Emma Jackson on a new model of advice for those in the most complex circumstances
Overwhelmed. Exhausted. Scared. Alone. I don’t know if you have ever experienced a real crisis in your life and had to battle emotions like these, day after day. For an alarming number of people who contact a local Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) every day across Scotland – this is the reality of life.
After more than a decade of austerity and perma-crisis, our network is often the last door open for people who are out of options. People facing unthinkable harm and trauma, contending with the stigma and shame that is all too often heaped upon those for whom life has become complex. People like Amanda (not real name).
Amanda needed to access temporary accommodation after a relationship breakdown. Things were extremely difficult for her and her baby, with no money for the everyday essentials they both needed, taking a huge toll on Amanda’s wellbeing. Fearful of being judged for the situation she was facing, Amanda agonised with reaching out for help, until a trusted voice recommended her local CAB and she was able to access the ‘Routes out of Crisis’ project.
Across the CAB network, advisers are acutely aware that a growing number of people need in-depth, intensive and inclusive support, uniquely tailored to their circumstances. So, for the past year, we have piloted Routes of out Crisis a new model of advice for those in the most complex circumstances via a named adviser, and totally person centred, flexible support.
The combination of the holistic nature of the service and encyclopaedic knowledge of advisers means that people's circumstances are not only prevented from worsening but actively support into something better.
For Amanda, knowing her adviser was there "to help her with absolutely anything" allowed her to exhale. Emergency supermarket vouchers and thorough benefits check gained her access to payments she was not aware she was entitled to. This not only enabled her to afford the essentials but provided a firm foundation to begin rebuilding her life. Transforming her situation from one where she feared her baby may be taken into care, to stability and applying for a college course.
As the project continues and we look to refine the support offered and ensure issues are tackled at root cause, three things are clear. Tailored and holistic support can really change people's lives, to upscale this model across the advice sector significant investment is required and systemic failures must be addressed at source to prevent as many as people from experiencing crisis in the first instance.
From social security systems to energy markets, structures are broken, corralling people down a path of poverty and injustice. Robbing people of their dignity and costing all of us. Advisers work in unimaginably difficult circumstances endeavouring to support people in even worse situations, while the funding for their service teeters on a knife edge. Change is needed. A reimagining of what could be.
Amanda has the opportunity to reimagine her and her baby’s life. To start over, leaving behind crisis and desperation. Shouldn’t we all have the chance to do that? In a just and compassionate society, we can work collectively to deliver this.
Emma Jackson is head of social justice at Citizens Advice Scotland.
This column was first published in the Herald www.theherald.co.uk
