Clear Expectations

Clear Expectations

At Inspire Scotland, we want to be open and honest; we want to be transparent with our aims and way of working and so our first value is called “Clear Expectations”. We believe that having clear expectations has extensive benefits to both our young people and our staff. It enables trust to be built on honest and open communication for everyone and maintains consistency for our young people. Clear expectations create a sense of stability and predictability that is essential for the wellbeing of our young people. It establishes a structured environment in which they can learn, grow, and recover from past and present challenges.

Often young people have multiple moves between different places, whether that is directly from their family home into residential care, via other family members’ homes, foster care or other residential places. Each place will have their own way of doing things and different expectations of the young person. One place may have expected them to not swear or to do the dishes, whereas another may not mind swearing, or instead of doing the dishes, they had to hoover their bedroom. In each place, these expectations may not have been clear and people may have had different reactions when these unclear expectations were not adhered to. This can cause anxiety and distress to anyone when they do not know what is expected of them. In order to help our young people feel as comfortable and happy in their home with us, having clear expectations allows a young person to relax, knowing what is expected of them and why, what happens if they do not meet these expectations. It allows them to build trusting relationships knowing that they are safe and supported and that their support staff will not ask anything of them that they are unaware of.

Having clear expectations ensures consistency in our homes, which is very important for young people to feel at home. The nature of our homes means that there are many different staff members on a shift and rota basis. Having clear expectations means that there is consistency amongst the different staff members as well as individuality. When everyone is on the same page regarding their roles, responsibilities, and behaviour, it creates a stable and predictable environment. This stability is essential for the wellbeing of our young people, who often deal with instability in other aspects of their lives.

Within a young person’s care plan, there are often lots of different professionals involved. This includes (but is not limited to): local authority social worker, key workers, all the various residential staff, managers, children’s hearing staff, contact supervisors, advocacy workers, counselling or psychological services, education workers, health workers, police etc. Having clear expectations of everyone’s responsibilities within the care plan enables the young person to achieve the best outcomes. It also empowers the young person to know that if an element of their care plan is not adhered to, or is not going well, they are able to speak to the right person to resolve this.

Having clear expectations of our staff allows for effective relationships to be built with them so that they feel able to support our young people to the best of their ability. It ensures that all our staff know their roles well and what is expected from them, encouraging a sense of responsibility, pride and professionalism. It can help them to work more efficiently, leading to better outcomes for the young people they support. When staff members understand the skills and qualities they need to do their job well, it encourages continuous improvement. Clear expectations also make it evident when someone does not meet these standards.

There are clear expectations from our young people and staff about what Inspire Scotland is responsible for when caring for them. Where they feel that their expectations of the organisation are not being met, it allows accountability for us to reflect and adapt to ensure that our staff and young people’s expectations are met as well.

Both our staff members and young people can experience a sense of security when they know what is expected of them and how things operate within Inspire Scotland. We aim to be adaptable, reflecting on our practice and improving it and where any changes or improvements are made, having “Clear Expectations” as a core value means that this is clearly communicated with staff and young people.