As time progresses, it is unlikely that any organisation will be able to ‘go it alone’ in dealing with this crisis. Especially at local levels, effective collaboration across agencies within and across both the government and non-government sectors will become an essential tool. Now is the time to re-evaluate your organisation’s contingency and continuity plans to incorporate steps that may be needed to share and pool resources to keep essential services operating. Make use of the regional and local planning forums now being used to facilitate these discussions, make sure your organisation is represented on these forums by people who are authorised to make decisions, and make sure you are liaising closely with your DCSYW contract managers about any difficulties you are forecasting and any solutions you think may work.
