Extra Care Housing with no lower age limit

Hi Steph
I don't think you will find many (if any) of this type of scheme. Unfortunately because of the misguided application of planning policy by many Local Authorities the term "extra care" has been used almost entirely for 65+ schemes. The desire to compartmentalise care into handy boxes for planners to use to prevent unscrupolous developers avoiding affordable housing has meant that the true purpose of extra care has been lost. Efforts by the industry and even the housing LIN such as the "Toolkit" have been misused to confine choices for people in need of support in their own homes. Having been forced myself to enter into restrictive 106 agreements regarding age and minimum packages of care it has negated the real point of extra care which should cater for a range of ages at a range of care needs. Hopefully with planners and Local Authorities becoming more educated this restriction will eventually be a thing of the past and we will see more mixed schemes including YPD and LD younger clients included.Coincidentally I am currently looking to convert one of my new apartments (cgi attached) being built to accommodate someone of exactly the same needs as your illustration so will be very interested to see what other responses come in.
Gary Reeve-Wing
Court Royal

Hi Stephanie,

Habinteg have an Extra Care scheme in Bradford (Eden Gardens) which is specifically for younger people with learning disabilities. There is additonal onsite traumatic brain injuries provision developed around a 'cluster' type arrangement as well as separate sheltered bungalows.

The scheme was originally developed by Hanover but then transferred to Habinteg about 3/4 years ago I think.

There is also a similar scheme in Greater Manchester but the name escapes me!

Sarah

Sarah

Hi Steph

We have opened 2 Extra Care Schemes in Stafforshire in the last 3 years, like yourself i was keen that the opportunity to be supported in your your home with the benefits of Extra Care was offered to people under the age of 55. As said above this is not always made easy by planning and funding restrictions, however we did manage to go back and negotiate this with the HCA and with the County and District Council. We managed to get an agreement that a percentage of the properties could be rented / sold to people under the age of 55 providing that such people were assessed as requring care and/or support that was provided by the model.

We have successfully moved people under the age of 55 into both of our schemes, mainly people living with a Learning Disability, our youngest resident is 27 and the move has been a positive one for them.

The key to success, on top of getting the permissions as above , is ensuring that the people currently living in (or for new builds) will be moving in are aware of the age ranges and the criteria, and what this may mean in terms of who people may see and live near too in the scheme, and the levels of needs that you may be catering for.

If you want any more information let me know, more than happy to share anything that may be of help.

We've commissioned a number of schemes in Staffordshire that have included some flexibility to house people under 55. We've also paid for amendments to planning permissions to allow people under 55 in some existing schemes.
It's a small minority, but does make extra care available to a wider range of people who will benefit from the accommodation and services available.

Hi Steph,

Apologies for the delay in replying on this.

Nick Day and I did some work with Brighton and Hove City Council on a dedicated extra care scheme for people with a physical and LD developing services around a personalised model of service delivery and all were under 55.

The scheme is called Vernpn Gardens and there is a case study on the LIN Website Case Study 58.

Kind Regards
Gary

I and my husband had been looking for for alternative living options to live-in care as that is not really working for us as a married couple as we don’t have the privacy in our own home. However, we need the security of knowing that we have access to help when we need it. We are not interested in a traditional care home as its too restrictive for our needs.

What we are looking for is something like we had when we lived in Portland, Oregon whereby we had our own 2 bedroom apartment (with our own front door), within a building with onsite care staff (in shifts) that all the residents share by signing for and directing our own care. The residents must be able to run every aspects of life (bill paying, grocery shopping etc.) It is TOTALLY the resident’s responsibility to sign up and direct their own care. This type of living and care is ideal for us as we have the care we need while having privacy and independence. Here is the website for Quad Inc... http://www.quadinc.org/

We have been looking for something like that in this country, the closest we have found is extra care but they all seem to be for people aged 65 and older. We would be grateful for any information about anything like that for younger people with disabilities in this country.

I am even thinking about trying to get support to start something in this area of Hampshire. If there are other people who like to support this lets talk!
Thanks

Hi Ann, Have you looked at the Elderly Accommodation Council website?
http://www.housingcare.org/
That has the most comprehensive list of extra care housing, assisted living etc. I have just taken a look to see if the age criteria are specified and they appear not to be on the first page of details, but I do know that some schemes will take people under the age of 55, so if there are any that appeal, I guess your best bet may be to contact them directly to ask. Sorry not to be able to be more specific. Apologies if you have already been along that route. Sue

The problem here is labelling. There are communities which operate in this way already, but few are described/formally structured using the 'Extra Care' tag. My experience is specifically Learning disabilities, as family advocate. These places are what the DH called 'intentional communities' in Valuing People 2001. Many were set up in the 60s by families, using res care funding. Now many are being re-configured to use Supported Living funding. They are run by charities, some are small & very local, & independent, some part of much larger charities. Unfortunately they are being confused with 'large group homes' & some bigger charities are rejecting this model & dispersing people, despite families valuing this model & Valuing People endorsing it (pg 73 VP 2001) . Apart from this grass roots heritage what distinguishes these places is a culture of involved families, 'normal looking' houses, not big blocks of flats, & smaller size. Typically far smaller (c. 30-40 residents) than most Extra Care schemes I've come across. Coupled with ideas of Co-Production & Co-Housing, this model has many synergies with Extra Care & deserves recognition, not erasure! Of course govt doesn't seem to collect data in any way which would enable a proper audit of the situation...

In Guernsey, because of limits to developable land, we are in the process of delivering two extra care schemes for adults aged 18+ with a range of disabilities from autism, learning difficulties, profound physical disabilites to frail elderly with dementias. We like the concept of inclusive communities and fortunately, due to land restrictions and also due to our own independence from UK local authority and central government regulatory frameworks, we have been able to make this work. The biggest challenge has been to ensure our dom care staff are trained to meet care and support needs across a very wide range of needs. Our service works in partnership with Health colleagues and housing colleagues. Our health colleagues have been able to rehouse people with learning disabilities who have been residing in residential group homes for years and who now can find their full potential within extra care housing. Specialist Learning Disability nurses will partner with our dom care (extra care) service to deliver specialist services if these are needed. The specialist oversight model also applies to autism and other needs where our service needs a 'boost'. We are lucky in Guernsey. We are small and lean and these kind of projects are probably more deliverable here.