Lodgings can offer family support base

Three local residents who have been involved in the supported lodgings programme have offered anonymous testimonies to say how rewarding being part of it can be.

‘NT’has been providing supported lodgings for three years to a young woman who had been her foster daughter for six years previously.

She said: “Before she left for university, she still needed a home base.

“She had no contact with her birth family and considered us as family – therefore she wanted to come home during holiday periods and some weekends.

“Initially it involved a lot of support – as you can imagine, going from a home to independent living came as a bit of a shock to her and she also needed lots of emotional support.

“She was part of my family, still is and always will be – like my other children who went on to university and independent living, they still need the emotional support and sometimes financial.

“Supported Lodgings helps her to feel she belongs here and can return anytime. She knows she has the security of adults to help her with whatever comes up.

“She can lift the phone and call us anytime and also messages us through social media.

“She had an out of the blue contact from her birth family recently and she called me to discuss it and how it affected her emotionally, and we were able to spend time talking about the situation and how to manage it if it should ever happen again.

“I get payments for her when she is at home, and I can discuss any issues during supervision with the [Perth and Kinross Council] Family Placement Team.

“I would say patience and understanding are two essential qualities for being a supported lodgings provider.

“But along with that, you need to build up a relationship with the young person, so that there can be an understanding of what will affect their way of coping outside the family set-up.

“Also you need to prepare them for living outwith the family and helping them manage day to day living and finances.”

‘CN’has also been providing supported lodgings for three years, to a young woman who she had fostered prior to that.

She added:“She had been with me for three years and wanted to go to University in Edinburgh, but would have no home to go to when not there.

“We provide her with a room and all the normal facilities – she is a part of the family and we include her in whatever is going on when she is home.

“She sees it as home – somewhere she comes back to rest, relax, be part of the family.

“I have the pleasure of helping a deserving, hard-working young lady along the way and giving her the family she didn’t have before.

“To be a good supported lodgings provider you need patience, insight into behaviours, resilience, and a positive outlook – you must want to care for kids and see them flourish, but be able to take the knocks when it is too hard for them.”

‘LQ’has been providing supported lodgings for around five years since she became a foster carer.

She added:“The young people we have fostered and have now turned 18 are getting continuing care with us – emotional support and advice, help with some appointments, filling in forms and support with managing finances as this can be very difficult for them.

“It means a lot to me to see young people move through that difficult transitional stage, on hopefully to be happy, healthy young adults.

“It helps them to know that there is someone there to help them when they do make mistakes.

“To do this you need to be able to support your lodger in the decisions they make – these may go against good advice but it’s about not judging and helping them to move on, learn and make better choices nexttime.”