Hull City Council’s Shared Lives scheme is supporting more people across the city following grant funding via the Accelerating Reform Fund (ARF).
Shared Lives is a community-based service where people are supported to live more independently in a family environment. ARF is a government initiative launched to enhance the quality, accessibility, and sustainability of adult social care in England.
The funding has helped transform the Shared Lives service, increasing referrals, recruiting new carers, and raising awareness across adult social care teams.
With support from partners across the Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care System, Hull City Council has introduced a wide-ranging improvement programme. This has included embedding Shared Lives into social work systems, delivering training and awareness sessions, and working more closely with key teams.
As a result, referrals have steadily increased, and a targeted recruitment campaign has led to nine new Shared Lives carers joining the scheme, alongside increased interest and enquiries.
Improvements to training mean new carers can now be approved in around 12 weeks, down from six months, helping people access support more quickly.
Tracy Meyerhoff, Director of Adult Social Care at Hull City Council, said: “This investment has allowed us to strengthen and grow our Shared Lives service so that more people can benefit from flexible, community-based support.
“It’s particularly encouraging to see increased awareness across our teams and more carers coming forward to support people in Hull.
“We are committed to continuing this progress and ensuring that people are supported to live independent, fulfilling lives in their communities.”
You can find out more about Shared Lives here.