Stepping Out Blog

Young Offender Accommodation

Stepping Out is a specialist training, education and social care provider offering accommodation and support to young people and adults with complex needs.

We offer 6 specialist gender specific provisions to young people whom have a history of offending and gang violence and other complex needs. These young people are accommodated within small homely environments with staffing on-site 24 hours per day.

To find out more take a look at our semi-independent living brochure here.

Contact us to make a referral on 0208 342 7217 alternatively please send email queries to info@stepping-out.org.

Click here to visit our main website.

 

Basic support provided

Basic Independent skill training:

  • Daily Hygiene Routines.
  • Maintaining a clean and safe living environment.
  • Food preparation/Healthy eating.
  • Guidance to budget in an independent manner.
  • Reflective support on conduct & behaviour/reduction of offending behaviour.
  • Socialising and community integration.
  • Benefits information.

Base Package: On agreeing to place a client on our base package support plan, you agree and understand that the client will receive only 7 hours per week 1-1 support over two weeks duration for the following tasks:

  • Support with registering at local GP
  • Support with registering at local Dentist
  • Support with registering at local Optician
  • Support with Social/local Integration
  • Raising awareness of transport links
  • Raising awareness of local universal service providers
  • Raising awareness of banks, libraries and areas of interest.

Additional Support can be purchased to compliment the base package.

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Gender Specific Provisions

Stepping Out is a specialist health and social care provider. Our core responsibilities are to aid young people with severe challenging behaviour on to independence. The majority of clients we work with have issues ranging from self-harm, self-neglect and suicidal tendencies to those with autism and offenders involved in moderate to serious gang violence.

We accommodate these young people within small homely environments, this enables us to ensure the young people are safe, supported and supervised at all times, our projects are known for their experienced and proactive 24 hour on-site staff.

Importantly we operate gender specific projects i.e. male only or female only homes. We have found that this is positive for the young people involved, their families and professionals, operating in this way reduces incidents caused by social male -female relationships, which can at times be emotional harmful and cause a home to breakdown.

Contact us today if you need to place a young person between the ages of 16-18 whom displays challenging behaviour, and would benefit from a gender specific provision with 24 hour on site staffing.

 

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Stepping Out In-House Training

The Stepping Out in-house training and education programme has been set up in order to provide a universal all-encompassing environment where young clients receive homely accommodation, 24 on-site staffing and regular training and educational courses.

Our in-house training programmes are delivered via our semi independent living projects, situated throughout Hertfordshire & North London.

We are now successfully registered with City & Guilds, which allows us to offer courses in-house in a flexible manner and means we no longer have to try to find ways around certain engagement barriers.

In-House Training

In-House Training

Stepping Out aim to help these young people back in to education, employment or training. However we found that this was not always easily done, particularly when accommodating a very challenging client or a client with sexualised behaviour, autism and or learning difficulties. In fact, after many clients, we found that:

  • Local colleges would at times not accept a client due to historical backgrounds.
  • Training providers where underfunded and over booked.
  • Training providers required additional support or were not confident working with specific client groups (ex-offenders, sexually harmful etc.)
  • Clients with learning difficulties or other mental health and emotional issues did not engage with third parties or group environments.
  • Clients were not able to access support in order to actively ensure they attend and engaged with third party training organisations.

Thus, the solution was always to offer in-house training and education, rather than relying on conventional means of training. Not only is this a more reliable option, but it also allows the service user to gradually enter the world of education. We’ve found that clients displaying complex behaviours are more welcoming of these principles.

To summarise, our objectives with our in-house training is to:

  • Offer flexible, nationally recognised training and education courses in-house (within Semi-Independent living provisions)
  • Reduce the chances of a client leaving care NEET (Not in education, training or employment)
  • Remove or reduce barriers to engagement, allowing clients with difficulties to receive training and educational support whilst residing at home.
  • Reduce the company’s and the client’s dependence on under-funded third party training providers.
  • Increase a young person’s confidence and positively affect their state of mind so that they feel capable of pursuing a particular career.
  • Ensure the needs are met for clients whom may not be able to pursue education and or training in large group or public mainstream environments.
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Understanding Autism

What is Autism?

Autism is known as a complex developmental disability. Experts believe that Autism presents itself during the first three years of a person’s life. The condition is the result of a neurological disorder that has an effect on normal brain function, affecting development of the person’s communication and social interaction skills. People with autism have issues with non-verbal communication, a wide range of social interactions, and activities that include an element of play and/or banter.

Autism is sometimes referred to as ASD, or Autism Spectrum Disorder/Autistic Spectrum Disorder. This covers a wide range of disorders all categorised under Autism/ASD. A person with an ASD typically has difficulty with social and communication skills, however persons with Autism may not display the same issues or behaviour, the condition affects people in differing ways.

People with autism have said that the world, to them, is a mass of people, places and events which they

The three main areas of difficulty which all people with autism share are sometimes known as the ‘triad of impairments’. They are:

  • Difficulty with social communication
  • Difficulty with social interaction
  • Difficulty with social imagination. Struggle to make sense of, and which can cause them considerable anxiety.
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Semi-independent Living Brochure

Please click here to view our semi-independent living brochure.

Snippet: Semi- Independent Living:
These provisions are set up to provide a small group living environment in order to provide a homely setting. The small groups allow the service users to receive targeted support and close supervision, eliminating the issues of lack of engagement whilst ensuring the client does not feel overwhelmed and or crowded. Down time/self-time is encouraged. All clients benefit from their own bedrooms, specific project offer en-suite arrangements. The projects are suitable for those whom require well-structured living options with strict boundaries.

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