Our Service Focus

Our supported housing services are designed to enable individuals to live as independently as possible with support. Our supported housing service is tailored to provide accommodation and help to those who are vulnerable in the community. Our focus is to have a positive impact on an individual’s quality of life: through positive outcomes from their physical, mental health and their engagement in the community.

Our Target Service User Groups

Individuals and families at risk of or who have experienced homelessness
People recovering from drug or alcohol dependence
People with experience of the criminal justice system
Mother and Baby Units
People with mental ill health
People fleeing domestic abuse and their children
Support for offenders and people at risk of offending
Support for people with learning disabilities
Refugees
People discharged from hospital
Care Leavers

Mission Statement

Our mission is to be a housing provider, providing good quality housing in a safe and nurturing environment. Our purpose is to provide relevant and appropriate accommodation which meets each individual need. Our service will thrive in providing accommodation that delivers positive outcomes, whether this means living as independently as possible or moving onto more independent living over time.

Aims

We aim to achieve this by understanding that we cannot work in isolation. We believe firmly in interprofessional working, through collaboration with other supported housing providers, the local council, health and social care agencies and health professionals. This will allow for accountability and improvement in the service we provide. Our service is person centered and we are determined to put the individual/ service user at the heart of all that pertains to their support and care. We also approach all initiatives from a holistic point of view through care planning to determine a clear care and support pathway for every individual we support. We also assess local demand for supported housing in order to continuously review the services we provide . We aim to work within the desired government and local Authority framework for providing supported housing, to plan effectively for the required provision.

We aim to continuously working with:

neighboring local councils
Health and Wellbeing Boards
Clinical Commissioning Groups and relevant NHS bodies
sustainability and transformation partnerships and integrated care systems
safeguarding adults’ boards
adult social services
children’s social services
directors of public health
the Police and Police and Crime Commissioners
local domestic abuse partnership boards
local drug and alcohol treatment providers
HM Prisons and Probation Service (including prisons, National Probation Service, Homelessness Prevention Taskforces and Community Rehabilitation Companies)
Youth Offending Teams and the Parole Board
community mental health teams
housing and support providers, including non-commissioned providers, particularly in the sheltered and short-term sectors
health providers
community and voluntary sector organization

Objectives

We aim to support our service users, through person centered care planning. We have broken down our objectives as follows.

Purpose

Setting high expectations through support and accommodation provision that values the service user.
Setting realistic and achievable goals which in turn produce meaningful outcomes.
For everyone to thrive in their recovery.
What goals are we working towards?

Plan

What is in the contract and what adjustments can be made? As the service provider we must work with commitment and accountability to work, towards meeting our responsibilities stated within the contract.
Do the service users understand the contract and their responsibilities?
Our hopeful vision for the future.
How we will work together to achieve our vision.
Who does what? How is work and responsibilities delegated?

Practice

Reflecting on practice
Evaluating and reflecting on practice through appraisal of staff and input form service users.
Reviews and ongoing assessments of support.
Interprofessional working to allow for improvement in service provision, accountability and access to external agencies with services that will benefit our service users.

Philosophy

Bedrock of beliefs
People do recover
A meaningful life is a fundamental right
Why we do what we do?

How do we reach our aims and objectives?

We meet the above aims and objectives by working in line with policies and procedures that promote high quality service provision that take into consideration rights, privacy, independence, security, civil rights, choice, and fulfilment. Before we provide a service, we ensure that service user needs are adequately assessed and the right level of support is given to each individual . This is to ensure support provided has the flexibility to respond to changing requirements.

We employ a highly trained workforce. Standards for our managers and staff are based on the National Occupational Standards for the care industry. We ensure that our support staff and management are trained to a good and knowledgeable standard. We encourage and provide opportunities for personal development of all staff, through additional qualifications and attending seminars. We monitor and review staff performance through supervision, observation, and appraisal. Throughout periods of sickness and holidays we endeavor to provide the same level of support for the service users as they usually receive. This is accomplished by utilizing a senior member of staff to provide cover themselves if they cannot find an alternative replacement who is suitable.

Our aim is for all the people we support to be able to answer yes to each of the following statements:

I am safe and not being taken advantage of in any way.
I am safe from all forms of abuse and neglect.
I am safe and secure in my home.
I am supported through my illness.
l has a Support plan planned around my needs which is regularly updated.
l receive support delivered in a dignified manner.
l am not discriminated against for my chosen lifestyle.
l am always given privacy.
l am listened to

Combined Community Housing Principles

Our principles are based on the Government guidelines, which we use to establish a framework to which our management and staff use to provide the best support possible. We work in accordance with the 6 principles of care which are as follows: dignity, privacy, choice, safety, realizing potential and equality and diversity.

Dignity- Your right to: be always treated with dignity and respect; and enjoy a full range of social relationships.

Privacy- Your right to: have your privacy and property respected; and be free from unnecessary intrusion.

Choice Your right to- make informed choices, while recognizing the rights of other people to do the same; and know about the range of choices.

Safety- Your right to: feel safe and secure in all aspects of life, including health and wellbeing; enjoy safety but not be over-protected; and be free from exploitation and abuse.

Realizing potential- Your right to have the opportunity to: achieve all you can; make full use of the resources that are available to you; and make the most of your life.

Equality and diversity- Your right to: live an independent life, rich in purpose, meaning and personal fulfilment; be valued for your ethnic background, language, culture, and faith; be treated equally and live in an environment which is free from bullying, harassment, and discrimination; and be able to complain effectively without fear of victimization.

Realizing potential- Your right to have the opportunity to: achieve all you can; make full use of the resources that are available to you; and make the most of your life.

Staff and Support- All our support team are experienced and trained or are training towards the minimum standard of NVQ2 in Health and Social Care. Senior staff are in the process of completing their NVQ4. All our staff are required to have DBS checks, to ensure our employment policies are in line with government supported housing guidelines. We introduce you to resident support/key workers before they start your support. We monitor and review how you are working out together, to create a comfortable and safe environment. Our focus is to equip individuals with skills, confidence, and capability to maintain a healthy and fulfilling lifestyle. We aim to provide effective and relevant support that is tailored to meet each individual need. Please aware that staffing needs can alter from house to house and from time to time, this will depend on the severity of support and security needs. As adjustments are made the service users will be made fully aware of any changes, Combined Community Housing will ensure that a good standard of support, safeguarding and health and safety measures are maintained.

Crisis Provision

If Crisis or Respite Housing is required, we can provide emergency housing during bank holidays, weekends and out of hours. The Service manager or the on-call manager, can be contacted out of hours to authorize the placement and provide access to accommodation.

What is it that we provide?

The service provides our residents with a clear pathway plan, upon which we develop a be-spoke placement support plan tailored to the service users’ individual needs. We see this as a robust approach to pathway planning, as opposed to it being a simple document or a paper exercise of no real intent or meaning to the individual. We provide the physical as well as the emotional space for the individuals to be themselves, developing their resilience and confidence towards their independent living. Our setup and non-judgmental approach enable the service user to make mistakes and be able to learn and correct them at their own pace in a safe setting. We believe that having their own space will allow our service users to develop physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually as this is essential for people to test themselves in respect of the day-to-day management of their lives. It enables them to have a fair chance of developing their potential via a process of trial and error in a safe and supported environment.

Our services provide a range of options based on the service users assessed needs and as outlined in their Pathway Plan. The support provided ranges from one to one in house and community support with an assigned key worker. We outsource other avenues of support through rehabilitation services, pastoral, and religious support, multi-agency collaboration, healthcare professionals, job Centre, life center's and colleges. We uphold inter professional working with high regard as it allows for accountability and motivation in being able to provide person centered care with the best possible outcome for the service user. We outsource support and provide service users with the opportunity to receive ongoing support in therapy and counselling, bereavement, trauma, and behavioral management.

Support Structure

As part of our license agreement with you, you are entitled to weekly one to one support. The service user and key worker will work together, to put together a support plan that best meets your needs. The following steps will be taken as part of your 1^st one to one support session, soon after you move in

You will meet your keyworker (this will be an opportunity to introduce yourself, ask questions, raise any concerns, and highlight any other needs you might have
An induction will be carried out to highlight house rules, where to find what you need around the house, fire escape procedure and routes, fire assembly points, places of worship, community and activity center's, libraries, institutes for education, job Centre, council house, nearest health care facilities, shops, bus routes, food banks, community kitchens and inhouse food and clothing supply schemes.
An initial assessment of your needs
Risk Assessment
General Health Assessment
Safety Plan
Your key worker along with you will start to fill in your ongoing support plan.
You will be a assigned a time and date every week, of when you will meet with your key worker for support Sessions.

Equal opportunities we support.

Combined Community Housing is committed to providing the highest standard of support for all existing and potential service users. We believe that encouraging equality will enrich our service and ensure it is fairly accessed and sensitive to your needs. We will strive to ensure your support and housing needs will be well met without discriminating according to gender, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnic origin, religious beliefs, disability, marital status, age, or any other grounds. We aim to respect your ethnic, religious, and cultural identity to promote personal growth and independence. We recognize that to achieve these aims we must have regard for your views and opinions on the standard of our service provision, to provide an efficient and effective service.

Safeguarding

The wellbeing and safety of the service user is paramount to the success of the service we provide. Therefore, we will take safeguarding alerts seriously, by taking responsibility of whom we employ as staff members, who has access to your accommodation and information. Staff will wear badges as a form of identification. There will be a visitor record book on site and all visitors will be required to produce identification if they are booked for any repair or maintenance jobs. We will safeguard our service users by making safeguarding referrals where we feel that your safety and wellbeing is being compromised. We will also have a safeguarding system along with risk assessments, to easily identify any safeguarding alerts or issues.

Health and Safety

We accept responsibility to take reasonable steps to ensure the Health and Safety of anyone who may be affected by the team’s activities, practices, equipment, and appliances used in the house. We train all our staff to adhere to health and safety policies. We ensure that our health and safety policies are in place, and we work according to health and safety guidelines. We have an assigned health and safety representative. All staff are aware that they must comply with the Health and Safety at Work act 1974. All people using our service will have specific risk management in place, which will be formulated by yourselves and the care coordinator before the start of the package.

Guideline of services for your needs

Daily living activities
Psychology and counselling service
Multiagency working

Cleaning services

Assistance with cleaning; bathroom areas, showers, sinks and toilets.
Kitchen areas including ovens, microwaves and works surfaces, crockery, and cutlery, inside windows.
Polishing large items or furniture.
Vacuum cleaning and washing floors.
Ironing, laundry/washing/drying.
Changing and making beds.

Service users will be encouraged to get involved in keeping their accommodation in a clean and hygienic condition.

Support tasks

Behavior's management, emotional listening.
Collecting pensions, prescriptions, monitoring your medical at regular times.
Assisting with shopping / teleshopping, errand running and good neighbour tasks.
Accompanying or escorting on social / shopping trips.
Help finding other accommodation.
Help in establishing personal safety.
Help in establishing social contacts and activities to develop your social skills.
Assistance or enablement to manage domestic finances and bill paying.
Guidance in managing finances and benefit claims.
Help in maintaining the safety and security of the property.
Peer support and befriending.
Advice and support to access specific health/treatment services, local community organizations.
Assistance or enablement with planning meals and preparation of, assistance with enabling to cook food and make drinks.
Prompting medication

Accommodation

Our supported Housing accommodation consists of up to 4- and 8-bedroom houses. The houses are fully furnished. The properties have fully furnished bedrooms which can have en-suite facilities. The properties are cleaned and sanitized to a high standard. Gloves, aprons, sanitizers, first aid kits, fire extinguishers and fire blankets will be provided in every property. Fire safety checks will be carried out weekly and fire drills will be carried out once a month. Free Wi-Fi is available in all our properties. Upon Arrival each will be assigned a key worker, registered with a GP and Dentist if needed. Each service user will receive a starter pack with bedding, food parcel and toiletries. There is also an option of meals being provided, which will comprise of a healthy and balanced diet. Our staff are fully DBS checked. We ensure that our staff are trained to support people from different backgrounds without placing judgement or prejudice. All support provided will be recorded and stored securely. Upon request this will be shared with relevant and authorized persons. The Housing manager is available throughout the week and is responsible for the general maintenance and health and safety of the house. Our homes have floating support staff available throughout the day , including key workers who come in and out to cover inhouse support, support within the community and support with daily living activities such as appointments. We have a 24hr on call service which is there to deal with emergencies and support needs out of hours. We have CCTV operating inside and outside of the property for the surveillance of communal areas, to ensure service user, staff and visitor safety and reassurance. CCTV is monitored within office hours and outside of office hours.

Referral process

If we are contacted regarding a possible placement our referral process is as follows: First contact will be made with the placement manager or the Service manager from Combined Community Housing CIC
A referral form will be sent out to the referrer or referring agency
Preferably where possible will request for background information to be sent to us, in the form of a care plan, support plan, risk assessment or letter stating the nature of the individuals’ circumstances.
We require written confirmation of an authorized referral.
Depending on the circumstances a telephone interview will be carried out, to arrange a face-to-face appointment.
Over the phone a basic COVID safety check will be carried out.
The individual will be invited for a face-to-face Interview.
After the interview you can expect a response straight after or up to a time scale of 24hrs.
From the time we accept to take a service user on, accommodation needs will be put in place for them to move in immediately or the next day after their interview date.

Moving into your new Home

the service user will be shown around the property
the service user will be allocated a room according to availability or need.
sign up and receive all tenancy documents
you will receive a set of keys, if you should lose your keys there will be a charge of £5 for a replacement key.
service charge is £20 a week which is payable on the same day you move in or within a month of moving into the property, an arrangement to pay must be made as soon as you move in. There is an option to pay monthly weekly or through standing order. If your service charge payment is overdue without a valid excuse this will lead to verbal and written warnings, if not resolved it will lead to immediate eviction.
You will be Assigned a Key /Support Worker
Starter pack will be given to you upon arrival (toiletries, food and a bedding set will be available for you to use.

Adult Support Services

We Support and house Individuals who struggle and face challenges with mental health problems, substance misuse problems, learning disabilities, refugees/asylum seekers. We further accept referrals from health and social care agencies, probation and prison referrals, hospital discharges and local authority. We thrive to work in partnership with probation agencies, prison rehabilitation services in the community, drug and alcohol services, early intervention teams, social services, housing, mental health services, counselling and therapy services, police, churches, and various places of worship. Our support workers follow up on service user progress by communicating with various agencies and departments involved with the service user on a regular basis. Our aim is to reconnect people back into the community to allow them a new lease to life.

Young Adults Support Services

We have services aimed at enhancing the lives of young adults moving on. Our support is aimed at encouraging young adults to develop to their full potential at each life stage. This is achieved through inter-professional working with other health and social care agencies and other establishments such as colleges, youth center's, community center's, healthcare center's and family center's. We work towards ensuring that safeguarding young adults under our care is of a high standard. Our aim is to create a safe space that allows the young person to be free from risk and harm, to have an open line of communication with caring and non-judgmental staff, to learn new skills and where possible to maintain healthy attachments with friends and their families. We are open to providing a steppingstone pathway for young adults seeking to move onto supported Housing. We will set this group of individuals to access all possible, services and facilities to allow for them to shape a future with positive and health outcomes. We will encourage skill building, personal development through education and technology, enterprise, and apprenticeship. We will also encourage life skills, to build their confidence in being able to run their own homes and live independently.

Monitoring / Reviewing and Re-assessment

We have an ongoing monitoring process. In-depth support review meetings are carried out every 3 months. The purpose of the review is to analyze if the support given to the service users is still relevant to their current and ongoing circumstances. We will have regular contact with service users to inform them of any support worker or shift changes. Our support workers report any changes or concerns to the senior care coordinators or the service manager. Any changes and amendments needed for support plans, will be attended to in a timely manner to implement support as soon as it is needed.

Your Contract

Your license agreement details the rights and responsibilities for both you and Combined Community Housing. Both the care provider and the client will sign this contract. If there is any part of the contract that you require assistance with or do not understand, the placement manager is at hand to fully explain your license agreement and answer any questions. In your license agreement the following areas will be covered.

What is a license agreement?
Your right to a written license agreement.
Your right to support.
Your right to stay in your accommodation.
Your right to live peacefully in your home.
Your right to be treated fairly.

Data protection- confidentiality Keeping records of your care and support

Support is documented each time you receive one to one support from your key worker. The log sheets will hold details of all support given to you inhouse and in the community. Service users have the right to access documentation regarding their care and support, This can be arranged at your next support appointment following your request. All documentation is kept in locked cabinets in the office. There is verbal consent and written consent signed by the service user that allows Combined Community housing the right to access any information we might need to support you or the right for us to share your information with all relevant agencies and authorized individuals. Your written consent will be sought to authorize any publications or photography for the organization.

Activities

Service users are given the opportunity to take on activities such as, cooking courses, gardening, painting, dance therapy and crafts. We plan to organize day trips to local attractions and out of town day trips for a change of scenery and something to look forward to. Service users are encouraged and given the opportunity to take part in projects to give back to the community. We desire to support service users to maintain contact with their family and friends where contact has been lost, or to support ongoing contact. We will create enterprise and showcase opportunities where service users can be involved in contributing to our monthly newsletter or other internal projects.

Policies and procedures

Combined Community Housing CIC has policies and procedures in place to which all the team must adhere to. These policies are designed to protect you and the team as well as to encourage best practice. They comply with current legislation and the Care Standards Regulations.

Complaint’s procedure

We ensure there is a clear, simple and fast-moving procedure for dealing with your complaints:

Complaints are dealt with at the appropriate level and with minimal delay.
All complaints received are accurately recorded.
Complaints will be received and dealt with in an open and fair manner.

Complaints will be investigated, and the outcome confirmed within a maximum of 4 weeks. When this is not possible, an explanation of the position and reason for the delay will be sent within 14 days.

Every complaint received, either written or verbal, will be recorded, and immediately acknowledged in writing.

The Service Manager or a Senior Support Worker will undertake the necessary enquiries promptly. The outcome will be confirmed in writing within a maximum of 4 weeks. All complaints are monitored on a continuous basis by the Service Manager, who will submit a summary of complaints to any respective purchaser on demand.

The complaint procedure is one part of many processes, which may include:

Public information services
Auditing, monitoring, and reviewing.
Involvement of an advocate
Equal opportunities policy
Whistle blowing policy.

Feedback

Combined Community Housing welcome feedback from you. We welcome any comments, positive or negative.
A quality assurance questionnaire is distributed 3 monthly and its findings are used to monitor our standards for improvement.
We welcome your input and recommendations. This information is for every person’s benefit.
We work closely with other health and social care agencies for quality assurance and good support standards.
This information is available to you, your family, and your care coordinator.
If you do not understand our forms, please ask us for help and we will individualize the forms for you.

Incidents, Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences

Any accident, injury or dangerous occurrence affecting a person that uses our services or a team member is reported to the Service Manager who will take the required and necessary course of action.
Incident report sheets or an accident book are provided for this purpose and must be countersigned within 24 hours by the service manager.
All incidents will be thoroughly investigated, taking appropriate action in the case of misconduct or to develop preventative strategies.
Accidents and incidents will be reported to the relevant authorities.
All risk assessments are brought up to date at least annually. When new risks are identified a new risk management plan will be implemented immediately.

Warnings and evictions

If Combined Community Housing initiate an immediate eviction; this will be circumstantial to the person, situation which has occurred, severity of the situation and what must be done moving forward. Immediate evictions are effective immediately.

3 stage warning process

Verbal warning
Written warning.
Final warning
Eviction notices

Warnings will be distributed for breaking the general rules of Combined Community Housing. As this behavior's progresses, the warnings will be provided to the individual. 14 days will be permitted for the individual to relocate following the eviction notice when the 3-stage warning process is in effect. Note: this is only if the individual has received 3 warnings, NOT an immediate eviction.

If alternative accommodation needs to be outsourced CCH will endeavor to source alternative accommodation and support with a notice of up to 28 days.

Summary

In summary the team will work within the following guidelines and procedures:

Health and Safety at Work
Moving and Handling Operation
Confidentiality Procedures
Data protection Act 2018
Safeguarding Adults and Young people
Equal Opportunities in your support
Mental Capacity Act 2007