Video: Supporting young people
Case study showing the Shared Lives approach to supporting young people in transition. (Read case study)
-
Video transcript Open
Alison Hall, Development Worker, Shared Lives Plus
Shared Lives is a model of care where someone with a support need is matched with a compatible Shared Lives carer ad together they share family life and home life and get involved in the community together.
Lindsay Wills, Shared Lives carer
My name’s Lindsay a Shared Lives carer and this is
Kurtis Parlsey
Kurtis
Lindsay Wills, Shared Lives carer
Kurtis lives with m yself, my husband Mark, Eddie who is also on the Shared Lives scheme and Pixie the Chi Wawa.
Shared Lives is an adult scheme for people with disabilities, for people who have mental health issues, for people who need extra support that need to live, well, that’s best for them to live in family environment.
Kurtis has lived with me since he was eight years old. We fostered Kurtis so he’s been with us for over ten years now.
Kurtis Parlsey
That’s me at ten
Lindsay Wills, Shared Lives carer
When he turned eighteen, Kurtis, he didn’t become fostered anymore so Shared Lives takes over from that. It just felt like a natural progression really, you know, it was the right thing to do, Kurtis has continued to flourish, he’s continued to grow in confidence, his speech is coming on. I think there’s lots of benefits for Kurtis to stay here because he’s with people who already care about him, people that want him here, people that can help him grow in confidence. Kurtis is part of our family and our community and he’s well loved.
Support for carers
Alison Hall, Development Worker, Shared Lives Plus
The kind of support a carer might need might be around really practical things, might be around finances, it could be about insurance, it could be wanting advice if they want to go on holiday or it could be about having a break themselves and making sure that they’re getting plenty of respite.
Lindsay Wills, Shared Lives carer
As a Shared Lives carer we have regular visits from the team so we get plenty of phone calls,. If I’ve got an issue and I want to speak to somebody I can just ring up anytime, got a phone number, got my own worker that comes out to do regular visits to make sure that we’re both OK.
Alison Hall, Development Worker, Shared Lives Plus
The Shared Lives carers don’t have to be qualified as Shared Lives carers though there’s a vigorous process that they go through but it’s less about having certain experience or skills and it’s more about having the right attitude and the right values and be in the right place to support somebody in your own home
Shared Lives is a brilliant solution for a lot of young people in transition. We’re looking at people form the age of sixteen up to about twenty-five with a more particular focus on the age eighteen because that is quite literally when people transition from Children’s Services into Adult Services. I think for a young person the period of transition can be practically challenging but massively emotionally challenging.
Kurtis Parlsey
Nice jeans
Alison Hall, Development Worker, Shared Lives Plus
It’s a time where a lot of things change and a lot of professionals refer to it as the cliff edge and we’re trying to encourage people to build a strong foundation and a strong consistent home to help people find their way through all of that
Having a good home life
Lindsay Wills, Shared Lives carer
Kurtis likes to help out tidying in the house. He can wash pots, he helps tidy his bedroom, he empties bins. We all pitch in together as a family to help, you know, run the house as well really.
Kurtis Parlsey
I like cooking, I like computers, I like helping in the garden.
Lindsay Wills, Shared Lives carer
He goes swimming lessons, everything we do Kurtis does with us. We go on holidays abroad, we go camping in our camper, he is a very well loved member of the family, aren’t you Kurtis?
As an adult with Shared Lives, Kurtis has to fund his own holidays now and he has to, er, if we go out for a meal he can pay for himself and Kurtis has to buy his own clothes.
Kurtis Parlsey
I buy my own clothes because I became an adult. I buy all of them myself. This is my lovely top because I like this top. My favourite clothes are these ones.
Lindsay Wills, Shared Lives carer
To do Shared Lives and fostering I do think you have to be a certain kind of person. You’ve got to have a big heart, you’ve got to be very nurturing, you’ve got to enjoy looking after people and we do, we have a good sense of humour we have lots of laughs, erm, we get so much from it and seeing Kurtis just thrive and change and become more independent, that’s got to be the reward really, for us.
Mark Wills, Shared Lives carer
They’re fantastic, they’re just brilliant, they’re the highlights of our lives aren’t you, you two.
Kurtis Parlsey
Yeah
Mark Wills, Shared Lives carer
You’re a gem for me and Lindsay, aren’t you?
Kurtis Parlsey
Yeah
Mark Wills, Shared Lives carer
Get to be with a family, don’t you, a family environment and you’re going to be good independent young men aren’t you?
[Eddie]
Hu-hu (agrees)
Kurtis Parlsey
Yeah
Mark (laughs)
Kurtis Parlsey
I like Mark and Lindsay because Mark is very kind, lovely. I like Lindsay and Mark, keep me happy.
