As she remains his main motivation for change, this could have significant implications for him in the longer term. Will he give up entirely if he loses his daughter?
1pm – Lunch then catching up on case recording, responding to emails and telephone calls. Arranging the next staff consultation group where staff members come together to try and resolve any issues/celebrate success within criminal justice services.
2pm – Andrew attends his supervision appointment [3]. He’s still homeless and “sofa-surfing” so he still has little stability in his life. This means undertaking work in relation to his offending behaviour is difficult. We spend time trying to sort out his benefits claim as he has no income at the moment and this puts him at risk of further offending. I call housing who continue to advise that there is no temporary accommodation available which means he has to look for somewhere else to stay tonight. This is frustrating. Andrew’s given an emergency food parcel and I arrange to call him later in the week to see how he is doing.
3pm – Laurence fails to attend his supervision appointment. Several attempts to contact him by telephone but he doesn’t answer. Text message sent asking him to contact me. Final Warning letter sent out in relation to the absence - this can be removed later if he provides acceptable evidence for missing his appointment. He has missed appointments before so I’m not overly concerned but as he has mental health problems, I decide that if I don’t hear from him by tomorrow afternoon, I’ll do an unannounced home visit to check that he is okay.
4pm – Joe attends his appointment on time and he presents well. He’s had a good day at work. We continue completing the pre-pack [4] for the domestic abuse group that he is due to start in two months time. Joe has a good understanding of the topic we are discussing and engages well but he continues to blame his partner for “nagging at him” and “pushing him” into assaulting her. This is something he needs to continue working on in order to understand that this is not an excuse for being violent.
5pm – Although I still have a lot of case recording and follow up work to do from all that happened today, I decide to go home. I’ll maybe come in early tomorrow to try and catch up.
[1] The disposals that a Sheriff can impose include: absolute discharge, admonition, deferred sentences, structured deferred sentences, financial penalties, community payback orders (a CPO can have up to nine different requirements attached including offender supervision, unpaid work, drug treatment, alcohol treatment, mental health treatment, programme, compensation, residence and/or conduct requirements), restriction of liberty orders, drug treatment and testing orders and custodial sentences. Historical offences can also result in probation orders and/or community service orders.
[2] LS/CMI stands for Level of Service / Case Management Inventory. This is a Scottish wide risk assessment and case management tool. It aims to support social workers to conduct a thorough assessment of a person’s circumstances, their difficulties and their strengths and helps to devise a plan of intervention to address the person's needs. A short form of LS/CMI is used at the report stage and a more thorough assessment is undertaken if the person is placed on a community payback order.
[3] A supervision appointment is a pre-planned appointment as part of a community payback order with offender supervision. The appointments are used to address any issues/needs that the service user presents with. This could be practical issues in relation to housing or benefits, health issues including wellbeing or substance misuse issues or to complete a specific piece of offence-focused work.
[4] The pre-pack is a set of materials that has to be completed prior to our domestic abuse group beginning so that all of the services users have an understanding of what the group intends to address.