Working in collaboration with Keele University, Kings College London and CASCAIDr the VOICES team have recently produced a Safeguarding Toolkit for adults experiencing homelessness and exclusion – It can be used as an aid to fact finding by any practitioner working across homelessness or with adults experiencing other deep forms of exclusion where they have care and support need and are at risk.   The toolkit is not the final version yet, however we’re releasing it as a working prototype for testing.   The Safeguarding toolkit can be viewed and downloaded here. Please feel free to download, print and use the document subject to the disclaimer. All we ask in return is that you send us some constructive feedback to assist us in the final stages of development. Currently, the document is for use as a hard copy annotated by hand. However, our intention is that the final version will be completed by electronic means or on-line.   You can send us your feedback via email to: [email protected]   We are grateful to the many contributors that have already helped us to shape this prototype. Edits have been made as a result of previous feedback but we have not necessarily implemented all the suggestions due to current space or… Continue Reading

By Bruno Ornelas, Head of Service, VOICES Over the next three years (2019-2022) we will take part in a research project looking at how self-neglect is experienced by people who are homeless, and how this can be addressed through strengthening local adult safeguarding responses. Along with our colleagues at King’s College London and others, our involvement in this study will be to facilitate Communities of Practice (CoPs) as a theoretically informed approach for aiding reflective practices and embedding a culture of learning and improvement. This includes engaging in participatory and action orientated methods to work collaboratively with Safeguarding Adults Boards across three English local authority areas (including Stoke-on-Trent) to identify positive practices and areas for improvement. This study is also timely given the concerns raised by government about the adequacy of safeguarding and why there have been so few Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SARs) into the deaths of people who are homeless, and whether learning from these Reviews is being implemented. VOICES collaborated in recent research which looked at themes emerging from SARs where homelessness was a contributing factor. Through this, it was highlighted that self-neglect as being a prominent category of risk that people with needs linked to multiple exclusion homelessness often face,… Continue Reading

In October 2018, VOICES received a referral from the social work team at the Meir Hub to work together on a case for a Mrs B who had been a long-term client. Mrs B had been known to the team for several years and has a long-term history of mental health issues. Mrs B believes that meteor strikes were imminent on earth and this would result in the end of the world. As a result, she was preparing for this by storing old stagnant water, food, clothes, blankets etc. She had therefore been referred to the social work team by a housing officer at her local authority because he’d been unable to get her to declutter her house to complete the relevant gas safety and electrical tests. Furthermore, Mrs B had been taken ill and was admitted into hospital. Following her discharge from hospital she went to live with a family member who was alcohol dependent and in very low mood. This meant they were unable to care for her and then began to financially take advantage. VOICES received a call from Mrs B asking for help to remove her from her family members house because of this, and so worked with the… Continue Reading

By Helen Jones, Adult Protection Team, Stoke-on-Trent City Council On Wednesday 13th February 2019 The Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Adult Safeguarding Partnership Board (SSASPB) were delighted to welcome Sharon Sharman from VOICES and Lee from Expert Citizens to Staffordshire Police Headquarters to speak to an audience of 48 people who come into contact with adults who need safeguarding from abuse and neglect. This was the 2nd of 7 planned events to be held across the County of Staffordshire which aim to help professionals better understand how and why people self-neglect; and how they can improve their engagement with them. This series of events was arranged in response to a multi-agency review into the care and support provided to a 49 yr old Stoke-on-Trent man whose self-neglect contributed to his death. Whilst there was no blame attributed to the care provided we wanted to better understand what self-neglect is and the challenges presented to those who provide care and support to those who self-neglect.     Engagement is an essential element to supporting adults with care and support needs and Lee helped us to understand how that could be greatly improved through empathy and better knowledge about the reasons why people neglect themselves. Whilst Lee’s experiences were… Continue Reading