Llamau’s supported housing projects provide supported accommodation to young people leaving care, young offenders or young people who are homeless or vulnerably housed. Llamau support teams help service users to gain the skills necessary to maintain a tenancy. We have projects in Cardiff, Newport, Caerphilly, Bridgend and the Vale of Glamorgan.

Support Workers help service users with practical skills such as maximising income, budgeting, paying bills, shopping, cooking and housework. Support Workers can also support and advise on other issues such as training, education or employment opportunities, substance misuse, relationships and health matters. Llamau Support Workers believe in giving service users informed choices and options that will help them to take control of their own life.

 

Each service user has different support needs, and will not need help with everything. Service users and Support Workers work together to decide what an individual’s support needs are, and together will work out a support plan. This plan will be looked at regularly to see what is working well, and where changes may need to be made in order for an individual to achieve their goals.

 

Llamau offers support in a variety of projects, we have 24 hour staffed project houses, floating support schemes and tenancy support schemes. We accept referrals from Social Services, Youth Offending Teams and Local Authority Housing and Homelessness Departments.

 

 

These houses provide supported accomodation to roofless young people. This means young people have a stable base from which they can start to address issues as defined by them. Continuous and complete staff presence is provided and is backed up by an emergency on-call system. Staff use multi -disciplinary approaches to addressing the issues that are contributing to a young person’s behavioural difficulties and support needs. This support enables young people to take control of their lives with staff aiding their attainment of an increased degree of awareness about the consequences of their actions by challenging inappropriate behaviour and explaining the possible consequences of that behaviour.

 

Llamau works with appropriate agencies to ensure a resttlement package for each young person. A support package is agreed upon and every young person is worked with in a positive and empowering way. The young people move on at the earliest opportunity to ensure they have a goal and motivation for their next step change.

 

 

Floating Support enables young people aged 16 - 24 experiencing accommodation difficulties to establish and sustain a secure tenancy. It provides advocacy, advice and support services that enable young people to live interdependently within the community. It provides services to young people with diverse needs and in particular those young people who have a high vulnerability to social problems.

 

 

Llamau’s first Tenancy support scheme was developed in Cardiff in February 2002. Since then we have also been awarded contracts in Caerphilly, Newport and the Vale of Glamorgan. Working in partnership with Local Authority Supporting People teams support is provided on a floating support basis. Referrals can be made on behalf of existing Local Authority tenants who are experiencing difficulties in maintaining their tenancies or prospective tenants who have been identified as needing support to maintain a tenancy. Support is offered over a period of three to twelve months, depending on the level of need and is gradually withdrawn as a service user becomes more able to manage their tenancy.

 

 

The Young Person’s Advisor Service was developed in April 2002 as a result in changes of legislation within the Children Leaving Care Act (Wales) 2001. Since developing the service we have advised 70 young people in the care of Vale of Glamorgan’s Children’s Services.

 

The Young Person’s Advisors work with young people in drawing up their Pathway Plan. This is a five year plan which affords the young person real choices in the direction their life will take, taking into account what help they will need with finances, health, accommodation, training, education or employment and how they can prepare for the process of leaving care in terms of independent living skills. An Independent Chair reviews the plan every six months.

 

As a result of this service we have continued to develop positive working relationships with others who may be involved with the young person. These include: Foster Carers, family members, social workers, health professionals, education workers and training providers.