INTRODUCTION
My name is Tina Lane and I have been working in the field of providing support for over 20 years.
I started within the care sector supporting people with learning disabilities to live as independently as possible. I then went onto work for a charity supporting people with mental health issues to help them sustain their accommodation and manage their wellbeing in the community. Whilst delivering this role, I also worked within Psychiatric hospital settings as a member of their bank staff.
I was then seconded from the mental health charity for six years at a drug and alcohol service delivering housing and welfare benefits support for all clients that accessed the service. For the last 12 months of that role, I was a substance misuse worker.
As of 2024, I have been employed with the Good Shepherd for five years and feel I have a good knowledge of issues people experience. This gives me a vast knowledge to be able to support people better in terms of the support required on their journey. This includes helping to deliver the AfEO programme.
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WHAT IS AfEO?
- AfEO is a project that supports people into accommodation who have had an offending history within the last 12 months.
- Within the project we aim to support people with an offending history into private sector accommodation with the relevant support attached.
- The support is for people with low level support needs and risks, helping them to manage a tenancy.
- The support is for both tenants and landlords including offering tenancy sustainment, setting up direct payments to landlords, financial incentives, regular one-to-one support and being a single point of access and mediation for both tenants and landlords if needed.
- The project is due to run for two years and is funded by Wolverhampton Local Authority. We aim to support up to 30 people into private rented accommodation within the two-year period.
- We welcome and encourage landlords to meet each person before accommodation is offered.
- The Good Shepherd will be open and transparent throughout the process.
- Once accommodated, the tenant will receive regular comprehensive one-to-one sessions to ensure that all needs are met and to help encourage integration back into the community.
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AN AfEO CASE STUDY
I received a referral for Adam for the AfEO project while he was staying in a hostel. On first meeting him, it was very clear he wanted to get back into employment as soon as possible but the cost of living in the supported housing was difficult for him to afford.
We supported him to express interest on several different properties and he attended viewings. But due to a high demand for private sector accommodation, we found this was a very competitive market and he was not receiving any offers of accommodation. Most landlords and letting agents were looking for people who were working or could produce guarantors.
Adam decided getting back into work was more important than the cost of where he lived so he started work. Not long after him starting work, I was approached by the father of a landlord I already worked with and he was offered a one-bed property. Adam viewed this at his earliest opportunity and was delighted to accept. I was picking him up from work to take him to viewings and appointments to ensure he was able to attend throughout the process.
The accommodation Adam lives in is the first accommodation he has ever had. So he was supported in setting up his bills/utilities and payment plans. He continues to receive budgeting support and welfare check-ins on a regular basis.
He has now been living in his property for six months and is managing really well. He is still in full-time employment and has made the flat his home. He has redecorated his accommodation, which he is now very proud of, and, week-by-week, continues to make improvements and become more and more settled.
- Contact [email protected] for more details.