I was working as a manager in a system trying to learn to use the Signs of Safety. Repeatedly, I heard from the social workers that the families just didn't have anyone to be on their children's safety network. One day a brave worker offered to take me along on her first meeting with a family so I could either see her work to get a network or show her how to do it. So we get out to the family home, knock on the door, and the mother invites us into a living room full of people. As we all introduce ourselves it's clear that this mom has already invited her children's safety network to the meeting. I whispered to the worker, "How did you do this?" She replied, "I didn't do anything." I asked the mom how she came to have all the people at the meeting. She said she panicked after the worker called asking to meet. She called her friend. They looked up our agency on the internet and found our description of our efforts to implement the Signs of Safety. The mom said, "Your description says you want a network around the children. Here we are. What do we need to do?"
I had fun kidding the workers about this for a time. What I think though, is that the social workers were going out to families expecting to have a hard time getting a network. I went along this time expecting that these children would get a network, whatever it took. I didn't come away thinking it would ever again be this easy, just that sooner or later, we get what we expect to get.