Durham Floating Outreach Learning Disabilities

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1 Eligibility Criteria Durham Floating Outreach Learning Disabilities Application and Assessment Process St Anne s Mission To be an outstanding provider of high quality care, support and housing services that helps vulnerable members of society achieve their aspirations and lead fulfilling lives.

2 This document is for people who want to receive support from us in their own home in Durham. It tells you: Who can apply How to apply How your application is dealt with How decisions are made What to do if you are not happy about our decision 1 WHO CAN APPLY? Referrals will be accepted from anybody. There are no automatic exclusions from our services but: You must have a learning disability, a learning disability with a mental health issues, be on the Autistic Spectrum or have a head injury. You must have an identified support need. You must be over 16. You or somebody must be able to pay support charges. You must not present a significant risk to staff, other clients or property. No application will be refused on the grounds of sexuality, gender, religion, ethnicity or disability.

3 2 HOW TO APPLY Edita Paliulionyte on You can also write to: Edita Paliulionyte Area Manager - North East St Anne s Community Services St Mark s Avenue Leeds LS2 9BN edita.paliulionyte@st-annes.org.uk - you may download an application form from our website or have one sent to you. If you wish to apply, an application pack will include: Information about the service. An Application Form. A 3rd Party Risk Assessment Form, which should be completed by someone who knows you well or a professional, such as a Social Worker, Psychiatric Nurse, or Support Worker who knows the applicant well. If this form is not filled in it may mean that we cannot complete the application process. Once we have received the application form we will contact you to let you know what will happen next. All applications will be processed within 6 weeks as long as interviews can be set up and we have received 3 rd party information.

4 3 HOW YOUR APPLICATION IS DEALT WITH After we have received your Application form we will arrange an assessment interview. Where possible you will be visited where you are living at present, usually by two members of staff. If this is not possible we will meet you in the best place for you. The assessment takes about an hour and consists of a number of questions to help us find out about you. At the assessment you will be given the choice to bring along anyone who you feel can help you express yourself, feel comfortable or put forward your point of view. This can include interpreters, social workers, carers, friends, family, etc. it s your choice. Part of this assessment is the 3rd Party Risk Assessment we may have sent out earlier to someone who has worked with you. We will also ask you similar questions about risks to get your opinion on these matters. Risks do not necessarily mean you will not be accepted in to our services. At the end of the interview you will have a chance to ask any questions you may have about St Anne s - or offer any other information you think might be helpful to us. If English is not your first language or if you have problems with literacy or hearing, let us know and we will arrange for the application and assessment to take place in the way that suits you best.

5 4 HOW DECISIONS ARE MADE After we have gathered all the information the management team will look at it and consider if we can offer you a service. To make the decision, they will look at what you have told them your support needs are to see if the service you want can match those needs. They will look at some or all of the following: Can we support you to meet your particular religious, cultural, dietary or other needs? Your support needs against the level of support available. Patterns of abusive and aggressive behaviour and past violent behaviour. The nature and pattern of past behaviour will be examined to see if we can either deal with any difficult behaviour or avoid the situations where it is likely to arise. Your current physical and mental health. Your anticipated level of compliance with a support plan. Can you or someone else pay for the service? Support will not be offered if funding is not secured.

6 We aim to complete the assessment in six weeks. This may be delayed if interviews cannot be completed in time or we need to find out more information about you. Whatever happens we will do our best to let you know our decision as soon as we can. You will be told in writing if you have been accepted in to the service and if you are refused access to the service you will also be told why. We may feel we can offer you a service but may need to make sure that other service providers will agree to provide other services first. Sometimes other people may need to assess you before agreeing to pay us to provide a service for you.

7 5 WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE NOT HAPPY ABOUT OUR DECISION Firstly, you may want to look at the paperwork and notes that we used to arrive at our decision. We will be able to provide most of this but if a third party who gave us the information has said that they do not want it to be passed on you will not be able to see this. When you have seen this information you may be satisfied we made the right decision. If not, the second stage of this process is to ask for a review. A senior manager from St Anne s will look at all the materials again and speak to the assessors. You can also talk to them and add new information or say if you think some of the information that St Anne s gathered was wrong. They will then consider whether to stick to the original decision or change it. Thirdly, you can ask to be re-assessed. This will only happen if the manager who reviewed your decision feels that important new information might be available - or they feel that the first assessment was not up to St Anne s standards. If you feel you have still not been treated fairly or properly you can make a complaint to: The Company Secretary St Anne s Community Services 6 St Mark s Avenue Leeds LS2 9BN Tel:

8 For further information please contact: Edita Paliulionyte - Area Manager - North East Head Office 6 St Mark s Avenue Leeds LS2 9BN Tel: Edita.paliulionyte@st-annes.org.uk Or visit our website: Join us on Facebook: St Anne's Community Services Follow us on Follow us on Google+: St Anne s Community Services For all our current job vacancies please visit our website Want to know more? For further information contact our Head Office: 6 St Mark s Avenue, Leeds, LS2 9BN Tel: Fax: info@st-annes.org.uk Visit our website: Follow us on Join us on Facebook: St Anne s Community Services, Follow us on Google+: St Anne s Community Services St Anne s Community Services Registered Office: 6 St Mark s Avenue, Leeds, LS2 9BN A Company Limited by Guarantee, Registered in England No Registered Charity Reg. No Housing Association Reg. No H3158