27 07, 2020

A test and learn approach to Critical Time Intervention

By |2021-07-08T11:33:52+00:00July 27th, 2020|Categories: Blog|Tags: , , |

Iain Donnelly, Programme Lead, has recently joined Fulfilling Lives Newcastle Gateshead (FLNG). In this blog Iain reflects on their Critical Time Intervention pilot.

Between June 2018 and March 2020 we piloted a Critical Time Intervention (CTI) model as an alternative to the more traditional navigation approach that we had previously used in our work supporting people experiencing multiple disadvantage.

Developed in the US, CTI is an evidence-based practice of working with a person during a transition, such as leaving prison or moving into accommodation, for a maximum period of nine-months, focusing on person-centred goals and building support networks in preparation for the end of the time-limited period.  As a model, it’s relatively new in the UK and ours was one of the first full-scale pilots to […]

4 07, 2019

Multiple Disadvantage Day, Take One

By |2019-07-04T09:15:28+00:00July 4th, 2019|Categories: Blog|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Chris Milner joined the Fulfilling Lives national evaluation team in February 2019. In his first blog he explores the role of art and emotion in recovery and raising awareness. 

The first Multiple Disadvantage Day took place on July 3rd 2019. The day marked an important stepping stone towards tackling the stigma associated with complex experiences of homelessness, offending, substance misuse and mental ill-health. These disadvantages are so often co-existing that it is essential that they are addressed together, and that we #seethefullpicture. By raising awareness of the reasons behind people’s circumstances, Multiple Disadvantage day aimed to encourage people to think before making a judgement.

[…]

2 07, 2019

What makes a difference – new briefing published

By |2019-07-02T13:13:21+00:00July 2nd, 2019|Categories: News, Project Evaluation|Tags: , , , , |

The third paper in our series of briefings on multiple needs has been published today. The series draws upon data collected by Fulfilling Lives partnerships on the beneficiaries they have supported.

We know that too often people with multiple needs are denied the support they need, labelled as too high risk to work with or seen as making ‘life-style choices’ to be homeless or self-medicate trauma with substances. The Fulfilling Lives programme shows it is possible to engage and support people with the most complex needs; those who mainstream services may exclude or refuse to help due to perceived high levels of risk and challenging behaviour.

Briefing 3 explores what makes a difference when working with this group of people, and how progress differs amongst the group.

29 03, 2019

Contagion of Hope

By |2019-05-14T08:34:48+00:00March 29th, 2019|Categories: Blog|Tags: , , , , , |

Beth Collinson will be joining the Fulfilling Lives national evaluation team from April 2019 leading on our learning programme. In this, her first blog, she talks about the inspiration gained from attending a recent event held by one of the Fulfilling Lives partnerships.

Throughout my PhD, the social contagion of recovery (from substance misuse), became a predominant element of my work. In one of my first presentations, I explained that just as human emotions like happiness can be contagious, recovery is too. A colleague of mine (Professor David Best) explains in his work that the social contagion of recovery has the potential for “transmitting hope and the belief that recovery is possible even to those who are not yet ready to commit to abstinence“.

30 01, 2019

New report published: “Promising practice”, with key findings from local evaluations to date

By |2019-05-07T13:41:14+00:00January 30th, 2019|Categories: News|Tags: , , , , , , |

The national evaluation team have published key findings from local evaluations in their latest report, Promising Practice. The report:

  • Highlights approaches and interventions that appear promising based on local evaluation evidence;
  • Shares learning on successful implementation of these approaches;
  • Considers how different interventions are contributing the the programme’s systems change ambitions; and
  • Informs further evaluation activities.

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27 06, 2018

The need for change: Reflections from the newest member of the national evaluation team

By |2019-05-14T10:23:56+00:00June 27th, 2018|Categories: Blog, News|Tags: , , , , , , , |

It’s now six months since I joined the Fulfilling Lives national evaluation team. My background is in community and criminal justice research, so I have a degree of familiarity with the target group. I have evaluated initiatives to help re-engagement on release from prison, to provide pathways to education and ultimately employment, and to help with accommodation and independent living. Offenders often have chaotic lifestyles and multiple needs including experience of homelessness, alcohol and/or drug dependency, and/or mental health issues. You can often find childhood trauma, special educational needs or attachment issues as well. What struck me time and time again when listening to offenders and their workers tell me their stories was the lack of coherent support available to people who are in desperate […]

26 04, 2018

Latest Report from the Fulfilling Lives National Evaluation Published

By |2019-05-14T10:40:06+00:00April 26th, 2018|Categories: News, Project Evaluation|Tags: , , , , , , |

The latest national evaluation report on the Fulfilling Lives (Supporting People with Multiple Needs) programme, published today by CFE, shows continuing high demand for help. The 12 funded projects have successfully engaged with nearly 3,000 people affected by homelessness, substance misuse, offending and mental ill health.

Beneficiaries who remain with the programme show clear signs of progress, but this takes time and substantial resource. Project staff often need to spend extended periods of time with beneficiaries and have to be flexible to cope with chaotic lives. However some beneficiaries have needs for which they will always require support. What constitutes success varies from person to person and in many cases, success is about developing strategies, resilience and understanding to effectively manage their needs.

The report includes clear […]

1 02, 2018

Frontline Workforce – it’s a question of curiosity

By |2019-05-14T08:36:25+00:00February 1st, 2018|Categories: Blog|Tags: , , , , , |

At the centre of the Fulfilling Lives (Multiple Needs) programme is evaluation and here the workforce is on the frontline. For it is they who source, collate and complete the two key measures –  the Homelessness Outcomes Star and the NDT Assessment – with the service beneficiaries. Frontline workers say something they enjoy about the programme is the move away from a purely target driven approach. To make the most of this we need to make sure that the essential evaluation is not a chore. Not tasks that are completed as an add-on to a day’s work but ones that are integral to the way of working alongside beneficiaries and peer workers.

[…]

17 06, 2014

Carers are individuals in the Act

By |2019-05-14T10:10:01+00:00June 17th, 2014|Categories: Blog|Tags: , , , , , , |

It is, perhaps, self-evident that people with complex needs frequently require correspondingly multiple and complex responses…. wrote Henwood and Hudson in their 2009 CSCI study Keeping it personal. Now as Carers’ Week passes we have, in the Care Act, the strongest rights yet for carers. When put together with the duty of assessment for young carers, in the Children and Families Act, the legislative framework is suitably reflective of the very complexity identified for policy makers five years ago. It is a challenge for the Fulfilling Lives: supporting people with multiple needs evaluation to explore, understand and share how project investment resolves the problematic issues of real life complexity. Those involved in caring relationships shaped by homelessness, […]

28 05, 2014

It’s Complicated – the Care Act and Multiple Needs

By |2019-05-14T10:18:55+00:00May 28th, 2014|Categories: Blog|Tags: , , , , , , , |

The parliamentary ‘ping-pong’ is over, amendments agreed between the Lords and the Commons and the Care Act has Royal Assent.  Everyone – local authorities, NHS bodies, public, voluntary and private organisations – are busy assessing the potential impact of the new law on what they do. How will it help/hinder; what are the gaps; what are the costs; what will we do now and what can wait; which clauses take priority; who is going to do what and how will we cope? The questions go on and the project and risk management training is put to the test. Projects will be making similar judgements themselves and the national evaluation team too will be considering how it might impact on our work on Fulfilling Lives; Supporting […]

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