Supported living:
Information for professionals

Our Supported Living Pathways

Our services are tailored to an individual’s needs. It’s how we can most effectively encourage and empower individuals while providing all the support they need. Every individual’s journey is underpinned by a comprehensive Support and Goal plan that they play an active role in defining.

We provide three levels of support for people with mild-moderate or severe learning disabilities, autism or both.

Enabling individuals to take control of their lives, build strong relationships and receive appropriate continuing care is essential from our perspective. It’s why on admission every individual receives a Service User Guide that includes the names of key staff, their allocated key worker and information about the wider community.

And taking an active role in their own lives even extends to contracted employment opportunities with Magic Life if a return to work is part of their plan and will contribute to a successful outcome. It’s part of our ethos of developing relationships between individuals, their families and those who support them.

Our Referral Process

Following a referral, every client undergoes a person-centred assessment within 24-48 hours. Once complete and we are satisfied with the compatibility is met, a proposal/costing is submitted to the placing authority for approval prior to placement. A comprehensive assessment is carried out for both full-time residents and those seeking respite care.

Transitioning to Supported Living

We take great care to ensure individuals transitioning into adulthood follow a bespoke support and goal plan to achieve sustainable outcomes. We focus on inclusion to reduce the risk of social isolation, which includes education and social interactions within a range of activities, as well as encouraging individuals to look for work.

Each individual benefits from a nominated key support worker to further strengthen an important one-to-one relationship. We also develop a detailed ‘All about Me’ profile with families and external professionals, alongside a ‘Hospital Passport.’

It’s the kind of 360 degree care we find helps establish a trusting relationship and provides essential continuity of support.

Quality Assurance

To ensure high standards of care, every service user provides feedback to inform our Annual Quality Assurance audit. It helps us understand what we’re doing well and what can be improved. If action is needed, we’ll take it and feedback the outcome to relevant people. If we’re doing something well, we can celebrate good practice!

As well as being visited for two days every six weeks by an external auditor, we also carry out monthly audits of:

• Medication
• Support and Goal plans
• Risk Assessments
• Health & Safety

Staffing

The wider Senior Management team includes a Counsellor/Psychotherapist and a Psychology Graduate.

Individual projects are managed by a Project Manager, Senior Support Workers and Support Workers.

Every member of staff:

• Has undergone a rigorous interview process
• Completed a robust induction programme
• Has enhanced DBS clearance
• Is trained to a high standard
• Receives ongoing training and support
• Has or is working towards the Care Certificate
• Undergoes three-monthly supervisions and Annual Appraisals

Staffing at our projects

We know how critical staffing levels are. It’s why we ensure that every one of our projects has the right amount of staff with the right skills.

Every individual has a dedicated key worker able to provide the one-to-one support they need. They will work closely with the individual to develop stimulating activities and opportunities, as well as helping to complete monthly support and goal planning.

Peer support

Where possible, we encourage our service users to engage in peer support. This enables people to draw on their own lived experience in order to provide authentic support, advice and friendship for those on the same pathway.

Our approach to peer support also encompasses mentoring and befriending. This allows us to take a slightly less structured approach to traditional peer support, using activities such as group cooking sessions and crafts to build support networks, reduce social isolation and make meaningful connections with peers.

Our experience has shown that this kind of peer support can be very beneficial to those involved, helping them to build mutually beneficial relationships, increase confidence, build a strong sense of community and give individuals an improved sense of worth.

Peer support has also proven to be beneficial when building trust with hard to reach individuals.

Work experience

For the people we support, accessing work experience can be a vital step on the road to independence. In addition to offering people the opportunity to learn life and employment skills that will help them in the future, work experience also provides people with a sense of pride and builds confidence.

As well as assisting with identifying work experience and employment opportunities with our local area in North London, we also create paid opportunities within the Magic Life community. This allows us to support people with building their social and employment skills, while also giving them a real sense of giving something back.

We actively create roles that fit with the interests of the people we support. In the past, this has included creating the role of “Music Coordinator” for a service user who loved music, or “Arts coordinator” for art lovers. Those who take part are paid a wage, but the true value of the scheme in terms of self-confidence and wellbeing is immeasurable.

Experts by experience

At Magic Life, we want to ensure that the support and accommodation we provide is the very best it can be. As part of this, we encourage our service users and their families to provide feedback on the support and care that they experience. We firmly believe that people who have used services are the best judge of whether the support they receive support is effective.

We encourage our “Experts by Experience” to share their thoughts on whether our service meets the needs of the people we support and whether they follow CQC’s key measures of being safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs and well-led.