Supported living means your housing and support is built around you, rather than you fitting into a service. You are supported to live in your own home. You will have your own bedroom or your own flat and there may be areas that you share with other people. Support staff will be based onsite up to 24 hours per day. This is great for people who have complex needs and severe disabilities needing 24 hour care. You can choose to live alone, share with others, or live close to other people. Your Social Worker will assess which is the best option for your needs and work with you to find somewhere suitable, where you will be happy. 

• The Community Health & Social Care Hub is the first point of contact to all care and support services for people with Learning Disabilities in Kirklees. They will help you get started if you  want to make changes to where and how you live and the support you get. They may also refer you to the Community Adult Learning Disability Health Team, if this is appropriate. 

• Watch Max's and Nadine's story on how they are supported to live.

Types of supported living:

• Floating/Outreach support - this is where you live in your own house, or share with friends and you recieve support to live there. You can choose a provider who will support you. They visit you in your home on either a daily or weekly basis. You would live in ordinary housing and this is great for people who are more independent. 
• Accomodation based support - this is where you share a building with other people. You will have your own bedroom or flat, but there may be some areas that you share with other people. There will be support available, this could be up to 24 hours a day. This is great for people who need more support than floating/Outreach support, or prefer the security of having staff available on-site. 
• Specialist supported housing - is designed for people who need specialised services to live and offers a high level of support, 24 hours a day, equal to that provided in a care home. It is usually provided by a private registered provider under an agreement or arrangement with the Council or health service. 

Advantages of supported living. 

• You will have more choice and control over how you live your life, where you live, who you live with and how your care and support needs are met
• Care and support can be provided on a more personalised basis
• You have the reassurance that care staff are very close by to offer support and security
• You will have more chance to be as independent as possible
• Assistive technologies can also be used to help keep people safe and support with maximising independence
• You will have greater rights to decide how long you want to stay there
• You may be able to claim welfare benefits to help to pay for your housing and living costs
• You will be financially better off in your own home than in a care home (in the majority of cases)
• You can be part of your wider community
• In some developments, communal facilities are available to enable people to take part in various social activities.

Disadvantages of supported living.

• Housing and support are usually set up as two separate processes which can be hard to do.
• You may sometimes feel lonely and vulnerable living on your own
• There may be limited choice where to live.

Shared Lives scheme offers the chance to live with another family, couple, or a single person, in their home. You will have your own bedroom and share the other rooms in the house.