Building a Backup Worker Plan That Protects Continuity

Perhaps there is an actual phone call that reveals the fragility of a support arrangement: the worker feels bad, or is on leave, or has left work, and all of a sudden there's a participant who had reliable support on Friday who is without it on Monday. It's a crisis for the family. The coordinator has an urgent re-search in addition to his or her full caseload. The unfortunate reality is that most of these crises were foreseeable, given that most support arrangements can be designed as single points of failure and are used as if they were not.

Continuity is typically referred to as a value, which is a thing with which everyone can agree. Instead it's better to think of it as a design problem. If the worker is not able to attend, either there is a working solution to the question, "what happens when the worker can't come," or there is a crisis on a delay timer.

The three layers of a real backup plan

Layer one: second worker with live hours. The best strength of backup is a person who already is a supporter of the participant. Even for a small portion of the roster, a second worker, even someone working just one shift every two weeks, means someone else knows what's going on, has the relationship and can add a few extra hours on a dime. Often families don't like the idea of this as an unnecessary expense or disruption, and the simple truth is that this is not a spare you can put on the wall, it's part of the deal, and if you don't have it, the other person at your door is on the worst week of their life. If budgets can accommodate it, a planned division of a roster intentionally into two workers provides redundancy in the workday without being an afterthought.

Layer two: a warm shortlist. When a second worker is not possible, two or three workers who matched the participant's original search criteria are identified as a maintained shortlist; their availability is checked every few months; and, if the participant is willing, they are met by the participant. When held in a non-stressful environment, a meet and greet makes a name on a list a person that is recognised by the participant, and not a re-traumatising introduction in the middle of a bad week.

The third layer is a written continuity note. Whoever steps in, their first shift is based on their briefing. Keep a one page continuity note up to date and shared with participant consent; routines, preferences, approach to communication, key contacts and the "non-negotiables" mean an unfamiliar worker can make a familiar shift. If not, each backup plan secretly relies on the family repeating itself at the time it's least expected.

Building it into your practice

The backup plan is the most economical when installed, not after the first crisis, so design it in from the beginning. If you are shortlisting for a new arrangement, shortlist for two positions, not one. At the conclusion of the arrangement, prepare the continuity note as part of the handover. So when looking at the plan, look at the back-up plan: does the second worker still have hours, is there still a short list, is the note still accurate. If it's reviewed for 15 minutes a pop, it keeps the entire thing alive.

It's important to be honest with a participant and discuss their backup objectives. Some participants would prefer not to commit to a change, so they'd prefer not to have an unknown worker, and that preference, which is expressed explicitly, is in itself a plan. Continuity design is complementary to, rather than supplanting, choice and control.

How this plays out in practice

Imagine an autistic person for whom new people are really expensive, and who is cared for four mornings a week by someone she trusts. One possible design is to let the primary worker have three mornings and the second worker selected have the fourth, with the continuity note going to both. If the primary worker goes for three weeks leave, the second worker covers the mornings; the routine is fine and the leave is seen as a shift, not a break. Design work took place months prior to the crisis, rather than in the midst of it, and was completed in 15 leisurely minutes.

The coordinator's line

A backup plan is coordination working: acceptable, traceable, risk management on behalf of the participant. Make a note of it, as you would of the main arrangement, but take care not to overlook it, for it is the proof of good coordination when continuity is maintained through a disruption.

Next steps

This month give each of the five arrangements on your caseload its three layers, starting with the ones where, if the worker called in sick tomorrow, it would be a hardship. Use the ones without any for a start.