The police, social services and psychiatry cooperation in Denmark—A new model of working practice between governmental sectors. A description of the concept, process, practice and experience

Abstract

In 2004 a new model of working practice between three public sectors, the local Police Department, Social Services and Psychiatry/Mental Health Services (PSP) was introduced in the municipality of Frederiksberg, Denmark. The aim of this cooperation was to enhance support to vulnerable citizens, who do not belong solely to one of the three sectors and thereby often get lost in the system. The PSP cooperation was introduced to ensure that relevant information concerning vulnerable citizens was shared between the three sectors and to improve collaboration between the sectors involved in order to provide the needed support to the individual citizen. Due to the success of the PSP cooperation in Frederiksberg, the PSP model was implemented by law in Denmark in 2009. In order to evaluate the model, a qualitative study based on structured interviews, focus group discussions and observations, was performed in four selected municipalities in Denmark: Frederiksberg, Odense, Amager and Esbjerg. The evaluation was undertaken by the Danish National Centre for Social Research. It is concluded that the PSP cooperation draws attention to marginalized groups of citizens and helps to prevent social downfall and crime. Participants of the PSP cooperations further highlight positive changes in the cooperation between the involved sectors, which is thought to further improve the support to vulnerable citizens and thereby enhance both prevention and follow up of cases. Furthermore, the recommendations drawn from the evaluation are to adapt PSP cooperations to local conditions, avoid unnecessary red-tape, keep a constant focus on citizens' ethics, as well as involve the frontline workers in the individual sectors, i.e. those who are actually in contact with marginalized citizens.

Service Integration Across Sectors in Europe: Literature and Practice

“…Being involved in a joint practice may improve relationships and communication between practitioners across sectoral boundaries, thus increasing the options available to service users [2728]. At the same time, increasing the number of sectors involved also complicates the decision-making process and makes a service less flexible [29]. Moreover, even if collaboration is intended, this does not necessarily translate into action; the people involved may be reluctant to change their working methods [303132].…”

“…There are also privacy considerations to be dealt with. Even if electronic systems are compatible, privacy legislation may prohibit the sharing of personal information among different practitioners [24293842] for reasons of confidentiality. The literature also shows that procedures can easily become overly bureaucratic; this imposes a burden on the practitioners involved and can impact the quality of services [233043].…”

“…[34]. Training sessions and seminars were cited as the most common learning environments used to prepare professionals for new ways of working [29384347]. Feedback sessions between collaborating actors may also be used to promote learning [4647].…”

“…To ensure commitment, the reviewed literature suggests building on trust and relationships between the actors and securing agreement on clear goals at all levels of the organization [293033]. In addition, strategies for increasing commitment should be tailored to a particular group in the practice, since what works at the strategic level will not necessarily apply at the tactical or operational level [33].…”

“…The cases examined in the literature show that managerial support as well as good leadership in the practice is essential [17262942434447]. Challenges that may arise in running a practice include time constraints (particularly when the leadership role is in addition to other responsibilities) [3438] and potential differences in authority between the collaborating organizations [153039].…”