Caridon Young Living

Welcome to Caridon Young Living

Caridon Young Living Is a specialist support and accommodation service for young people. We are committed to providing high quality support in a caring and positive environment in which young people can achieve independence, fulfil their potential and realise personal goals. Our service is targeted at 16-21year olds who are making the transition into independence but who may still require additional care and support.

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Learn More About Our Work

Our Staff

At Caridon Young Living we recognise that our staff are the backbone of the organisation and we are committed to investing in their development and training to ensure that they are able and motivated to provide high quality service to our clients. We have a robust recruitment and selection processes which follows all relevant statutory guidance concerning the employment of persons working with vulnerable persons.

Staff at Caridon Young Living will receive training in a number of areas including:

Child protection
Key working Skills
Child Sexual Exploitation
Female Genital Mutilation
Child Trafficking
Equal Opportunities and Diversity
Health and Safety and First Aid
Food and Hygiene
Dealing with Difficult and Challenging Behaviours
Consequential Thinking
Developing Employability Skills in Young People – Skills for Life
Drug Awareness Programme

Our Accommodation

Our homes are a two-phase model set in residential areas of South London and Surrey. Depending on the age and the young person’s level of independent living skills will determine whether their package of support warrants a 24-hour staffed unit or a 12-hour staff unit.

We pride ourselves in providing accommodation which is homely, safe and clean. All our homes have beautiful fully equipped communal spaces, fully furnished bedrooms, with a desk space for study, however at Caridon Young Living we believe it is the little touches that make the difference, which is why we provide flat screen TVs in each room, game consoles for communal areas, gym equipment and iPad/ tables for the communal areas.

The location of our homes is a well thought out process and all our houses are located close to local facilities including shops, local colleges, hospitals, library and good transport links across the Capital city, London.

Our Support Services

At Caridon Young Living we understand that every person is unique. Each person’s need is different and some young people may require more support than others.

We will assess the individual need of each young person and develop a personalised support plan in conjunction with the placing authority. An individual risk assessment will always be completed as part of the referral process with contribution from all parties.

Our support plan is based on a robust assessment of each young person’s needs. The assessment focuses on identifying the young person’s emotional, physical, social, educational and practical needs and how to meet these needs. We will work with each young person to achieve their potentials while celebrating each small step of success and cheering them on to a higher level of motivation and achievement.

Caridon Young Living offer a tiered support package starting with the basic support package which includes accommodation and 10 hours support. For young people requiring additional support we are able to offer additional support tailored to meet the specific needs of that young person which enhances the basic support already in place. This could be in relation to substance misuse, mental health, sexual exploitation, offending behaviour, emotional support needs or self-harming tendencies. Prices are negotiated in accordance with the needs of the young person and the support to keep them and other residents safe.

Basic Support Package (10 hours)

Our basic support package includes the following delivered according to young people’s needs during 10 hours of support.

Safeguarding,
Pathway planning,
Family contact,
Independent / Self-Care Skills e.g. cooking, cleaning, use of public transport, laundry, money management, shopping etc.
Education, training or employment
Support with physical and sexual health activities (sexual health, GP, dentist and optician)
Support with Social and recreational activities
Religious and cultural practices
Administering and supporting residents with their budgeting
Supervised spending
Risk assessment and safety planning
Allocated keyworker and regular key work sessions
Community based appointments e.g. solicitors, banks
Support with substance misuse (community based)
Support with emotional health issues and self – harming behaviours
Risk management around child sexual exploitation

Offending behaviour

Risk management around gang violence and involvement.

What to expect from Caridon Young Living

Being Healthy

Each young person is registered with a GP, dentist and optician within the first week of placement.
Our staff uses a range of strategies to encourage and ensure young people attend regular routine health checks and complete their annual health assessment.
Our staff educates young people about sexual health, sexual relationships, the prevention of sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancy.
Our staff assists young people to understand the importance of healthy eating, observing special dietary needs and the dangers of eating disorders.
Our staff identifies and respond to early indicators of mental health issues such as self-neglect, self-harm and depression.
Our staff will provide information about the risks of smoking, alcohol and substance misuse.
Our Staff are competent and skilled to look for early signs of substance abuse, misuse and addiction and take timely and appropriate actions to address these.

Education: Enjoy and Achieve

Where English is not a young person’s first language, assistance is provided to access ESOL classes locally.
Staff encourage and support young people to engage in activities that help them to get work experience, learn work routines, apprenticeship and build up a CV for later on in life.
Caridon Young Living work in partnership with On Side Youth Zones to support young people in community integration and building life skills.
Caridon Young Living also partner with different education providers to ensure all young people are enrolled in some form of education or training if they are not in employment.

Enjoy Economic Wellbeing

Staff ensure that each young person has access to appropriate and reasonable resources to enable them to participate effectively in economic life. (i.e. transport/bus pass, weekly allowance and welfare benefits). All young people will receive a month’s free bus pass in order to not feel isolated when moving to the area.
Staff encourage young people to manage their own finances through help with budgeting, saving and banking.
Caridon Young Living provide all young people with free gym memberships

Stay Safe

Staff takes reasonable steps to ensure that young people who enter any employment, training or work experience do so in a safe and legal environment.
Staff regularly encourage young people through key working sessions to understand their rights and responsibilities and how to raise concerns and complaints as well as how to access independent advocacy.
Staff follows the local Safeguarding Children Board and local authority’s multi- agency protocols for young people who go missing from care.
Behaviour management plans and risk management strategies are in place for each young person.
The director, in partnership with the placing authority do all they can to promote stability within the placement and avoid emergency placement breakdowns.
Staffs are proactive in requesting/convening stability meetings where required, to minimise the risk of irretrievable breakdown and disruption to continually care for young people.

Contributing positively

Staff will support each young person to complete a structured preparation for independence programme within 6-9 months of their placement preparing them to move on to independent living.
Staff supports our young people to engage in volunteering opportunities to enable them make a meaningful contribution to the community the live in thus improving their self- worth.
Our Staff are proactive in identifying opportunities for a young person to empower them to increase their experiences and employability through attending community activities and other personal development opportunities.

Placement Process

All placement enquires can be made via telephone or the central email box:

Phone: 0203 824 1062 Email: info@caridonyoungliving.co.uk

A placement planning meeting will take place on or within 7 working days of placement. A written record of this meeting is to be made detailing the roles and responsibilities of all parties and anticipated outcomes of the placement and timescales for achieving these. At this time a risk assessment and management plan will be put in place and shared with the young persons social worker and personal advisor.

We operate a key work system which ensures every young person has a named staff member who would work closely with them and be their main contact. Keyworkers are matched with the young person and are supported through supervision to develop a nurturing and meaningful relationship with the young person whilst maintaining appropriate professional boundaries.

Our close relationships with our young people enable us to engage them in discussing their behaviours before they escalate and help them to identify alternative strategies for expressing any negative feelings in a constructive manner, so aiding placement stability.

Structured key work sessions around independent living are tailored to the needs of each individual young person. Their key worker will support them in these activities, which are part of the “Stepping Forward to Independence’’ programme delivered by Caridon Young Living.

Moving to Caridon Young Living

At Caridon Young Living we recognise that young people moving into one of our homes may not have very much in terms of material possessions. We work hard to ensure that each person is made welcome and that they are encouraged to make their room a home as quickly as possible.

To this end we supply each young person with:

A basic food starter pack
A complimentary personal starter pack including bedsheets, duvet covers, pillowcases, hangers and a clock, towel, dustbin and a laundry basket
A complimentary personal care pack including basic toiletries, sponge, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste.
Free Gym membership
A month’s free travel card
Home Cooked nutritious meal once a day (Provided by Caridon Young Living)

At Caridon Young Living we are keen to encourage young people to access education, employment and training. Were necessary we will provide stationary packs and access to cheap second hand clothing to ensure young people are equipped on their first day.

Upon acceptance, Caridon Young Living will pick up the young person where possible or the referring authority would make arrangement for the transportation of the young person to the placement. Staff will obtain copies of relevant paperwork and documentation supplied by the referring authority.

The young person will be made to feel welcome and given information explaining the role of Caridon Young Living in supporting young people.

Each young person will be given a tour of the building, security and health and safety rules and an induction pack including the complaints procedures.
Each young person will be given information on the local area, including shops, places of religious worship, schools, colleges, community organisations, libraries, sport and other recreational activities.
All young people will be instructed in the use of appliances, and emergency procedures.
In the case of asylum-seeking young people, the use of interpreters may be necessary and permission from the referring authority would be sought for the use of language line. This may incur additional costs.

Safeguarding

We believe that protecting young people is based upon building positive relationships and encouraging and supporting young people to value themselves. Our staff are aware of the potential for vulnerable young people to be groomed by adults or by other young people in preparation for Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE). They are aware of the responsibilities of professional colleagues including social workers, Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs) and Local Authority Designated Officers (LADOs) The Police to work together to safeguard young people.

Once a young person moves into our service, a risk assessment and support plan will be developed. These documents will be updated quarterly or after any significant change in circumstances in the young person’s life. Our assessments are not just holistic but an ongoing process reviewing and responding to the needs of the young people.

We will support our young people in developing their skills in keeping safe, building their self esteem and making informed and positive choices. Our onsite 24-hour staffing and use of controlled access to the building for residents and visitors will ensure the safety of our young people.

We will ensure that appropriate visitor restrictions are implemented to safeguard our young people, this includes the use of photo identity cards, signing in and out of the home, no overnight visitors allowed, and refusal of under 16 visitors into the home.

We will expect all young people to have returned back to placement by their curfew time which will be agreed with the allocated social worker during the placement planning meeting. Permission to stay out overnight with friends or relatives must also be on the consent of the social worker.

Management will ensure that individual staff members and staff teams are fully familiar with the protocols of the relevant local Safeguarding Children Board and understand their professional responsibilities to safeguard the young people in our care.

Absence from our care is an important matter and we endeavour to be active in promoting the benefits of young people keeping to appropriate boundaries for their own personal safety.

Whenever young people are absent without the proper authority, they are considered to be at some level of risk of either criminal, sexual, physical exploitation or abuse by others, or to be a risk to others.

In a situation where consent has not been given, we will report the young person as missing to the police and work closely with both the police and out of hours emergency duty service to ensure every young person’s safety.

Young people will always be welcomed back on their return and we will ensure they are warm, have eaten and are physically well.

Equality and Diversity

At Caridon Young Living we are committed to diversity and equality of opportunity. We will ensure that no young person will be discriminated against on the grounds of their race, faith, religion, sexuality or ability. We actively promote diversity and equality of opportunity in all our homes and we are committed to dealing swiftly and decisively with bullying or harassment of any young person or staff on the grounds of their race, faith, sexuality, disability or religion.

We are keen to ensure that all our properties have a diverse range of residents and we will take all relevant steps to ensure that all young people’s cultural, ethnic and religious beliefs and practices are respected and accommodated within the home where this does not pose a risk to the safety and wellbeing of other young people or staff.

We comply fully with all UK equality legislation or European equivalent, have an equalities policy and we are an equal opportunities employer.