CHATFIELD HOUSING
ABOUT
Chatfield Housing was incorporated in 2018 as a Not for Profit organisation.
Our future plan is be registered on the Registered Provider of Social Housing List.
Chatfield Housing provides a 24-hour support to our clients.
Our objects are:
‘To promote social inclusion by preventing homelessness, social exclusion and relieving the needs of those who are socially excluded. We also assist clients to integrate back into the society by providing social housing to those in housing need, with suitable care, support or supervision.’
Chatfield Housing manages semi-independent shared hostels and supports people made homeless by opening the door to safe housing, supporting them with their tenancy, physical and mental health. We also provide food and the facilities for preparing food.
When clients are within our hostels, Support Workers visits each room once per week to carry out our personal wellbeing and health and safety check. They chair meetings with the clients within their projects and discuss issues that relates to the project such as cleaning, changes to the project, maintenance issues etc. We also provide one to one client sessions on a fortnightly basis. Risk needs assessment and support plan at least every 6 months.
At Chatfield, we provide support with education, training and work experience that leads to full-time employment through external agencies. We also provide support with move on accommodation as the maximum stay within our hostel is usually 2 years.
Preventing Homelessness is very important to us and our support team work with hundreds of people at risk – including:
- Low to Medium Risk Clients with Complex needs
- Ex-Servicemen,
- Refugees,
- Victims of Domestic Violence
- Those who are made homeless by the introduction of Universal Credit and other changes to the benefits system.
Our clients are referred to us by local councils.
In providing accommodation with Tenancy Related Support, Chatfield Housing assist homeless people to return to education and full-time work, which leads to them ultimately moving into their own independent accommodation, thus reducing the social impact on the wider community of homelessness and social exclusion.
Our aim is to work with other sectors to eventually eradicate homeless within our society.
Our values
Chatfield Housing has three clear objectives which are at the root of everything we do:
to prevent homelessness and entrenched social exclusion
to alleviate homelessness and social exclusion
to assist personalised recovery for homeless and excluded people
Our vision is that everyone should have a safe place to live, something meaningful to do, and good relationships with other people – as well as the good health to enjoy them.
Our mission is to house and support vulnerable and excluded people who either have been, or are at risk of, sleeping rough and homelessness.
Our aim is to make sure that homeless and vulnerable people can look forward with optimism and can improve their quality of life.
Our core values are:
Respect and ambition – we respect the life histories of homeless people, believe in their potential and will help them realise their ambitions
Excellence and creativity – we aim for excellent and creative solutions to the changing needs of homeless people
Diversity and equality – we are richer as a trust by valuing diversity and striving for equality of opportunity
The Quality Assessment Framework (QAF) is used within the housing sector as a tool to determine the effectiveness of support and services provided to clients.
Chatfield Housing will use this tool for internal assessment and auditing to maintain a standard which will be used to measure ourselves when delivering services to our vulnerable clients.
The 5 Core Objectives to QAF are as follows:
C 1.1 Assessment and Support Planning
C 1.2 Security, Health & Safety
C 1.3 Safeguarding & Protection from Abuse
C 1.4 Fair access, Diversity & Inclusion
C 1.5 Client Involvement & Empowerment
C 1.1 Assessment & Support Planning
At Chatfield Housing, all our clients receive an assessment of their support needs and any associated risks that may arise around this. All clients have an up-to-date support and risk management plan which is based on the outcomes star assessment. All assessment and support planning procedures is person-centred and are managed by our skilled staff, other professionals and/or carers as is appropriate.
Support planning is always started when the service is being offered or very shortly thereafter.
All assessments use SMART objectives which is very Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and within a specific time frame. These are reviewed every 6 months unless the circumstances of the client have changed, whereby a review is needed sooner.
All staff who carries out the support plans are supervised in there training by the Support Manager with who has over 10 years’ experience in delivering high-quality services to this client group. The support plans also take into full account the clients view and preferences.
C 1.2 Security, Health & Safety
We have a Health & Safety policy which is reviewed annually and is in accordance with all current legislation.
The service has a co-ordinated approach to assessing and managing security, health and safety risks that potentially affect all clients, staff and the wider community. We use an online database showing us when assessments are needed and an online system for reporting any maintenance and repairs issues. All our properties are inspected once a week by our property management team who meet weekly to discuss the progress of works. All our clients are invited to review and actively take part in policy review and health and safety assessments.
Systems are in place to enable clients to access help if they are every in a crisis or emergency. We also have 24 a hour on call support staff and 24 hr maintenance team on standby to help with any eventuality.
C 1.3 Safeguarding & Protection from Abuse
In Safeguarding there are many preventative measures in place to stop the occurrence of abuse, which is the responsibility of all within the workplace. Protection, on the other hand, is a statutory responsibility which is also in place to stop or limit abuse once it’s already taken place. At Chatfield housing, we have a commitment to safeguard all our vulnerable adults and those who visit the service. We also work in partnerships within the community to help to protect our clients and the neighbourhood.
There are policies and procedures for protecting our adults and children in accordance with current legislation and our staff are aware of these. staff also understand their professional boundaries and reflect this in practice.
At Chatfield Housing, we ensure that Clients understand what abuse is and know how to report any concerns that they may have. All clients are aware of how to report types of abuse to senior management, the regulatory body, the local council or their local councillor, through the use of email. We are also committed to participating in a multi-agency approach to safeguarding vulnerable adults and children.
C 1.4 Fair access, Diversity & Inclusion
Fair access, exit, diversity and inclusion are embedded within the culture of our organisation and this is demonstrated through our policies and procedures. Referrals are taken from a list of trusted referral agencies who uses either our online or email referral system. This means that each potential client is logged automatically with a time stamp and each client is contacted in strict order of being referred in following the assessment and allocations process which is in place. This is also reviewed annually unless otherwise required.
Chatfield Housing have a commitment to clients having a fair exit from the service by the use of our move on option. We work in collaboration with letting agencies who provide us with move on accommodation which is specifically sourced for our clients who are new to independent living.
There are many circumstances where a service may be terminated, one of which could be the hostel is being closed for a number of reasons. We at Chatfield Housing, ensure that all decisions are in accordance with the law, is transparent and the client have a chance to appeal against any decision is an integral part of the decision-making process
C 1.5 Client Involvement & Empowerment
Chatfield Housing ensures that clients are involved across the entire service and throughout the client’s experience staying in our hostel. They have a major influence over how the service is managed/run and shows real and significant involvement. Our clients will be able to obtain skills when they join our maintenance team which can be organised by their Support Worker after a risk assessment is done. Data protection and confidentiality are major challenges to overcome in providing this service and we have learned over time that client involvement at this level does not come without potential pitfalls.
Our senior staff have a wide range of experience with supporting clients and have specialist knowledge in complex needs. The Support Workers are the first point of contact within the organisation and always work with clients directly, signposting them as well as delivering QAF goals such as support planning, health and safety, Safeguarding, fair access and client involvement.
The Chatfield Team and those who volunteer within our client base are our acclaimed workforce who delivers our service on a very high level giving value for money.