Reliance on a worker

One of the consequences of the development of Family Outreach Workers as single point of call for mothers in deprived areas seems to be their often total reliance on a specific individuals for their information seeking.   Again I was visiting a meeting run by a children’s centre in Leeds the other day and got talking to an outreach working about my observations.    She agreed that this was sometimes a problem, reciting an incident the other day where a vulnerable mother had a crisis—but would only work with a specific worker.  She speculated that had they not been able to contact the worker and get hold of her this mother may have gone without help.

So what are the implications for working with the vulnerable mothers?   Is it the role of the worker to be the single gatekeeper to be a single point of call, or should a less dependent relationship based on personal responsibility some hoe be fostered… if so how should this be done?    That is the eternal question…