Overnight Stays

Supported lodgings Providers may need a break from time to time. A young person may also want to have an overnight stay at some point with friends and family.

It is important that the young person’s social worker/Young Person’s Advisor and the providers' Supported Lodgings Social Worker reach an agreement at the time of what is delegated around overnight stays and what can be agreed with the young person:

• Are overnight stays allowed with friends and family and when does the social worker/young person’s advisor need to be notified, including overnight stays that may be agreed in the provider's home;
• Are there any agreements that need to be in place with the young person? For example the young person needs to be contactable by phone, the Providers need to be aware of where the young person is staying and the supported lodgings Providers informed of when they will be back;
• Are there any safeguarding considerations that need to be addressed around family and friends?

All this needs to be detailed in the young person’s plan and updated to meet the changing needs of the young person such as when friendship groups or circumstances around the family change.

When discussing the young person’s plan and living agreement, any potential requests from the young person to have a friend/family member (sister/brother/cousin) overnight at the provider's home should be considered at the earliest opportunity.

Young people should have the same opportunities to enjoy leisure time activities and be supported to have overnight stays with friends and their families unless there is a good reason for this not to happen.

Where there are exceptional reasons when you need to seek the permission of the young person’s social worker or a manager or place specific restrictions on permitting a young person to stay overnight with friends, this should be because of reasons necessary to safeguard the young person. If there is such a reason, the required arrangements should then be appropriately recorded and these should be explained to the young person in an appropriate way.

If a break is required by the supported lodgings provider then contingency plans should be put into place which provide consistency where possible for the young person, e.g the young person has an opportunity to stay with the provider family member or friend.