The Supporting People Programme
Housing Related Support and Supported Housing
What is Supporting People?
Every year, thousands of people need help and support to live more independently. This might involve learning to budget properly for rent and bills, accessing a community alarm service, or getting the right benefits.
This help is called housing-related support, and the Supporting People programme commissions, funds and monitors the provision of this support, making sure it’s good quality and meets the needs of the people receiving it.
Supporting People services enable over 1.2 million people across England and Wales to live as independently as possible. They provide accommodation, hostels, and staff to support people to move on to fully independent accommodation, and also support people in their homes or temporary accommodation.
Who Are Supporting People Services For?
Our services work with a wide range of people – there’s no such thing as a typical service user. People accessing housing related support might include homeless people, people with learning or physical disabilities, people fleeing domestic violence, with mental health or substance misuse problems, vulnerable young people, older people, ex-offenders, young parents, refugees, or people with a combination of these issues.
This diversity makes it more difficult to think about joining up services. Supporting People generally works with three different broad types of need:
- people in receipt of care with support, for whom housing related support underpins health and social care services;
- people living independently with support only, for whom a small amount of support makes a critical difference in being able to remain independent, and
- people experiencing or at risk of social exclusion, for whom housing related support plays an essential part in preventing or dealing with a crisis situation and restoring independence in a sustainable way.
About the Supporting People Programme in Hammersmith and Fulham
The Supporting People programme in Hammersmith and Fulham works across two broad areas; Commissioning and Procurement.
We work in partnership with housing-related support providers and with other services such as probation and primary care. This way we can make sure that all local services, including Supporting People services, are coordinated to work together for the best results.
Find Out More
Accessing Housing Related Support
To ask about access to supported accommodation, links to other services or housing support in your own home or temporary accommodation please call PATHS, the Placement and Assessment Team, on 020 8753 4142
To find out more about the sort of services available, you can access a directory of Supporting People services at http://www.spdirectory.org.uk/
Information about other housing options available in the borough is available through the Housing homepage
The Supporting People Programme
For more on the national Supporting People programme, visit the department for Communities and Local Government website www.communities.gov.uk or visit the national Supporting People website and directory of supporting people services www.spkweb.org.uk
Contacts for Service Providers
Performance Indicators – for any queries or problems relating to Performance Indicator submissions please contact email supporting.peoplePI@lbhf.gov.uk
If you have a query regarding your contract, the SP strategy or similar, contact Rachel Soni, Senior Strategic Commissioning Manager for Supported Housing, at rachel.soni@lbhf.gov.uk or on 020 8753 1723
