Making Hard Decisions - Especially for Children and Vulnerable People

We have about a month until primary school applications are due January 15 and as I mentioned in a previous blog post, it's been quite a process just to look at our school options. If it wasn't obvious there, we are looking at state schools so we are approaching it differently than someone who is looking at private schools instead. It was also quite a debate over which schools to decide on and in what order, now that we had looked at the data and looked at the schools in person with notes on our experience. And while my partner and I have both experienced many decision-making processes in our lives - professionally and personally, this one felt felt strangely more emotionally charged than we had experienced before (and we have gone through a lot this year as parents - our child had a major surgery in October!). And that's because there is someone else at the heart of this decision who can't provide meaningful input into this process, but it affects them the most - and this issue also happens to organisations that work with vulnerable people in ways that affect their well-being or livelihoods. Firstly, what do I mean by "vulnerable people"? His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), which independently assesses the effectiveness and efficiency of police forces and fire & rescue services in the public interest, has a great definition of "vulnerable person" here: "A person less able to take care of themselves or protect themselves from exploitation, for example a person with mobility problems, a person with mental health difficulties, and children."

Source: HMICFRS, Vulnerable person

I'm using this definition as it includes children, but many other sources will separate the two. In the UK, there are multiple pieces of legislation that are important to safeguarding vulnerable people - so legally, yes, there are things we have to do to keep children and vulnerable people safe:

• Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (SVGA): Prevents unsuitable people from working with children and vulnerable adults by establishing barred lists via the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

• Children and Families Act 2014: Creates better support systems for vulnerable children, including reforms for children's homes and rights for young carers, plus new measures for adoption and parental leave.

• Care Act 2014: Focuses on adult care but also brings young carers into the system, ensuring their needs are assessed when a parent needs care.

• Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015: Makes it an offence for care workers to ill-treat or wilfully neglect individuals in their care.

• Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004: Contains laws related to causing or allowing the death or serious harm of a child or vulnerable adult.
  

But still, despite knowing there are things in place, and even as parents or as professionals who work with vulnerable people in some capacity, there will still always be a moment where we will second guess ourselves and whether the decisions we are about to make are truly the right ones. So how do we know whether we are doing the right thing?

So how do we make better decisions?

Here is where I'm turning to another article that I think people should read because they share it more eloquently, from The Children & Young People's Cancer Association titled An overview of the decision-making process from 5 March 2021. In the article, Dr Vikki Langford, Clinical Psychologist at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, explains some of the factors involved in making decisions and offers advice and guidance on the process. While She writes that "decision making is unique to each of us [because it's] a psychological process underpinned by our own values and life experiences" so we tend to use these factors when making decisions:

• How much time we have available to make the decision (basically, do we have a deadline to make this decision? How much time is available to do any research or talk to anyone else about it?)

• What information is available to us regarding the different options (is there any information available already or do we need to find and piece it together, given how much time we have?)

• Our own assessment of the risks involved (how urgent is it? What is the risk of action or inaction? What are the risks with the different options available, in the short-term, medium-term and long-term? Remember, everything has an opportunity or other cost.)

• An ability to weigh up the above knowledge and reach a conclusion that suits us best (how much do I need to know to make a decision? In some cases, my partner and I are the most capable of making a decision for our child - such as which schools we should apply to - but when it came to whether our son needed surgery or not, we had to defer an expert, in his case a paediatric ENT surgeon as we are not trained medical professionals. You too will know where you are the best people to make a decision... and where you have to get expert advice.)

Dr. Langford also points to the various tools people find helpful in guiding their thinking:

• Decisional balance sheet: pros and cons list

• Cost/benefit analysis: what do I stand to win vs what do I stand to lose?

• Emotional forecasting: if I chose ‘X’, how would I feel?

• Consideration of permanency: is this decision final or could I change my mind later?

• Advise yourself as if you were a friend: what would Dave do?

• Visualising each of the different options and outcome

Given these tools and these questions, then you've certainly thought through enough of the issue that you can make better decisions moving forward. And if you need help in that area, someone to just go over some of that thinking with you - you know you can reach out to us here too at Strides Insights. Especially because (as you can tell from my writing!), I worry about a lot of this stuff too - but we manage to find a way to make decisions with the best information we have available at the time. And if you still need to place your own applications (or make other hard decisions) - best of luck to you.