Admittance of clients aged 16 –17 years old.

In June 2006 Northlands was asked by the Council to consider admitting 16 and 17 year old clients. There was a desperate need for the provision of temporary accommodation for this age group, many of whom were being placed in B and B accommodation due to lack of any alternative.

One of Northlands objectives is to flexibly adapt the service we provide to meet strategic need and consequently much consideration was given to the request by the council to admit 16-17 year old clients. Having considered the implication of admitting clients of this age group, we agreed to designate 4 bed spaces for the homelessness section to refer into and a service level agreement was drawn up.

Various adaptations were made to the top floor of the building to provide a secure area separate from the main Centre. Extra CCTV was installed. Staff also received training in working with this younger age group. In December 2006 Northlands was in a position to open it’s doors to 16-17 year olds. Our aim with this client group is to provide them with a secure and supportive environment where their support issues can be assessed. Wherever appropriate and possible clients aged 16 and 17 are supported to return to their family home. Where this is not appropriate or desired then clients are supported to acquire skills necessary for independent living. 4months into this programme we have so far supported 7 clients aged between 16 and 17.

3 of these clients were able to use the time and space at Northlands to resolve their relationships with their families and have now returned home. One has been successfully resettled into his own independent accommodation.

One such client commented “ I am really grateful to Northlands for providing me with support to sort myself out. I was scared at other hostels but Northlands is much more homely and the staff really friendly and helpful.”