Our service model has been co-designed with people who have lived experience and as a result there will be two specialist roles available to the young people who are part of the service.
Overview
Our Youth Housing Support Service is accessible for all young people aged 16-25 years who are care leavers, homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
Our Outreach Services support young people within the Dumfries and Galloway region and will operate between the hours of 9am ― 8pm Monday to Friday.
Our service aims to provide a person-centred, holistic and multi-disciplinary approach in enabling young people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless to access appropriate advice/guidance; access and sustain temporary or permanent accommodation safely; improve their quality of life; and be socially included.
Our rights-respecting approach ensures we respond to each young person’s emotional and practical needs through a trauma-informed lens, displaying positive regard, with empathy and genuineness. Stickability will be a key feature of our work, and the importance of creating and maintaining trauma-informed practice and person-centred, psychologically-informed environments for young people are important features of our model.
Support
Each young person will receive individual tailored support from a Transition Mentor, and will have a personalised support plan that identifies measures and activities to support the achievement of personalised outcomes.
This can include:
- Emotional regulation
- Health, wellbeing and lifestyle
- Learning, work and money management
- Relationships, community
- Suitable accommodation
- Rights and legal issues
- Digital inclusion
We understand that young people don’t progress in a linear fashion, therefore our support is not time-limited, and will reflect the personal choices, likes and dislikes of each individual.
Specialist support
Each young person will be assisted by an allocated Transition Mentor who will have the knowledge and skills to provide the required support. All Transition Mentors undergo an enhanced training programme and will be adequately trained to support each young person’s required needs.
They will provide ongoing tailored support and be a positive role model for young people. The Transition Mentor will support the young people to identify, plan and achieve their life goals using a range of person-centred and holistic approaches to achieve identified outcomes.
The workers will support young people to access opportunities to engage positively within their communities through social diversionary activities and inclusion, promote positive social networks and encourage engagement with friends and family as appropriate. They will work directly with young people to gain their trust and to support them to engage in learning experiences that promote their educational attainment, academic qualifications, self-confidence, independent living skills and resilience. Promoting active and responsible citizenship is another key feature of their role. Our workers are required to demonstrate a high level of engagement skills and utilise creativity and innovation in direct work with young people.
Support provided will include:
- Regular review and participation of the young person in all decision making.
- Promoting constructive lifestyle choices and creating an awareness of building meaningful relationships with family, friends and social networks.
- Activities to develop emotional regulation.
- Informed access to health services (physical, mental, sexual, dental, optician).
- Healthy eating choices, food preparation and cooking.
- Money management, income maximisation and benefits eligibility.
- Access to leisure, sporting, health and wellbeing activities.
- Assessing opportunities for education, training, volunteering and employment.
- Signposting/supporting to access any other relevant specialist services.
We want to make sure that young people’s wellbeing is a priority. The young people will have access to a specially trained Counsellor offering professional support and advice. This service also allows support to be timely where and when required, and having this expertise in-house can reduce pressure on local mental health services.