Public services are far more complex than they appear. This prompted the town of Gateshead in England to embark on a bold experiment that prioritizes relationships and human understanding over traditional efficiency. This radical transformation was dubbed the “Liberated Approach.”

The concept of public services, especially in the context of social services, is traditionally centred around meeting people’s needs and empowering them through the swift, accurate, and effective responses they receive from service providers, which are meant to have a positive impact on their lives.

However, traditional reforms to public service systems often emphasize efficiency and ease of access, resulting in rigid pathways that overlook the human dimension. This leads to approaches that fail to address the real needs of individuals. Simply put, focusing on rigid processes and protocols can often complicate problems rather than solve them, or may only address specific issues such as addiction or homelessness, leading to a backlog of unmet requests and needs.

For the past 80 years, there has been a prevailing belief that more services lead to fewer problems, which has led to increased demand and resource depletion. Furthermore, there is limited evidence to measure the effectiveness of those services or approaches.

The challenge, therefore, lies in moving away from this rigid system toward one that prioritizes relationships and the internal capacity for change, ultimately contributing to better outcomes with fewer resources.

In the UK, tackling such challenges often falls within the purview of local authorities, and the authorities in Gateshead and Northumbria were no exception. A diverse group of stakeholders, including local authorities, community organizations, and academic institutions, collaborated over five years to develop what they called the “Liberated Approach.”

This approach represents an innovative method of building human relationships and understanding the individuals that employees are designed to help, rather than merely improving services themselves.

In reality, public services alone cannot change people’s lives, but they can facilitate change. Hence, the “liberated approach,” which aims to empower individuals to unlock their potential, must focus on achieving a balance between two key elements. The first relates to external resources, where case managers provide practical support and display emotional flexibility, which is essential to offering beneficiaries a sense of security and stability. This feeling is crucial for individuals to tap into their internal strengths.

Although case workers have the autonomy to make decisions and act without consulting higher management, they adopt a framework that is both simple and clear, known as the “Two Rules and Five Principles.” This framework relies on two fundamental rules: “Do no harm” and “Comply with the law,” with the addition of five adaptable principles that guide decision-making and foster collective learning. Each team also has access to a flexible budget to address daily challenges, such as purchasing a bus ticket, as a precursor to addressing larger issues. Spending is subject to four main criteria: it must be proportionate, legal, necessary, and auditable.

The second aspect concerns internal resources. When an individual receives sufficient affirmation and validation of their right to self-determination and their ability to contribute to community development, they become more motivated to make their own choices and utilize their abilities in the way they see fit. They also become capable of requesting or offering support when needed. Essentially, the designers of this approach recognize that the importance and efficiency of services do not negate their primary goal: empowering individuals to improve their lives.

These activities are characterized by flexibility and overlap, rather than adhering to a rigid sequence, allowing for adaptation based on individual needs. The approach involves building trust-based relationships after addressing immediate needs like food, clothing, or benefits, and then guiding individuals toward long-term goals by enhancing their ability to make decisions and engage with the community around them, ultimately reducing dependence on social care professionals.

However, the solution is not limited to redesigning systems despite the challenges they face. A significant portion of successful cases stemmed from approaches independent of the system, which included understanding individuals’ needs rather than merely assessing them, focusing on appropriateness over compliance, and addressing issues immediately instead of waiting for structural changes.

When it comes to resource allocation, this presents a significant challenge, as agencies are often hesitant to invest in preventative measures, given that savings in areas like health rarely translate into reinvestment in other areas, such as social care. This creates a vicious cycle of only addressing secondary problems.

According to service interaction analysis, decisions often prioritize defensible positions at the expense of meaningful outcomes, leading to ineffective or even harmful interventions. Therefore, for this approach to become a standard practice, its non-systemic elements must be expanded.

By focusing on relationship-building and enhancing individuals’ internal capacity for change, public services can become more effective and achieve better results with fewer resources.

The “liberated approach” unleashes the creativity and empathy inherent in frontline workers, offering them the opportunity to reshape their vision of themselves and the world, and then extending that opportunity to the beneficiaries. This is where the essence of true transformation lies, while simultaneously strengthening leadership, partnerships, and governance across the public service sector as a whole.

In summary, the concept of the “Liberated Approach” emphasizes the importance of intrinsic motivation, opening the door for each individual to lead their own transformation rather than immersing themselves in standardized systems that have long been assumed to suit everyone.

References:
• Changing Futures Northumbria