This guidance applies when a service receives a referral of a young person that they do not already know due to some emerging problem. For services that already know a young person (e.g. a youth club or hostel) this may not apply in the same way.
Who should be meeting who?
In seeking to establish a helpful relationship with the young person, the
AMBIT-influenced team will be motivated by the notion of the “
Team around the Worker”. This phrase is used in AMBIT to highlight the critical importance of peer to peer supervisory relationships between workers, but it also invites an alternative (we think mentalizing) or complementary perspective on the young person’s predicament in a multi-professional environment. In considering a new referral to the team, it is an invitation for the worker to ask him- or herself:
“Is there perhaps already a worker in relationship with this young person, whom they would see as trustworthy, and through whom they might be introduced either to ‘my’ work, or to me?”
Critical for this is an awareness that there may be unwanted effects from any intervention, and adding a new worker carries a risk that this could add confusion to a network, or even inadvertently undermine important existing relationships (consider the other stance elements
Respect local practice and expertise and
Scaffolding existing relationships).
In such circumstances, the AMBIT worker might reach out to meet this “key” worker (as defined by the young person, rather than the system) in order to acknowledge how important the relationship they have formed with the young person is, and emphasising the importance of preserving this. It is critical that the entry of a new worker into the clinical field is not seen as a threat to existing work, but as supportive of it, and it may be necessary to explain the rationale for this new team’s intervention - with the hope that the sense the established worker makes of it might then be translated and handed on to the young person. If the young person hears positively of this from a trusted source, there is a higher chance of successful engagement.
It is important to stress that it is not a given that every worker who has already struggled to successfully engage a young person will look upon the arrival of additional workers with unambiguous relief; the AMBIT stance element of “
Respect local practice and expertise” is apparent here, as the AMBIT worker presents him- or herself as actively supportive of the existing worker, and sensitive to the fact that inviting them to try to talk to the young person about this referral, and to explore the young person’s questions about this new worker, might appear as a “big ask” in the face of competing priorities.
How to set up a first meeting
This is usually arranged through a parent or referrer, but in many situations services may make first contact with the young person, without any contact with parents or other professionals (drop-ins, street level outreach projects.)
- If there is a referral, aim to have a telephone conversation with the parent/referrer beforehand to discuss meeting the young person (assuming this is not in breach of any confidentiality agreements).
- Ask parent/referrer how she thinks young person would like this meeting to happen?
- Ask about who young person gets on with or trusts? (Is there a positive relationship that you could work through or scaffold? It may be that an existing worker who already has a good relationship could be supported through active consultation and supervision by members of your team to deliver some of the early work, in terms of information-giving, PsychoEducation or Motivational Work, for instance, and that this would be more effective than a new worker "muscling in".
- Ask about or make suggestions about a location, and time for the meeting, and who should be there? Where, who would feel safe for the young person?
- Achieving what we call Contingent care means trying to offer this quickly - over the next few days, and at the young person's house, or in whatever place they define as safe (after a preliminary RiskAssessment on our part to ensure this is safe for the worker).
- Encourage the parent/referrer to discuss with the young person to convey that his/her views are important, but avoid allowing a young person to have a complete veto on any meeting:
- If the young person refuses to see any professionals, then one line may be to offer to see the parent/carer (or another trusted adult) first, relaying the message to the young person that they "...Should think up some really tough questions that would need answering", and ask the parent/carer to ask them on their behalf....
- This can also be done by inviting the young person to bring a trusted worker or parent, and setting up the first meeting as one in which "you (or your worker) can interview ME - ask me the toughest questions you need to ask, and check out my answers". This is a good example of the technique we refer to as Broadcasting Intentions.
- Ask the parent/referrer to get back to confirm that this has been agreed with the young person.
Note on "Emergencies".
Sometimes referrers can be very stressed and want things done immediately as an emergency.
If a team is not designed to provide a response to an immediate emergency, it needs to know how to direct a referrer to the appropriate emergency service e.g. police, ambulance etc.
See material on: