Young person
Helping you meet your social care worker
There are some things you and your social care worker need to think about before agreeing how to meet.
Introduction
Today we can meet in many different ways both in-person and using digital technology. We’re all different – what’s right for one person wouldn’t be right for another, so we’ve created the pathway below to help you and your social care worker make the best decisions for you.
We suggest having a session where you look at the pathway together and then have some thinking time before making your choices.
How and where you can meet
Your social care worker will let you know what options you have for how and where you can meet. There may be some options that aren’t available to you and, if this is the case for you, your social care worker can explain why. They may also need to collect and share information with other people at times; talk this through too.
Which ways of meeting make you feel most comfortable? Which ways make you feel uncomfortable?
Why are you meeting?
You might be meeting for a quick check-in with each other, or your social care worker might need to speak to you about issues you may find difficult to talk about, or you might have a meeting to make important decisions about your life. Your social care worker can explain the reasons for meeting more clearly so you can decide together which way of meeting will work best for you in each situation – they won’t always be the same!
In important meetings I like to.....
Your relationship
You might know your social care worker really well, or maybe you’ve just met. How and where you meet should help make your relationship stronger. Talk this through with your social care worker and choose the option you think will do this.
You could send a text if you’re worried about something, then you could ask to meet in person to talk things through.
Keeping safe
Where and how you meet needs to be safe. You and your social care worker can talk about keeping you safe, in-person and online, and if some ways of meeting are safer than others. You and your social care worker might not always agree, but try to understand their point of view, and they’ll try to understand yours.
How to keep safe
Think about the places you feel most safe, this could be at school, at home or at a friend’s house. Are there places that make you feel less safe? Let your worker know, especially if they can help to make things safer for you.
Parents and carers
Positive relationships involve everyone being heard, including your parent or carer. Speak to your parent or carer about meeting your social care worker digitally and in-person and how they can help you make it work.
Understanding your way of life
We all have different ways of doing things and different ways of being in life. This can be connected to our culture, religion, gender, sexuality and class. Talk to your social care worker about your way of being and your way of doing things, and how they might affect where and how you meet.
What happens next?
Talk to your social care worker about how to record your choices. Your choices might change as you do, or you might want to try different ways of meeting and see what works best, so decide with your social care worker when you’ll review the plan. You can also check-in before any big meetings to make sure you’re both still happy with your choices.
How to record choices
Think about the ways you and your worker can record your choices, you could use video or create a diagram together. Your worker will make sure other professionals can see this, so everyone knows your choices.
