Safeguarding Policy & Procedure (Supported Living)

How is safeguarding different in supported living?

In supported living, safeguarding happens in someone's own home. A landlord usually provides the housing under a tenancy, separate from your care. The statutory guidance treats supported living as a different type of accommodation from a care home. Staff work there as guests. This policy matches the main Safeguarding Policy & Procedure and adds the risks and steps that come with that setting.

It is written for supported living services only.

Risks the policy names

• Visitors and "friends" who target and exploit a person in their own home

• Harm from other tenants

• Money, where staff who help follow the money procedure and keep receipts

• Benefits appointees, where concerns go to the Department for Work and Pensions, and attorneys or deputies, where they go to the Office of the Public Guardian

• Isolation from family and friends, which raises the risk of abuse

CQC also names supported living as a live-in service with a higher built-in risk of a closed culture, meaning a poor culture that can lead to harm. The policy lists warning signs for staff to report as safeguarding concerns, from blanket rules and restrictions used as punishment to staff taunting people or always working together. Managers visit each home, including some unannounced evening and weekend visits, to check the culture.

Tenants, visitors and landlords

If someone says another tenant caused harm, staff keep people apart safely but never lock anyone in or out of their home. If a visitor is the concern, staff do not let them in, ask the person what they want and call the police if needed. The manager tells the landlord or housing provider only when the concern affects the home or other tenants, sharing only what they need. Confidential records stay in the agency's systems, never in shared areas of a house.

Liberty and restrictive practice

The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards apply in hospitals and care homes. In supported living the court process applies instead. If in doubt, the manager refers to the local authority, and later tells CQC the outcome of any court application. Restrictive practice is allowed only to prevent serious harm, with authorisation beforehand.

Before you use the policy, add your local authority safeguarding contacts, your safeguarding lead and deputy, and your landlords and housing providers. Then check each step against your local Safeguarding Adults Board procedures.

For the detail on restraint, see the Restrictive Practice Policy & Procedure. The court route is set out in the Mental Capacity Act & DoLS Policy (Supported Living).