Engaging with Hard?To?Reach Clients: Towards the Last Resort Response by Welfare Workers

Client non?cooperation is a widely recognised problem in welfare services. Being ‘hard?to?reach’ considered risk especially for the most vulnerable clients, example terms of increased homelessness. Such clients pose challenges to social inclusion, and services make some allowances achieve engagement. However, even minimum level cooperation required from hard?to?reach clients. In context home visiting, we study workers’ efforts engage with who continuously avoid contact. We examine three Finland, England, Sweden that provide floating support their own accommodation. Utilising Robert Emerson’s idea ‘the last resort,’ analyse how workers justify decisions continue or terminate hard?to?reach. The data consist team meeting recordings visit observations. aim demonstrate justifications deployed decision end visiting service tighten control, draw on ‘last resort responses.’ identify types justifications: retrospective summaries past failures reach client, intensifying remedial actions characterisations as uncooperative. While such can be seen shared ethics, they have different ethical implications.