7 / 10
explains Angela. The organisation
takes a holistic approach to continu-
ous improvement and innovative pro-
cesses. The organisation’s philosophy
is applied across the board, from the
staff who are involved in client facing
roles to their systems and back offices.
One of Angela’s core beliefs is that if
an organisation can measure their ef-
fectiveness, they can provide a much
better service. Connections does this
in two ways: they receive feedback di-
rectly from their clients through various
systems they have developed and they
use a sophisticated framework called
the ‘Connections Outcomes Frame-
work’ which they use to measure the
effectiveness of their work right down
to the worker level.
The admirable work of
Connections’ staff
The staff are, after all, the most ef-
fective tool that Connections has. An-
gela has huge admiration for every-
one who goes out there every day and
works with families who are struggling.
Though they always affect change, the
results are not always visible quickly.
Whenever change is happening slow-
ly, it can be a real struggle for both
staff and the families. However, Con-
nections supports their staff to make
them see even the tiniest things that
make a difference so that they can ap-
preciate the work they are doing. Their
work is grounded in evidence-based
theory, of course, to ensure they are
having an actual impact. Breaking the
cycle of poverty and aiding people with
a variety of complex issues can be dif-
ficult but they are an essential part of
what the organisation does.
“Our staff may visit a family once per
week or once a fortnight, for example,
and they do a very thorough assess-
ment. In almost all the families that we
work with, there’s some sort of trauma
or life circumstance that has got them
to where they are. As such, our staff are
all trauma-informed in their approach-
es and they work with families in what-
ever they need, in a planned way, to
help them achieve their goals. They
are not our goals; they are primarily the
family’s but they are also joint ones.
onnections
ch i l d, youth and f ami l y ser v i ces