Moving forward together

Abstract

Forensic Psychiatric Centers (FPC’s) provide treatment for patients placed under the Dutch Entrustment Act, aiming to protect society and rehabilitate offenders (De Boer & Gerrits, 2007). Recent developments, such as the 2017 murder of Anne Faber, have increased pressure on FPC’s, with a steady rise in patient numbers and budget cuts of 10% over the past 5 years (Knoester & Boksem, 2020; DPG Media Privacy Gate, n.d.). This strain is exacerbated by staffing shortages and high turnover rates. Operating within the FPC system requires precision, given the severe consequences of errors, and involves navigating diverse stakeholder interests, each with their own risk and error considerations.

The policy-making process of the FPC has to address this complexity. The traditional, linear approach to policy making has been said to not always be well equipped for dealing with this complexity. With these given factors, the opportunity was observed to explore the potential added value of a Systems oriented Design approach in the process of policy making. This project has been initiated within that question:

“How can Systems oriented Design approach play a role in the process of policy-making in a Forensic Psychiatric Centre?”

Literature and empirical research findings reveal that the process of policy-making is hindered by different factors, both in the ‘hard’ systems, like the Document Administration Platform, and the ‘soft’ systems, which lies in the relationships between actors in the system. In the latter case, a Systems oriented Design approach can be beneficial. The design vision therefor focusses on these relationships:

“The FPC as a collective, that together strives towards an open and learning organization.”

The leverage point that was deemed most fruitful to bring this vision into the organization, is the moment of starting the process of policy implementation, when the transfer of responsibility from the Policy advisor to the workforce occurs.

The final concept includes a design intervention to promote this feeling of a collective within a large organization. The intervention aims to address the feelings of uncertainty and distrust that accompany the moment of transferring responsibility from one party to the next.

The intervention “The Implementation Kit” proposes the hosting of a Handover Ceremony to facilitate this transfer. It aims to clarify the roles and responsibilities in the implementation process that is to come, and offers moment to celebrate this new development. By including employees from different departments and disciplines, it can strengthen the connections between parties that don’t often meet in their usual daily activities.

Lastly, recommendations are made to the further development and implementation of the Implementation Kit, based on validation interviews with both internal and external parties. The feasibility of applying this concept outside the FPC’s context is also discussed.