“I love the work, I feel like I have changed, maybe not better or worse but I have changed and it’s given me a different perspective about the work I do. Working for CFN has made me think about my career and possible progression. It has made me think that I would like to potentially get into a position where I am able to influence change. Working for CFN has had a major impact on me both professionally and personally.” 

We recently said a sad farewell to one of our caseworkers Phil - before he left, we reflected on his time here with Changing Futures Northumbria (CFN). Phil came over to work as part of the CFN team having been offered a unique secondment opportunity through The Probation Service which “doesn’t come along very often”. Phil was 'Caseworker One' so has been here with us from the beginning. Phil quickly established a good working relationship with our co-ordinator Alex over football and as the pair began to find their feet, the Gateshead Touchpoint began.

“I don’t think someone could have written a job description that was better suited for me, to do what I want, with the knowledge I have, on a subject I love.”

When we asked what prompted him to apply for the role, Phil told us he was encouraged to apply by his manager Ken because of his passion for the work and the opportunity to influence change. Phil loved his job and didn’t want to leave, he found giving up his cases difficult but what he could not predict was the profound impact working with CFN was going to have on him. 

“We have a lovely team and there is a lot of respect, I have learnt a lot from my colleagues, we have a really good team spirit. The team has fostered a good attitude and work ethic and everyone pulls their weight”.

The Gateshead team is made up of specialists working in a generalist way which forms a multi-disciplinary team. Phil was the only person from The Probation Service working within CFN and he really knows his stuff which has enabled him to thrive in his role. He has knowledge in housing and offending which has enabled him to assist his fellow team members by sharing his skills.

“At CFN I have total autonomy, I am able to do what I want, the work is caseworker led and the power has been given to the caseworker”. 

At CFN we work towards a number of principles that help guide the work, one being Decisions Are Made in The Work. This empowers caseworkers to do what they believe is right for the citizen rather than following a hierarchical structure and having to ask for permission. Traditionally, guidance would be sought from a manger who is further removed from the work and inevitably decisions would be made that are less likely to be right for the citizen. 

“There is a lot of respect in the team and no power play”.

In the beginning when Phil was finding his feet and getting used to working with the principles, he commented on how he could pick up the phone to Mark Smith who developed the liberated method and the Director of Public Service Reform in Gateshead who would say “yeah do it”.  Phil wasn’t asking permission but just clarity of how the principles work in action. 

Specialists working in liberated way

“It’s not a job, it’s a vocation, you have to be invested and care about people, you have to 100% get the right worker. It’s amazing the results we have had without being forced to go on training, and instead just applying common sense, it’s good no one is telling you that you have to do any training. In this role I have control over the work which I didn’t have in past roles, and I also have a much lower caseload”. 

Phil talked about the benefits of utilising his specialism, having access to probation information and understanding that system, whilst also having the freedom to work in a more liberated way. Phil believes that this has been the benefit of the team and has witnessed other caseworkers making use of their skills to get better outcomes for the people they support. He highlighted the importance of both the specialist background, matched with the autonomy to work in a liberated way.  

“I didn’t know how the programme would work, it’s hard, you do get emotionally invested in this work”. 

When we asked Phil what was hard about this work, he talked about some of the lows which were mainly at the start. Phil reflected that he initially didn’t want to have uncomfortable conversations but through his CFN journey he has had the opportunity to challenge positively, and he feels he has grown from this. Due to his strong advocacy skills, Phil has enabled citizens to achieve what really matters to them.

Learning

“I love it, I’m reading books about working with people in different ways and listening to podcasts, these would have normally been about sport but now I’m listening to the diary of a CEO and stuff like that”  

As part of our work, we have a learning team embedded into the programme which supports caseworkers to debrief about the work and offers them a space for reflection. Initially, Phil found this hard to get his head around but as we have learned, reiterated and refined the sessions he has come to love the debriefs and he describes these as a space for reflection and he contemplated how these have provided him with the opportunity to develop his reflection skills. 

“Reflection in my notes has been really hard for me, I have never reflected previously in my role at probation as they were mainly clinical notes”. He stated, “my notes have changed so much they are not structured case notes anymore, I put my feelings and reflections within the notes as appose to using them as generic case notes”. 

At CFN caseworkers have been provided with a reflective journal to document the work as part of their role. He acknowledged that he has one type of notes for CFN and one type for Probation which are mostly structured around risk. Phil went on to discuss the culture difference in CFN and how helpful the reflection time has been for his practice.

“I love that we start with a question which we answer quickly or don’t answer but it opens up other things that link with the work”.

The learning team would also explore points of interest from the journals that interweave and interconnect. These points of interest would be brought to case worker meetings and discussed as a whole team to help with understanding and ensure that the impact of the worked was being captured accurately and authentically.

Phil talked about being influenced by the learning culture and how he has incorporated this both into his role and on a personal level.

“The learning has been a massive deviation from my usual way of working and seeing the team and hearing about the good outcomes. All this stuff I have learned here I will be taking back with me, I think it has enhanced me as a worker for when I go back”.

He reflected on a book he was reading on successful business leaders and listed 4 things that he felt resonated with the work of CFN:

•          Good culture where staff at all levels are involved

•          Taking risks where other people wouldn’t

•          Becoming popular due to word of mouth

•          Bringing others with knowledge into the team

Doing things differently

“The amount of information I got from the person would have normally taken weeks sitting down and talking to them as a probation officer. Prosocial modelling and advocating have brought better results for risk than normal risk management stuff”.

At CFN we don’t have pre-set outcomes or targets we need to achieve, instead we work with what matters to the citizen now and what matters to them in the future. This enables the citizen to set the scope and the caseworkers work collaboratively with them in a meaningful way. Phil described how “spending two hours having a cuppa” with someone working with what matters to them was hugely beneficial.

Saying goodbye

“CFN has been the perfect role for me which I have very much enjoyed but I have decided to return to my previous role to progress my career”.

We said a warm farewell to Phil on his last week with us and we wish him the very best in undertaking his Professional Qualification in Probation (PQiP). Phil acknowledged his ambivalent feelings about moving on stating “Giving up cases was hard, I am anxious about returning to my role”. He talked warmly about former colleagues who are no longer with the Probation Service, having recently retired, and how this makes it “hard going back”.

It has been a pleasure working alongside him and the team at CFN are excited to follow his career journey, hopefully changing the system one meeting at a time.

Never lose your passion Phil!