The Full Story
About
When young people are unable to live at home with their parents or carers which is for various reasons including but not limited to death of family members, unsuitable Accomodation, Lone migration, abuse, health related matters or other. They are taken into the care of the local authority known to most as social services. Different cities have different local authorities in London alone there are approximately 32.
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These local authorities require organisations and people who are able to look after these children on a day to day basis. Providing them with a safe and loving environment where they can thrive. The age and circumstance and need of the young person often determines what type of support that young person may need such as fostering, adoption or children’s home if they are very young, or semi independent support, stand alone flats, or secure units if they are older or have very high needs.
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Usually these all safety and security checks are done in advance along with making sure it’s a quality service before placing young people. While we can speak for our high standard we can’t Guarantee all other services are the same. Those homes that the young people go to live is broken down into four types of homes.
Semi-independent
Homes that have young people usually numbering between 2 - 6 young people between the age of 15-18 years old are called semi independent homes. These homes are usually designed to prepare a young person for the next stage of their life helping them to develop knowledge and skills to be able to move forward and live on their own successfully when they turn 18/19. In these homes depending on the needs and the package a young person is relatively free to do many things but has support workers in the placement in case theres things they don’t know how to do or to ensure they are healthy and safe. We try to be as flexible as we can be as we don’t want it to feel prison like but each home in each company will have some rules in place. Such as a time that we should expect a young person home at night and what to do if they don’t return, which is determined by the local authority. As well as no illegal substances etc in the home as examples of a few. We usually put forward our four ground rules and allow the young person and social worker to discuss and agree with us the rest.
Childrens Home
The second type of home is called a childrens home which may have a slightly more varied age range than a semi independent with children ranging from potentially as young as 12 - 16. The rules and abilities does vary in these homes from person to person however what makes this different is organisational and internal registration types and the fact these borders on care more than support. (Please see care and support document to understand the difference. In short, Care is where people may lack the ability to do something themselves therefore a worker may have to do if FOR them such as cooking or cleaning often found with children or the elderly, whereas support is when someone has the physical and cognitive ability to do something themselves but may lack& the skill or knowledge to do it so therefore someone is there to help and or teach them u til the fan do it completely independently.
Stand Alones
Stand-alone and 18+. These are accommodations where a young person lives completely independently by themselves or in a shared space with only 1 other person like themselves. However key workers don’t live in the home with the young person. Instead they visit those young people in their home at different pre-agreed times with the young person and sometimes if required unannounced to ensure the needs, health and well-being of that young person is being met. There are no curfews as key workers does not stay with the young person. These types of support are rarer than the others mentioned and can be more expensive for the local authority. They are also dependent on the organisations ability to trust the young people who will be living there which means that a young person must have been able to previously evidence that they are ready and able to handle this type of support.
Secure Units
Secure units are homes where a lot more hands on Care is needed. They are units for young people who may be at risk of harm to themselves or others, or may have a DOLS order in place. They are also units that may contain young people who may suffer from mental health related challenges which means they needed a higher level of support or care and staff that may have specialised training to be able to deal with them. These units are the most secure unit and often the ones which may have the most limitations on freedom as young people may not be allowed to come and go as they feel, but also there may be things such as Bed times and dinner times in place
In most of the above homes you would live relatively independently, in all of them you would live in your own room and in your own space. In most cases young people are free to come and go to places such as work, college and to see friends and family. Though each young person support plan may vary depending on how far along a young person may be or the level of need they may have. There will usually be 24 hour support staff in the home to ensure you are safe and you have someone with you if ever you need them, who are friendly and kind. SO DONT WORRY YOU WONT BE COMPLETELY ALONE.
Usually you may share a house with other young people in a similar position to you so don’t feel abnormal because you’re not. The amount of people living alongside you varies in number but often can be between 0-5 people depending on the size of the homes. Don’t worry about living with unsafe or disruptive people. We have a process that is called “matching” which involves looking at the young people already in the home and evaluating their circumstances, needs and personality and ensuring we match the right people together. If for some reasons a problem does occur we are quite good at usually fixing it for the progression and happiness of all.
It’s important to note that This is NOT adoption, or fostering. They are situations where you live with someone who plays the role of the parent or guardian. We are not taking the place of your parent or guardian we are there as a part of a supportive network of people simply working with you to try and access your best.
Reduce Support Homes
These homes are designed for young people who are more independent in their day to day needs. They likely may a busier schedule consisting of work and educational and family commitments and so for the sake of the local authority we and them we have them on a smaller support package with a member of staff visiting the home for a few hours during the day each day and then doing a sleep in Night shift after 8pm when young people arrive home. Its important to note that these placements are often young people who has been in our organisation who has progressed well enough to reduce their support package.This is not always a possibility for all young people and these units are rare.
Supported Lodgins
Infinity is always looking for new and improved ways to help young people and the local authority. Therefore we are always lookng at new potentail possible homes that can meet the needs that have occured. Its for this reason that we are looking into the viability of a unit called supported living. We are in the process of assessing the viability of it therefore it is not yet active