Additional support to help stop Anti Social Behaviour
The District of Easington Community Safety Partnership of which EDH is a partner have been successful in securing funding from the Supporting People Innovation Fund to deliver a 12 month project to help tackle anti social behaviour. The project will provide a floating support worker to work with people from the District of Easington who are causing anti social behaviour and will encourage them to stop the behaviour before it becomes more serious and possibly put their tenancy at risk.
Developing Initiatives Supporting Communities (DISC), who has experience of managing the Family Intervention Project in Sunderland, will be managing the project. The floating support worker will be based within the Community Safety Partnership and will work closely with the Parenting Practitioner already based there. Their roles will link closely with the prevention agenda promoted by the government’s Respect taskforce.
The scheme will enable referrals from EDH and other organisations to be made for people at risk of losing their homes because of anti social behaviour. The floating support worker will support approximately six families at any one time regardless of whether they are a council, housing association or private tenant or an owner occupier. Under the scheme support is provided for a period of time until the support needs have been met. The service then ‘floats off’ to another household who needs it. The support worker will develop individual support plans for each household and work with other specialists such as parenting practitioners to help them move away from anti-social behaviour.
The pilot will be monitored by a joint team from District of Easington Community Safety Partnership, Supporting People, East Durham Homes and District of Easington Council.
Caroline Gardner, Senior Community Safety Officer for the District of Easington Community Safety Partnership said “The new pilot scheme will help us to tackle anti social behaviour at the root cause and will prevent the problem escalating. Our approach is to help tenants change behaviour and sustain their tenancy.”
Sue Ryland, DISC’s Accommodation and Independent Living Operations Director added “This excellent scheme is a first in County Durham and we are really pleased to be involved. It enables us to do two things we are passionate about – to use our expertise in working with families, and to be involved in a highly effective local government and community sector partnership.”
For more information please contact David Robinson at DISC on freephone 0800 731 072 or the Meadowfield Office 0191 378 3718