Supported Living

 Back in 2006 we at Dignity Group began championing Supported Living

 in Chichester. The following report by Andrea Clarke, outlines why. 

 The Starting Point
 
 Supported Living starts with the fundamental belief that every person has the
 right to lead their own life: determine how they live, with whom they live, who
 provides them with help and support and how they live their lives.

 A brief history

 Inspired by the civil rights movement, people with learning disabilities are
 having more say in their lives. Coupled with the growth of consumerism & the
 demands for continually improving quality of services available in the
 marketplace there has been pressure for service providers to respond to the
 aspirations & wishes of service users and their families.

 There have been many changes in the way care services have been
 developed through the latter part of the 20th Century. From large institutions
 there was a shift to smaller community residential services throughout the
 1970’s,’80’s & 90’s with a push to develop more individualised community
 services & person centred packages of care.

 It has been recognised that even in small group homes there are limitations to
 the ability of the service to remain person centred and in the main the person
 receiving the service has a struggle to remain in control of the life that they
 lead. For many it has been difficult to move on to more independent settings
 as the belief has been that the person must demonstrate new skills & be
 “ready” for the next step.
 
 What is Supported Living?

 Supported Living is fundamentally Person Centred.

 Supported Living can be characterised in two ways. At a personal level it is
 defined by deciding:-

 • How you live
 • Who you live with (if anyone)
 • Where you live
 • Who supports you
 • What you get help with

 At a service/systems level, Supported Living can be defined by 5 basic
 principles:

 •   Separating the provision of housing & support

  Through keeping housing & support separate it gives flexibility to change
  who provides the support without having to move house or moving house
  and having the support move with you.

 •   Focusing on one person at a time

  Finding out what is important to the person by using person centred
  planning to prevent making disability-based assumptions.

 • Zero rejection

  Therefore all people no matter what their label, how severe their disability
  can live in the community in their own homes. Supported Living is for
  everyone, not just those with low support needs. The challenge is to get
  the right support for people.

 •   Full choice & control

  People with disabilities should be supported to choose who they live with
  (if anyone), how they live, where they live and who supports them. When
  people cannot make some of these choices, those who know, care about
  them, and love the person should be instrumental in making informed
  guesses.

 •   Building on relationships

  Every opportunity should be taken to develop community links, make use
  of informal & natural supports & reduce the reliance on staff where
  possible.

 The challenges

 Undoubtedly during the implementation of Supported Living there are
 challenges to be faced such as:-

 Implementing & adhering to the Person Centred Plan
 Balancing risk taking & choice
 Balancing the budget
 Competition from Support Providers
 Flexible working hours
 Developing partnerships in the community
 Changing processes and procedures to reflect individual packages

 Key Factors for successful Supported Living

 1. Supported Living has to start with good Person Centred Planning.

 2. Support Providers need to change
  • to develop accountability to the service user
  • to develop flexible, creative approaches to support models
  • to develop good relationships with service users
  • to develop devolved financial management
  • to develop effective staff support processes

 3. Funders of services need to change
  • to develop flexible & realistic funding arrangements targeting
  resources where needed
  • to keep provision of housing & support separate
  • to develop person centred care management processes
  • to work creatively around systems, rules & “red-tape”
  • to maximise all income
  • to consider quality through real life experiences of people

 4. Developing a culture to support innovation understanding the need for
  change.
  • A willingness to try new things
  • Accepting partnerships & joint initiatives

 Supported Living is a way to enable people with learning disabilities to
 develop ordinary expectations & have ordinary opportunities, ordinary
 experiences and ordinary lives.

 The practicalities of Supported Living

 • Tenants with rights
  A person may now choose to live in a rented home claiming housing benefit
  to cover their accommodation costs. They become a tenant and have
  tenants’ rights. Their tenancy agreement is entirely separate from their
  support package.

 • Person Centred Plan
  This plan forms the foundation for everything that happens to assist the
  person to live their life their way.

  It is necessary to look carefully at the Person Centred Plan pack that
  Dignity have produced to find out more about how this can be effectively
  developed & regularly reviewed.

 • Assessment of Support Need
  An assessment of the support needs of the person is undertaken in
  conjunction with the Social Worker assigned to the person. This takes into
  account the Person Centred Plan and is a method of resource allocation
  that indicates how many support hours the person will be likely to need to
  adequately support their needs.

 • Resources available
  Once a decision has been reached about how many hours support are
  required & a support budget is allocated the person can then get on with
  making decisions about their budget and who they want to purchase their
  support from. This can be done with the help of a family member, an
  advocate or a broker. The person will then effectively purchase their
  support and be “in control”.

 • Individualised Funding
  In the UK people with learning disabilities are able to have Direct
  Payments.
  This takes the control for the payment of support services away from
  administrators and into the hands of the people & their families/advocates.
  People have access to their own funding and therefore can buy support
  services direct. The power is placed in the hands of the consumer and not
  the service provider.

 • Individual Budget
  Each person has an individual package of income through benefits and from
  any other sources eg. wages, pension, trust funds etc. This can be spent
  on the other associated costs of living including utilities, food, transport,
  leisure pursuits etc.

 REACH Standards

 Reach Standards is a package, created by a company called Paradigm, which
 has been designed to enable people to develop Supported Living and to make
 sure that the ideals of supported living continue to be meet and adhered to. It
 is a method of ensuring quality standards are being met and that people who
 require & receive support are able to be at the centre of making choices about
 every aspect of their life. It can be used by the service user, support staff &
 resource funder to ensure that the service provided stays on track. Dignity
 have adhered to REACH standards in our provision of Supported Living.

 In conclusion

 Supported Living has become a model that has been adopted throughout the
 UK for many people who require support services.

 It is exciting to have been at the start of an innovation in care & support
 services. Although there remain challenges ahead to enable people to live the
 lives that they choose, this model will undoubtedly continue to help us at
 Dignity provide support services that really are person centred and encourage
 people with learning disabilities to enjoy ordinary opportunities, ordinary
 experiences and as a result lead ordinary lives.

To find out more call us on 01243 811482