More and more we hear that ‘Supported Living’ doesn’t work. That ‘Supported Living’ leads to poor or not enough support. Those of you who use Reach and have met us at Paradigm will know that ‘Supported Living’ isn’t a model but a way of life. ‘Supported Living’ isn’t a thing, a set of rules that can-do people wrong. Supported Living is about supporting a person to live with the right support and having (often with friends, family) control over that support. Hence, we at Paradigm and many others, talk about ‘Support for LIVING.’
When people are harmed or let down in anyway it’s because the support hasn’t been designed with and for the person and offered in way that ensures good health, adventure, love and a good ordinary life. We would NEVER make excuses for bad support BUT we must not spread the belief that ‘Supported Living’ is the cause.
Whilst searching yesterday we came across this brilliant blog from Lucy Series back in 2015. It makes the points we want to so clearly. We are keen that as many people as possible see it, read it and re-think what they think they know.
Lucy’s Blog is really worth a read – honest! A Stupid Question