Fulfilling Lives: Supporting People with Multiple and Complex Needs South East Project

The South East Project is one of 12 areas nationally in which the Big Lottery Fund has invested £9 million over 8 years Our team is made up of a partnership of three delivery teams for Brighton & Hove, Eastbourne and Hastings Our project works on two levels: an immediate level - working directly with the people who are most in need of help right now, and on a lasting level – changing systems to enable people with multiple and complex needs to receive the right support, at the right time. The Fulfilling Lives Project

Our Outcomes People with multiple and complex needs, previously not engaging well with services, self-report that changes in delivery have had a positive impact on them managing their lives, as a result of them being accessible, targeted and better coordinated Direct client work Service users will directly influence commissioning processes, priorities and decisions Genuine service user involvement Services and roles will undergo a process of review and evaluation each year, leading to lasting change in design and delivery, to better meet the needs of service users System change and service improvement The project will achieve long term improvements in systems, commissioning and policy through improved outcomes measurement, evaluation and shared learning Learning and influencing

FL Team Structure

Key Priorities Extensive service user consultation has led us to prioritise working with vulnerable women with multiple and complex needs, including women with multiple children in care, women involved in repeat violent/abusive relationships Specialist workers, intensive engagement, small caseloads, Partnership and care coordination will be the key to success

Fulfilling Lives We are working with: Women who are most invisible to services; unable or unwilling to access existing services – whether because they need thorough preparation and planning work to do so, or because services are unable to meet their needs (for example, having access criteria which exclude them) Women who are most visible; who are accessing numerous services, numerous times, but insufficient co- ordination and inappropriate and erratic interventions are leaving needs unaddressed and recovery unachieved

Fulfilling Lives What are the barriers to women with multiple and complex needs engaging with mainstream services? [Sharon’s story - a case study]

The Project Model Why is it needed? What are the blockages and barriers? How are we different? Complementing existing services, not replicating them Workers will coordinate all services involved with each individual client and work creatively to ensure clients are able to access the services they need, and can remain engaged.

System and Service Reviews Each local team will undertake comprehensive reviews of existing systems, services, processes, protocols and procedures, to make them work better with and for people with multiple and complex needs. Reviews will tie in with the work of the Specialists, undertaking reviews of systems, processes, protocols and services that are relevant to their work. These reviews will be able to focus on the barriers experienced by the service users engaged with the Specialists.

Evaluation The project has four evaluation streams: The national evaluation programme – mandatory for all funded projects Local project-level evaluation Independent project evaluation focussing on the specialist posts Targeted cost-benefit analysis

What can we offer? Direct support to vulnerable women Opportunities for involvement in the project for women with lived experience Changes in services to better meet the needs of women with multiple and complex needs Shared learning and influencing changes in systems and policy

Fulfilling Lives Project Team - contact us Area Lead for Brighton Area Lead for Eastbourne Area Lead for Hastings Senior Manager for South East Project Service User Engagement Coordinator