County Outreach West

Western Team
The Western area includes West Norfolk and a small area of North Breckland District (West Norfolk PCT area). The team of 6 outreach workers have an office base in Kings Lynn.

Outreach Support

Our core work in this area consists of outreach support to service users with severe and enduring mental health difficulties. Through outreach support we aim to assist service users as appropriate:

	To find accommodation suitable to their needs usually via housing associations,local authority etc.

	To assist individuals to work through the process of moving which may include benefit advice, help with utilities, finding out about local community facilities.

	To claim correct benefit entitlements and discuss budgeting plans.

	To encourage and support individuals to leave their homes to pay bills and access non-segregated services.

The emphasis of the service is to enable individuals to realise their own potential in sustaining their accommodation.

Referrals

Referrals can be made via Community Health Team Members, for example Mental Health Social Worker / Community Mental Health Nurse, and Primary Care Link workers. In some circumstances housing providers may make referrals. In both instances there is a clear referral form which should be sent to:

Julie Symons, Team Manager

Direct enquiries tel: 01553 775589
E-mail: enquiry@julianhousing.org

Floating Support

The Western 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 service can last for up to two years.

Hospital Housing Link Workers

In King’s Lynn, a combination of Borough Council and PCT funding pays for two Reach Out Link Workers (1 FTE) who work on acute wards to prevent inpatients losing their accommodation whilst in hospital, or leaving hospital without accommodation.

These workers help the Fermoy Hospital staff to identify housing needs and link inpatients with the council’s housing team. They also link patients from the Fenland District with their own Council Housing Aid Team and other services.

They also connect with homeless mentally ill people who are receiving a service from the Purfleet Trust.