Victim Support Isle of Man is embedding the new edition of the Empowerment Star into their service as their first Star. We’re following their journey from deciding to use an Outcomes Star, to implementation. We spent time with Lorna Trevethan, Chief Executive Officer of Victim Support Isle of Man, and her team during their Outcomes Star training and during follow up discussions.
Here’s the first part of their experience.
Key Highlights
What was this case study? The first part of an ongoing journey, following Victim Support Isle of Man (VSIOM) as they adopt the Empowerment Star as their first Star and the first organisation to be trained in this version of the Star.
Why was the Star chosen? To evidence impact, formalise action planning and standardise recording, while supporting progress towards Leading Lights accreditation.
What was the impact? VSIOM have successfully trained in the new Star and begun implementing it with clients. The team is engaged, with plans to embed the Star for data reporting and accreditation.
“For me, yes, there has been a need for evidence, but I know it’s more than data. It’s not about the data; it’s making that difference but also showing that we’re making that difference. And that’s the point of it for me.” – Lorna Trevethan, Chief Executive Officer of Victim Support Isle of Man
Introducing Victim Support Isle of Man
Victim Support Isle of Man is an independent charity which helps people affected by crime. They offer a free and confidential service whether or not a crime has been reported to the police and regardless of how long ago the event took place.
They offer support to help empower people who have experienced domestic abuse to move on from the impact of abuse and tailor support to the needs of the individual.
Introducing the Empowerment Star 2nd edition
The Empowerment Star is the Star for people who have experienced domestic abuse/family violence in any form. It’s designed to help people be supported to create a life in which they are safe and empowered to make the choices that are right for them.
Why Outcomes Star?
Lorna wanted to find a tool that could help to monitor, track and evidence work VSIOM are doing and the difference it makes in their client’s lives. This would help them with teamwork, formalise action planning, standardise the way practitioners are recording information and help the team to structure support work conversations. After exploring options and hearing a recommendation from a colleague in the third sector she chose Outcomes Star.
Supporting accreditation with Leading Lights
Leading Lights is the Safe Lives accreditation programme for frontline domestic abuse services.
“We’re going for Leading Lights accreditation with Safe Lives and we’ve achieved an awful lot towards that,” says Lorna, “but the area that we’ve struggled to evidence is the outcomes; for example, how do we monitor and track the outcomes and the difference that we’re making with our clients? Using an Outcomes Star shows that we’ve got a good way of working. We’ve got a consistent way of working. And that’s what it is. Yes, everyone works with clients differently. Of course we do. But it’s how we record our information,” says Lorna.
Getting buy in from the team and Star training
The team were enthusiastic about the idea of the Star, especially when they could see how it could help to join the dots with other assessments they do, such as DASH risk assessments and case notes and action/support planning. This, combined with the visual nature of the Star, made it really attractive.
“It gives the team something tangible to work towards; we can look at stages in the client’s journey and a lot of people need a visual representation of what they’re doing, which the Star offers”, says Lorna. She felt the Stars would help the team to see progress which is not always easy to see via case notes and safety plans. “I think it helps to show the team they are making a difference. And again, with funders, stakeholders and governance, we can evidence all this work back to them.”
Kelly Knight, Senior Welfare Officer, adds, “It gives us more of a structure with our clients which is what we were looking for. Sometimes clients need to offload but our key motivation is we want to empower them, so they can make the changes they want to, and we can structure that in a way that is easily relatable for them.”
I think it helps to show the team they are making a difference. And again, with funders, stakeholders and governance, we can evidence all this work back to them.
Training in the Empowerment Star
Training was well received. Lorna says a key highlight was realising that using the Star didn’t have to be too laborious time wise for the caseloads of her team. She initially thought a Star would need to be completed at every session, but clarified the Star is usually completed at intervals – for example near the beginning of work with a client then after 3 or 6 months and this alleviated some of the pressure she felt about integrating it into all their existing support planning and risk assessments.
The team reflected: “The training was so accessible. As we are based on the Isle of Man, accessing training can sometimes be difficult as we have additional travel and accommodation costs to factor in. The Outcomes Star training was online and our training was only for our organisation so the team felt comfortable sharing experiences and participating in the activities.”
Another team member adds: “Since our first training, we have had to train a new starter and they joined a multi-agency group which she really enjoyed.”
The team at Outcomes Star have been so helpful since our training, checking in to see how we are getting on and offering support as we need it which is proving very helpful.
First steps in implementing the Star
The key phrase moving from training to implementation has been ‘slow and steady.’ This is for a variety of factors:
- Pressures of a changing team with new staff being embedded and managing heavy caseloads
- Deciding when to introduce it to clients – for some clients it may not be appropriate at present
- Building confidence in the team to use the Star – bridging the gap between training and actually implementing
Lorna has seen this as a positive thing. “It’s change”, says Lorna, “culture change and work change; it takes time. There’s a real willingness to implement, but some hesitancy.” To prepare while there was a pause to introduce a new team member acting as a triage worker for new clients, and to work through some caseload pressures, the team prepared Star resources and kept the process alive by planning to introduce it once there was a calmer period.
Completing first Stars with clients
The first Stars are now being completed with clients. The team have booked in sessions together to practice among themselves having that supportive Star conversation and this has helped to start embedding the Star in practice, says Lorna.
The feedback from the clients who have completed their first Star has been positive. Lorna says, “the first time one of my team did one with a client, she raised doing it with the person and thought she would get knocked back but they said yes they’d like to have a go. And it really helped to highlight where they were on their Journey of Change and helped shape some of the actions that they wanted to put into place, so it was definitely welcomed by the client.”
Looking to the next stage of Star implementation
Lorna and the team are continuing to move towards embedding use of the Star into the way that the team works. This includes continuing to make it a core part of the evidence for Leading Lights accreditation, and for reviewing cases each quarter.
Once more data has come in from completed Stars, Lorna plans to use it for reporting and governance. “Going forward, Star data will form part of my information to the board, so they understand how we’re working and the difference we’re making,” she says.
Ultimately, Lorna really loves the way that the Star can help not only evidence change but how it can structure and support the incredible work her team has already been doing with the people who come to the service.
She says: ”For me, yes, there has been a need for evidence, but I know it’s more than data. It’s not about the data; it’s making that difference but also showing that we’re making that difference. And that’s the point of it for me.”
We’ll continue to follow Victim Support as they move into the next phase of implementing the Star.
Click here to find out more about our Empowerment Star