NI launch consultation on housing for young care leavers

Northern Ireland Health Minister Jim Wells is seeking the views of everyone involved with or affected by Standards for Supported Lodgings for Young Adults aged 16 – 21 after they leave care.

Supported lodgings aim to provide young people with safe, suitable and supportive places to live within a local familial type environment. Such an environment will offer tailored levels of housing related and social care support to enable young people to develop practical emotional and relationship skills needed for a successful transition to independence and adulthood.

Launching the Public Consultation, Minister Wells said: “As a result of joint working between the Northern Ireland House Executive (NIHE), the Health and Social Care Board (HSCB) and HSC Trusts in Northern Ireland an integrated approach to planning and providing a model of Supported Lodgings for older young people has been developed.

“It recognises that the housing support and social care needs of older young people, whether leaving care or homeless, were interlinked.

The Minister continued: “Under this model, a young person is placed in a Supported Lodgings placement with a family, with relevant support to help develop practical emotional and relationship skills needed for successful transition to independence and adulthood.

“These standards will set a benchmark to be used by current and future supported lodgings service providers to ensure the provision of high quality social care and housing support and by Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) in their inspection of the Supported Lodgings Service.

“I welcome all responses and would encourage all who have an interest in these proposals to make their views known.”

The consultation will run to 30 January 2015 and the consultation documents are available on the Department of Health, Social Serviced and Public Safety website: http://www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/index/consultations/current_consultations.htm