'Seniorless' Teamwork with Homeless Clients
| Author | Judy Green,Phil Glanfield |
| Date | 01 December 1983 |
| Published date | 01 December 1983 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455058303000410 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
145
’Seniorless’
Teamwork
with
Homeless
Clients
PRACTICE
NOTES
ON
A
NOTTINGHAM
EXPERIMENT
Judy
Green
and
Phil
Glanfield
Housing
Team,
Nottingham
The
Need
for
Change
The
Housing
profile
of
Nottingham
changed
significantly
dunng
the
1970s.
The
consequent
effect
on
Probation
caseloads
was
recognised
in
a
major
reorgamsation
of
Inner
City
Teams
in
1980.
Teams
were
disbanded
and
amalgamated
and
after
considerable
internal
wrangling
the
concept
of
a
Housing
Team
emerged
and
this
was
established
in
an
existing
probation
office in
September
1980.
Previously
homeless
and
rootless
clients,
arguably
the
most
vulnerable,
had
been
dealt
with
on
a
rota
basis
and
spread
amongst
County
and
City
teams.
In
addition
to
offering
a
specialised
service
to
this
client
group,
the
team
was
given
the
brief
to
developing
housing
re-
sources.
The
SPO
was
already
immersed
in
many
Housing
issues
m
the
voluntary
sector,
and
a
probation
officer,
without
a
caseload,
was
allo-
cated
specifically
to
work
on
Housing
issues.
Nottingham
City
already
had
an
established
Probation
Lodgmgs
Scheme
and
this
was
brought
under
the
team
umbrella.
Unintended
Consequences
However
well
intentioned
and
planned,
and
despite
a
comprehensive
’case-load
scan’ ,
no
one
anticipated
the
amount
of work
such
reorganisation
would
generate
for
the
Housing
Team.
We
were
mundated
with
callers
and
referrals
partly
because
the
number
of
homeless
and
rootless
clients
had
been
under-estimated,
but
also
because
of
the
immediate
practical
problems
which
this
client
group
consistently
presents.
Six
months
of
per-
sistent
pressure
led
to
external
and
internal
acri-
mony.
In
the
end
the
team
decided
to
stop
taking
referrals
from
other
Nottmgham teams
for
reasons
of
self-preservation.
The
situation
was
fraught,
we
were
clearly
over-loaded
and
we
were
not
sure
who
to
blame.
It
became
apparent
that
the
Client
Servicing
Group
(i.e.
the
officers
doing
the
face
to
face
work)
needed
time
to
sit
down
together
and
work
out
referral
criteria
and
more
appropriate
structures
for
offering
a
reasonable
service.
This
culminated
in
a
two-day
team
review
of
Client
Servicing s
work
(without
SPO)
and
with
hindsight
one
can
now
see
that
this
was
the
starting
point
for
the
present
structure.
Obviously,
this
transition
was
not
straightforward
and
the
various
tensions
created
personal
difficulties
and
unpleasantness.
Eventually
we
took
over
allocations
which
brought
the
work
more
within
our
control
and
the
development
of
Main
Grade
Management
we
found
to
be
more
personally
satisfying
while
reducing
the
scapegoating
of
traditional
structures.
Collective
Style
Client
Servicing
is
now
7
Main
Grade
POs
and
one
Probation
Assistant
and
manages
a
total
caseload
of 486.
Clear
selection
cnteria
for
taking
cases
have
emerged,
i.e.
homelessness
and
an
ability
to
make
a
start
on
the
housing
ladder.
Our
client
group
have
almost
all
served
a
number
of
often
long
pnson
sentences.
In
addition
to
home-
lessness
the
most
commonly
encountered
problem
is
alcoholism.
Hence,
while
the
long
term
aim
is
the
mamtenance
of
stable,
secure
accommodation,
much
of
the
work
is
short
term
and
immediate:
placing
in
lodgings,
budgetting
2
weeks’
money,
sustaining
through
’drying
out’
etc.
We
have
found
that
much
of
this
crisis,
day-to-
day
work
is
more
efficiently
done
collectively
and
the
core
of
this
is
daily
office
duty
which
offers
a
service
to
all
cases.
Collectively
held
cases
make
up
56%
of
the
team’s
total
caseload.
Individual
allocation
is
based
both
upon
our
assessment
of
need
and
at
the
behest
of
clients.
We
make
no
discrimination
in
what
we
offer
between
statutory
and
voluntary
clients.
The
majority
of
our
work
is
office
based
(home
visits
for
obvious
reasons
being
rare!)
with
a
high
amount
of prison
visiting
and
this
work
lends
itself to
being
shared.
In
order
to
manage
this
sharing
we
have
developed
a
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