County Outreach East

Eastern Team
In the East, Julian Housing Support’s services are managed by Sue Read with a team of six workers, from a JHS office base in Great Yarmouth.

Most of the work of Julian Housing in the Eastern area, as elsewhere, is outreach or floating support to people in their own homes.
By acting as advocates, support workers liaise with Local Authority Housing Departments and Housing Associations to enable people with mental health problems to find and sustain accommodation suited to their needs.

Referrals

Adults with mental health problems and housing needs can be referred by Norfolk Mental Health Care Trust, continuing support teams and local authority Housing Officers.Referrals / enquiries should be directed to:

The Eastern Team Manager, Sue Read

Tel: 01493 858463
E-mail: enquiry@julianhousing.org

Floating Support

The Eastern Team also operates ‘floating support’ services. The service is funded by’ Supporting People’. This support can be more or less intensive as needs dictate or can ‘float’ to another tenant if needs diminish. Julian Housing contracts with both the Borough Council and Central Supporting People team to provide support to people in any tenure including B & B.

The role of the Floating Support Worker is fundamental in helping prevent a deterioration in someone’s mental health, by absorbing some of the stresses involved in maintaining a tenancy. Whilst the support worker can help with basic issues such as benefits, services and practical tasks, the sustaining role of floating support cannot be overstated.

The Floating Support Worker can assist people to achieve or retain their chosen life style, maximising independence and avoiding hospitalisation, and also help tenants use the resource of the wider community, by helping them back into the social mainstream. Many clients suffering from severe and ongoing mental ill health have talents and strengths that may remain hidden. The Floating Support Worker can help build a tenant’s confidence, developing and strengthening coping strategies. This support can last for up to two years. Hospital Housing Link Workers.

In Great Yarmouth, a combination of Local Authority and PCT funding pays for two Reach Out Link Workers who work on acute wards to prevent inpatients losing their accommodation whilst in hospital, or leaving hospital without accommodation.
These workers help the Northgate Hospital staff to identify housing needs and link inpatients with the council’s Housing Aid team and/or the NSSD Homeless Mentally Ill Social Worker. They also link patients from the Waveney District with the Council Housing Aid Team and other housing pathways.

They also connect with homeless mentally ill people who are receiving a service from the Herring House Trust; referrals for this service are from the Homeless Mentally Ill Social Worker (see also separate Link Work leaflet).Dual Diagnosis.

More than 60% of our service users have some degree of substance dependency. Elaine Fretwell is our lead worker in this area. Part of her role is to maintain links with substance abuse services and hold the knowledge for the team.