When Living Arrangements do not work out

When young people’s living arrangements end in an unplanned way it can leave all those involved feeling bad.  The Supported Lodgings Social Worker will want to work with their provider to make sure that everything is done to support them, their family and the young person involved during this time. 

When a Supported Lodgings provider is struggling, they should use the support around them and the young person living with them to help find a way to move forward.  A stability meeting should be arranged by the social Worker for the Young Person and/or the Supported Lodgings Social Worker to consider solutions and any support services that can be offered.  The provider and all relevant professionals should be invited to this meeting.  The children’s social worker should feedback any concerns and decisions made to the young person.  Reviewing progress following this, should involve the young person’s views and attendance at a further meeting if appropriate.  However, not all supported lodgings arrangements work out and these can end before they were expected to. 

The supported lodgings arrangement can end if the young person’s  Social Worker or Provider’s Social Worker feels it is no longer meeting the young person’s needs,  the provider believes that they can no longer support a young person,  or the young person decides they do not want to stay.

It is vital that, for whatever reason, the supported lodgings home ends, the provider helps make the move for the young person as positive as possible. When endings are unplanned, the well-being of the young person is paramount and the supported Lodgings Social Worker should support you to respond with this in mind. It is also important that the needs and feelings of other children/young people living in the home are taken into account.

A Disruption Meeting may be arranged by the young person’s social worker.

These meetings may be held a little while after the actual disruption so that some of the immediate feelings of upset have reduced. They will consider all aspects of the placement in an attempt to understand what happened. Disruption Meetings can sometimes feel threatening, but it is important to recognise that their purpose is not to blame anyone but to reach a better understanding of what happened, including whether more support should have been provided. Most hosts who have been through a placement breakdown have found the Disruption Meeting helpful.

Who may attend:

• You;
• The young person, if appropriate;
• Your Supervising Worker and their manager;
• The young person’s social worker and their manager;
• The proposed carer;
• Independent Reviewing Officer;
• Any other relevant people. 

The Chair of the meeting should ensure that the circumstances that led to the disruption are reviewed, and that everyone has the opportunity to express their views in order to:

• Find out how and why the disruption happened;
• Learn from what happened and avoid the same thing happening again - for the young person/others in your home;
• Identify the positive work and good experiences for the young person amongst the difficulties;
• Support all parties involved and help them carry on and recover;
• Contribute to the future planning for the young person;
• Identify work to be done and who will do it.

The Chair will make sure minutes are sent to all those involved.

A Looked After Review should also be arranged.