MULTIAGENCY COOPERATION

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MULTI-AGENCY COOPERATION

• Kate Whitfield
• K.Whitfield_at_liverpool.ac.uk

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(No Transcript)
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CRITICAL INCIDENTS

• High time pressure
• Incomplete information
• Media interest
• Stress
• Balancing of needs
• Decision-making

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MANAGEMENT PYRAMID
Crego Alison (2004)
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• Born in the Ivory Coast in Nov 1991.
• Nov 1998 flew to Paris with great-aunt,
  Marie-Therese Kouao.
• Not uncommon for parents to entrust children to
  relatives living in Europe.
• Spent 5 months in France.
• Often absent from school, frequently fell asleep
  during class.
• Social worker reported a difficult mother
  child relationship.

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• Stayed in a hostel in the UK.
• Ealing social services Marked difference in
  appearance.
• No school, day-care, or friends.
• June 1999 Esther Ackah noticed first sign of
  physical abuse.
• After visiting hostel, made first of two
  anonymous calls to Brent social services.

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• Priscilla Cameron Looked after Victoria. Noticed
  cuts on hands.
• July 1999 Moved in with Carl Manning.
• 13 July Asked Cameron to look after Victoria
  for good.
• Bad injuries said self-inflicted.
• Manning later said he disciplined her for
  incontinence.

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• Victorias first visit to hospital
• - Reported to Brent social services.
• - Placed under police protection.
• - Kouao not allowed to visit.
• Victorias second visit to hospital
• - Stayed for 13 nights for burn injuries.
• - Reported to Haringey social services.
• - Police (Karen Jones) social services (Lisa
  Arthurworrey) visit supremely incompetent.

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• First social worker visit
• - 16 August 1999.
• - Arthurworrey found Victoria smartly dressed
  cared for.
• - Only recommendation was for new accommodation.
• - Did not ask if Victoria was going to school or
  enrolled in day-care.

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• Second social worker visit
• - 28 October 1999.
• - Victoria was hardly discussed.
• - Manning a put-up job.
• - Arthurworrey only accommodate children at
  risk of serious harm.
• 3 days later Kouao accused Manning of sexually
  harming Victoria. Later, withdrew these
  allegations.

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KEY THEMES

• Good practice
• Leadership
• Accountability
• Information management
• Shared mental models
• Decision inertia

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GOOD PRACTICE

• Severe lack of good practice.
• Neil Garnham QC 3 housing authorities, 4 social
  services departments, 2 child protection teams of
  the MPS, 2 different hospitals 12 occasions
  where they could have intervened.
• Lord Laming A gross failure of the system.
  None of the agencies followed straightforward
  procedure.
• Deputy Assistant Commissioner William Griffiths
  In the A to Z of an investigation, the
  investigation did not get to B.

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LEADERSHIP

• Individuals in senior positions carry the
  responsibility of providing an efficient
  effective service.
• Monitor provide supervision (Komaki, 1998).
• Should not be distanced from day-to-day
  realities.
• Stay informed not accept anything at face value.

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ACCOUNTABILITY

• The existing blame culture.
• Establish a clear line of accountability.
• - Clear roles.
• - Decision logs.
• Diffusion of responsibility (Latane Darley,
  1970).

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INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

• Need to share relevant information.
• Quality of information.
• Clarity of information It was not the way I
  would have liked what I said to have been
  interpreted. Dr Ruby Schwartz
• Prioritisation information oversight.
• If its not recorded, it never happened.
• Need an interpreter?

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SHARED MENTALMODELS

• Cannon-Bowers Salas, 1990.
• Need a shared understanding of what constitutes
  threats thresholds of criticality.
• Have an understanding of the roles aims of
  other agencies.
• Teamwork Avoiding silos
• The importance of communication

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DECISION INERTIA

• Hamlet To be or not to be
• Taking action Accepting responsibility
• Decision inertia the avoidance of committing to
  a decision.
• Anderson (2003)
• - Omission bias not taking any action.
• - Status quo bias choosing an option that does
  not change things.
• - Choice deferral decision to search for a
  better decision.
• - Inaction inertia Missed out a good chance to
  act, so just carry on not acting.

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THE FUTURE

• Lord Laming The future lies with managers who
  can demonstrate the capacity to work effectively
  across organisational boundaries.
• HYDRA Joint training of staff.
• The legacy of Victoria.