I'm sorry, you've made the wrong decision.
Here are some points that you need to consider. You should have included all of these in your reflective activity.
- This is the not the right thing to do. You need to work in line with the full risk assessment and supervise John at the level indicated.
- While there are times you should use your own professional judgement, you must follow the guidance produced by the risk assessment process. Because you have worked with John before you feel you have insight to his situation but his circumstances may have changed, leading to a change in his risk assessment level.
- If you had concerns about the outcome of the risk assessment you should have discussed these with your manager and found out why the risk assessment level given has been identified. Your manager would have reminded you of the importance of supervising individuals at the level indicated.
- Accurate reports and risk assessments are crucial to social workers in the criminal justice system. They are central to defensible decision making and are the foundation on which appropriate interventions are built.
- Reports should be completed in line with the National Outcomes and Standards for Social Work Services in the Criminal Justice System. The standards are designed to support you to improve your performance and results.
- The standards say assessment should be an inclusive and participative process with the worker and individual working together. You should make sure John understands the purpose of the report and can see its content.
- Doing a new assessment using a participative approach was essential to developing an understanding of John’s current circumstances and identifying risks and needs. A new assessment would have taken into consideration factors like the impact of previous sentences. It would also have considered near future contexts and the situations in which re-offending may occur.
- Effective risk assessments and their implementation are essential to ensuring good outcomes in the reduction of re-offending and promotion of community safety and public protection.
- Even when you have prior knowledge of someone using services you should approach each case with the same level of professionalism.
- Your actions could call into question your suitability to be a criminal justice social work professional and an investigation by your employer could result in disciplinary action.
- You must act in a way that demonstrates you are trustworthy and dependable. As a result of your actions you may lose the trust of colleagues, people using services and the wider community.
When you were assigned John’s court report the right thing to do would have been to discuss the case with your manager, prioritise your workload as agreed with your manager and make sure the report was completed in line with the National Outcomes and Standards for Social Work Services in the Criminal Justice System. You can find out why this was the right thing to do here.
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