Justice Social Work: national practice standards and outcomes

6. Leadership in Justice Social Work

Practice Standard 8: JSW demonstrates a culture that promotes leadership at all levels. Staff and those involved in services will be actively engaged in development of service delivery.

International and national management frameworks suggest that strong leadership should create a clear vision and purpose, set the cultural tone, engage and empower people, focus on stakeholder needs, and drive continuous improvement.^[5]

The terms management and leadership are often conflated but in practice cannot be seen as mutually exclusive. The traditional view of leadership is that it applies to those in senior positions within an organisation who have particular roles and duties to perform. However, the development of a strong leadership culture across JSW teams should involve all levels of practitioner contributing to the development of practice with the views of those involved with services being actively considered.

The prevalence of traumatic experiences means that trauma will inevitably impact many of those within the JSW workforce, whether through personal experiences or through practice experience. It is vital that all workers feel safe and supported in their workplace. This is particularly important when caring for and supporting others because those directly supporting people affected by trauma face an increased risk of experiencing vicarious trauma, moral injury and compassion fatigue.

The National Trauma Transformation Programme (NTTP) has introduced a resource based on evidence, existing learning and good practice from a Scottish context and highlights existing relevant Scottish frameworks and guidance. The principles contained within this programme sit well with the professional values inherent in the social work role. The Leaders section of the NTTP should be considered for implementation across JSW teams to fully embed the principles of trauma informed practice across all aspects of service delivery.

It has been widely recognised within JSW that for services provided to be most effective in addressing the complex reasons that bring people into the justice system, there needs to be on-going consideration of the evidence in relation to what works best to reduce the risk of further offending.

The challenges for the social work profession have never been greater as highlighted in the Social Work Scotland report Setting the Bar 2: 'Taking the wheel' which provided further context, insight and also identification of potential solutions.

Within this backdrop the need for strong leadership at all levels and governance of JSW is key to addressing the increasing demands on the workforce.

6.1 What does trauma-informed and responsive leadership look and feel like?

Leaders at all levels understand, drive and inspire practice which is trauma-informed and responsive. Effective leaders embody the key principles of social justice, human rights, collective responsibility and respect for diversity.

JSW leaders will:

• Understand the prevalence and extent of the impact of trauma on people and organisations
• Create and actively sustain accountability, scaffolding and implementation support for embedding a trauma-informed and responsive approach across the organisation and take a joined-up approach with partners
• Model and embody a culture of choice, empowerment, collaboration, trust and safety through our own behaviour, attitudes and leadership practices, pro-actively celebrating work that supports a trauma-informed and responsive culture in the longer term, even where this can pose challenges in the short term.^[6]

The complex tasks associated with the JSW role require strong partnership working. The ability to work across boundaries and with multiple partner agencies both statutory and third sector is key. There therefore needs to be clear communication and direction from leaders, to give teams the information and autonomy needed for decision making. Decisions about deployment of resources needs to sit with managers but transparency of decision making can help when difficult decisions need to be made around case management. These decisions will be largely guided by consideration of the risks and needs identified in the risk assessment undertaken by the case manager particularly in relation to the seriousness and likelihood of further offending behaviour.

When working with risk and complexity, defensible practice decisions are most effectively made within a multi-agency context and leaders should ensure this is recognised with key stakeholders and embedded within practice.

Research conducted by Iriss on Leadership in social work (2024) noted that:

“workers valued when leaders recognised the achievements and the expertise that individuals bring to the collective. Feeling appreciated was significant to social workers feeling positively about both their role, and the leadership they experienced.”

Therefore a process which demonstrates the involvement of practitioners and relevant others such as statutory and third sector partner organisations and those involved in services in decisions around case management would be viewed as most effective. It will lead to better outcomes in terms of staff engagement and service delivery and ultimately more effective practices when engaging with those in the justice system to reduce risks of reoffending.

6.2 Learning from Practice

Support for the workforce is crucial to the on-going development of services. Opportunities for learning and encouragement to develop innovative practice is recognised as an opportunity to develop the most effective approach. When practitioners are offered an element of autonomy over their practice they feel empowered and trusted to make their own decisions which has a positive impact on both practice and service development.

The Iriss research found:

“There was a clear connection between leadership and support for many social workers, with activity focusing on supporting staff and wider teams considered a key function of leadership. Nurturing and encouraging the learning of colleagues, particularly those newly qualified, was considered a practical demonstration of leadership.”

It is recognised that learning can take varying forms and a mix of both theoretical and experiential learning should be encouraged. Learning can be gained from being aware of and reflecting on learning generated by wider scrutiny and assurance activity such as inspections, learning reviews and Serious Incident Reviews which clearly demonstrate areas to be addressed and leadership actions to be taken.

Additionally, the use of peer learning models and regular supervision sessions which give space and time to reflect on practice development should be considered an integral part of a practitioner’s workload thus enabling time for this to take place. This approach provides an opportunity for on-going learning and identification of areas of practice and expertise that can be further developed by attending specific training courses or post-qualification modules.

Opportunities to share learning experiences across teams and within local partnerships such as community justice partnerships, alcohol and drugs partnerships or community planning partnerships is to be encouraged. In this way, a shared language and culture of understanding of roles and responsibilities at both a strategic, senior and front line practice level can be developed.

A key priority for leadership is the sharing of information to inform risk assessment and management planning at both a local and national level. The on-going development of local and national partnership arrangements to address public protection should highlight the importance of sharing information between partners. This will enhance learning about good practice which leads to better outcomes at all times not just when incidents of concern have occurred.

6.3 Continuous Improvement

Practice Standard 9: JSW evidence the effectiveness and impact of service delivery through self-evaluation, performance reporting, quality assurance and the gathering and reporting of outcomes.

The provision of good quality services and effective interventions which have credibility with both stakeholders and the wider public are at the heart of JSW. The knowledge base, dedication to their role and specialist skills of the JSW workforce are widely recognised. However, the demonstration of effective practice and good outcomes in such a complex landscape is continually challenging.

In order to address this, a consistent, continuous improvement model should be implemented through the monitoring, reviewing and evaluation of practice. Services should ensure that they have processes and frameworks in place to measure and monitor performance and the quality of service delivery. This should also capture the outcomes of interventions at both a service and an individual level. The use of outcome measures or self-evaluation tools, practitioner and service user focus groups, and feedback gathered at varying stages of a person’s involvement with services can provide an invaluable insight into the effectiveness of interventions or areas where improvements could be made.

Practice Standard 5 of FRAME highlights quality assurance expectations of those involved in assessing and managing risk and can be broadly applied in a wider context to those people and services involved with JSW.

Gathering feedback from people using services is critical in informing continuous improvement. Some local authority areas have feedback mechanisms built in to the formal order/licence review process or have service -user groups facilitated by workers that can provide general feedback on aspects of the service. Others use less formal means, offering digital options via smartphones or websites. However obtained, the views of those in receipt of a service and partner organisations involved in aspects of service delivery should be recorded and evidenced as influencing service development throughout the period of their involvement and beyond.

All aspects of the work highlighted within these Practice Standards offer an opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of JSW engagement in supporting desistance and delivering positive change for people affected by offending, their families and local communities. JSW cannot work in isolation given the often complex needs of those they are working with in addition to their public protection role. The collaborative nature of the work is crucial to effective practice. The implementation of these standards provides a clear, measurable indication of expected practice which will support workers in defensible practice in an often difficult landscape.

These Practice Standards can be used to offer an element of transparency when reporting on practice and demonstrate continuous improvement. Whilst they are to be implemented nationally as an agreed baseline for practice they still enable that element of flexibility required to respond to local needs to ensure better outcomes for victims, their families and communities affected by offending.