Working in Partnership
Service Delivery Partnerships
Real Life Options recognises the value of partnership working, with both practitioners and clinicians in health and social services and also with other community agencies including leisure, education and training. We believe that partnership working with statutory and non-statutory agencies should include regular review, monitoring and feedback on our agencies approach and success in supporting a person who has complex needs.
People with disabilities
Our most important partnership is with the people we support - this is our guiding principle.
Families and Friends
We believe that partnership with family members, advocates and friends is important if we are to be successful in delivering a high quality service. This partnership must be based upon achieving trust and honesty on both sides and a willingness to understand each others roles. RLO works with a large number of families and carers. We seek to facilitate their involvement (for example, in staff recruitment), to consult with them in an appropriate way and to enable them to have a voice about the quality of the service that we deliver.
Health and Social Care
Our clients are entitled to regular contact with their allocated social work care manager, access to clinical support including psychology, speech and language, community learning disability nursing services, dieticians and psychiatry. We aim to establish on-going reviews at least quarterly in the first year for new clients, and thereafter 6 monthly.
Housing Partners
Real Life Options works with a range of housing partners. Since our inception we have taken the view that personal support and tenancy rights should be separated. We currently work with 29 different housing associations (RSLs), four local authority housing providers and three private landlords. In all of these arrangements clients have assured tenancy rights directly with the housing provider. In some cases we act as a local housing management agent for housing associations under a separate management agreement.
Diversity
We support clients from diverse ethnic backgrounds. We have significant experience in supporting clients and families from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds in our outreach, vocational day services and supported living services (particularly in Leeds, London and Nottingham), and through our independent case management programme.
The Kingsholm Group
The Kingsholm Group represents a coming together of a group of national and regional organizations working in the field of learning disabilities, to find innovative ways of delivering services of a high standard. RLO is a member of the Group, which is currently focusing on lifestyle reviews by people who use our services. Lifestyle reviews involve our clients in helping people within other member organizations to look at their own lives, their aspirations and their futures, and to make informed choices.
