BERWICK Citizens' Advice Bureau (CAB) is changing its way of working in order to cope with the increased demand for its services during the economic downturn.
Requests for advice and information on a range of problems such as benefits, debt, employment and housing have soared, with 2000 new clients helped last year.
The charity currently has 13 paid staff and 16 volunteers giving one to two days per w
eek to work as advisors, receptionists, administration workers, trainers and social policy workers.
Jennifer Hall, bureau manager, said: "The current training for volunteer advisers takes 18 months at two days per week - that is a huge commitment for anyone to make.
"Currently we have too few advisers and/or interview rooms and there are occasions when we can't help all the people who wish to use our services.
"In order to increase our capacity we are moving from our traditional 'drop-in' sessions at Berwick bureau, where waiting times can be over an hour, to a new Gateway service where clients will receive an initial diagnostic interview."
Gateway assessment will provide a short interview to assess the problem and the urgency. Written information from Adviceguide, the CAB website, will be offered to clients who feel able to use it to resolve their own problem.
A referral or an appointment with a specialist caseworker in or out of the bureau or a face to face appointment with a trained adviser will be given to clients who need it.
The experience of other CABs that have already trialled Gateway is that an interview takes an average of 10 minutes talking to the client followed by another 10 minutes to complete the electronic case record.
The new Gateway workers will provide initial 'information' but will not be qualified to provide 'advice'.
"There is a big difference between the two," revealed Ms Hall.
"Information could apply to anyone with a similar problem. Advice is designed around a client's individual circumstances such as their age, the size of their family and if they are employed or not.
"Small differences in circumstances can make a major change to a client's best course of action. That is what makes CAB advice different.
"It is holistic, up to date and checked for accuracy. We make sure that it is applicable to the individual client's situation. CAB is the only generalist advice service that audits the quality of the advice given by every bureau."
She insisted that using the Gateway assessment approach to manage demand will not stop the bureau from responding to true client emergencies.
However, emergency help may be limited to stabilising the position until routine advice can be provided.
Use of scarce interview rooms will be optimised by using a new appointment system and being open for Gateway interviews for longer periods during the week.
The bureau is currently recruiting five new volunteers to train as Gateway workers. This is in addition to other existing vacancies for volunteer receptionists or people interested in training to be advisers. For further details contact Jennifer Hall, bureau manager, on (01289) 330502.
