Supporting People is a central government programme, introduced
in April 2003 to fund, monitor and review housing-related support
services.
This is done in partnership with local housing
authorities, social care services, health, probation, registered
social landlords and the voluntary and private sectors. Supporting
People grant is used to pay for services that are aimed at helping
people live independently in their homes and can include things
such as:
- Life skills training, such as support to acquire domestic
skills;
- Assisting people with dealing with other people such as
landlords, other tenants and a range of professionals;
- Assisting people with personal budgeting;
- Support with moving to more independent
accommodation.
In Suffolk we currently fund about 90 different providers who
are delivering support services to approximately 10,000 people.
Housing-related support is provided to a wide range of vulnerable
people including:
- Older people;
- People who misuse substances such as alcohol or drugs;
- Homeless people;
- People with a learning disability.
Some services are meant to be short-term and service users
will
move on within a 2 year period so will not be expected to pay for
the service they receive. This applies to most hostel type
accommodation.
Other services are providing support for significant amounts of
time and in some cases may be permanent. People in receipt of these
types of service will be assessed to see if they can afford to make
a contribution toward the cost of the support. The assessment is
based upon either Housing Benefit or the Fairer Charge test.
More detailed information regarding the operation and long-term
aims of the Supporting People programme in Suffolk have been set
out in a 5 Year Strategy document that can be found on the
Supporting
People Website.
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