Women’s Sector provides supported housing for 45 single homeless women. In addition to being homeless the referring criteria is the woman must have support needs that could include a history of violence, intimidation, abuse and harassment towards them from others, physical or mental health issues, an offending background and/or a drugs or substance use problem. The Women’s Sector also manages tha Naos scheme which provides housing to both male and female refugees who have a NASS status who have any of the above mentioned support needs. AIMS & OBJECTIVES The aims of the service are: To provide a high quality housing and support service within Supporting People’s Resettlement Tier 1 which caters for single women aged 16+ who have multiple support needs. To promote the highest level of independence and choice for each individual These are achieved by providing: Fully furnished, secure, safe accommodation in a variety of settings as     well as educational, financial, life and social skills support Housing and emotional support so that service users can maximise their     skills and develop confidence to lead more independent lives Advice and practical support to obtain independent accommodation and     assistance to move on from the Sector A dedicated staff team who have a variety of skills and knowledge committed     to providing care and support to the tenant group Move-on support for a maximum of 3 months after leaving LHC accommodation ACCOMMODATION The sector provides a variety of fully furnished accommodation that encompasses a hostel, shared houses and single tenancies situated in the Woodhouse, Meanwood, Harehills, Holbeck, Hunslet and Belle Isle areas of Leeds. Oakdale House Oakdale House is a hostel for 11 women in Meanwood. All women have individual single rooms and share communal facilities that include a laundry room, kitchen, 2 TV lounges – one of which is non-smoking, an IT suite and 4 bathrooms. The hostel has an extensive fenced garden, CCTV, and the Women’s Sector office is based here. Shared Accommodation Women’s Sector shared houses consist of 1 x 4 bedded and 11 x 2 bedded fully furnished houses. In the 4 bedded houses, tenants have their own bedroom equipped with a TV and fridge and share a kitchen and bathroom. Tenants are expected to clean their own rooms and share the cleaning of the communal areas. In shared houses the weekly rent charge includes all services such as electricity, gas, water, community charge and TV licence fee. The 2 bedded houses consist of individual bedrooms and a shared kitchen, TV, lounge and bathroom. As with the 4 bedded houses tenants are expected to share the communal area cleaning and be responsible for the upkeep of their own room. The weekly rent includes the same charges as the 4 bed houses. Single Tenancies The numbers of these are limited and priority is given to women who are ready to move on from supported shared housing in order to gain experience of living independently with support prior to moving out of the organisation. The accommodation is fully furnished but the weekly rental charge does not include gas, electricity or community charge, all of which have to be paid separately by the tenant in order to prepare them for independent living. Some accommodation is specifically designated for individuals who have specific support needs eg women with mental health issues and women with drug/substance misuse issues. Please contact the Women’s Sector office for specific information on this housing. CONDITIONS OF OCCUPANCY All service users are given assured shorthold tenancy agreements. We aim to provide 6 months of support with the aim of helping service users access more permanent move on accommodation at the end of that time. SUPPORT SERVICES All tenants are allocated a key worker who co-ordinates mutually agreed support packages. The key worker meets regularly with tenants on an individual basis and makes referrals to other agencies such as health, counselling, psychiatric, detox and advocacy services, where needed. This is done to ensure that a full package of individually planned care and support is available to each tenant / licensee. In order to ensure equality of services to all, interpreters are provided for tenants for whom English is not their first language. Written information is also translated into the Farsi, Kurdish, Arabic, French and Portuguese languages. REFERRALS Accommodation is available to single homeless women aged 16 and over. There is no upper age limit. We regret the service cannot accept referrals for women who require 24-hour support or who have high levels of physical care needs. Referrals for accommodation are accepted from any voluntary, statutory or private referring agencies, however priority is given to referrals from the Emergency Tier of Supporting People services. Details are taken over the telephone for a comprehensive risk and needs assessment to be carried out. We aim to inform the woman, or the referrer, within 24 hours (often on the same day) whether the referral has been accepted. If accepted and a property is available an offer will be made and arrangements made to view. In some cases where further information is needed, an interview will be arranged, generally within 24 hours. All referrals should be made directly to the Women’s Sector office. APPEALS Where a referral request has been refused and the applicant or their referrer is not satisfied with the reasons given, they have the right to appeal the decision. Appeals should be made within 10 working days of receipt of the written decision using the accompanying appeals form. Once received an appeals meeting will be arranged within 5 working days chaired by a Service Manager at which the applicant and their referrer have the opportunity to state why they disagreed with the decision. An appeal decision will then be made within 3 working days. THE STAFF TEAM The service is staffed by a Team Leader and five Project Workers. The team has a variety of both specialised and general knowledge of supported housing. Three staff members have specialised skills in respect to working with drug users, mental health issues and refugees. Staff cover is provided Monday – Thursday 9am – 5pm Friday 9am – 4.30pm The sector aims to have a minimum of one staff member in the office at any one time to answer telephone calls and deal with enquiries. However, there are times when staff are in meetings or talking to service users, and an answerphone is used to take telephone messages at these times. CONTACT DETAILS Project Office Tel: (0113) 2624330 Fax: (0113) 2624334 Email: ws@leedshc.org.uk Team Leader: Debra Priim Tel: (0113) 262 4331 Fax: (0113) 262 4334 E-mail: dpriim@leedshc.org.uk The Team Leader reports directly to a Service Manager who is based at the organisation’s Central Office in Leeds. The Service Manager’s contact details are: Jocelyn Bass Tel: (0113) 272 8490 (direct dial) or (0113) 276 0616 Fax: (0113) 276 0156 E-mail: jos@leedshc.org.uk