Intelligence-led Business Processes, Effective and Responsive Delivery Structures and Engaged Communities:
Humberside Association of Neighbourhood Watch Groups (HANWaG) – Community Problem Solving Kit
Humberside communities felt that the partner agencies were not listening to them and the partnerships were frustrated at what they saw as inadequate information from the communities to support action. In order to overcome this issue HANWaG developed the Community Problem Solving Kit to help communities identify their problems, so that partners would know exactly where to focus their attentions, and improve the quality of community intelligence.
What they did
HANWaG adapted ‘SARA’ and developed the Community Problem Solving Kit (CPSK) to improve the quality of community intelligence. In developing the toolkit it was recognised that the process had to be uncomplicated, flexible, deal with wide-ranging community issues (both high and low levels of crime), have a strong participative/visual impact and be community focused. Information gathered had to be a coherent, structured, focused, living and tangible. This was done by developing a four-step problem solving process that would be flexible enough to feed in community information.
The process was used within the community to identify the key priorities and collect valuable intelligence enabling HANWaG both to access valuable information and overcome the challenges offered by community members.
What it involved
The toolkit took approximately six months to design and develop. The process of conducting the activity with the community takes approximately two hours and is conducted once a year.
What impact it had
The community was consulted only once, reducing consultation fatigued. The approach makes the community part of the problem solving process by encouraging them to agree on priorities and potential approaches to address those problems. This increases the confidence of community members.
The manner in which the community intelligence was collected meant that links between the data collected as part of the consultation process could be easily transferred to NIM and IT systems. This made it easier for partners to access and use the information.
Lessons learned
- Some communities are fearful of repercussions - it can be difficult to get them to convey information. This can be overcome by encouraging individuals to adopt a problem-solving approach to the challenges.
- Keep members focused on the task at hand in order to prevent the consultation degenerating into an unconstructive ‘moans and groans’ session – be creative in approaching individuals to discuss the issues that face them.
