100 Individuals & Needs
1. The people who need and use supported housing, their characteristics, and the underlying reasons why they require these services. This encompasses both individual circumstances and broader social factors that contribute to the need for supported housing.
2. Commentary: This foundational section establishes who requires supported housing. It recognises that supported housing is person-centred, beginning with the individual and their specific circumstances rather than with services or infrastructure. This person-centred approach aligns with contemporary social care principles that emphasise tailoring support to individual needs rather than fitting people into existing service models.
110 Individual Characteristics
3. Demographic, personal, and social characteristics of residents, which may or may not be directly related to their support needs.
4. Commentary: This subcategory acknowledges the diversity of individuals requiring supported housing. By separating characteristics from needs (addressed in 120), the framework recognises that identity factors like age or protected characteristics don’t automatically determine specific support requirements. This distinction helps prevent stereotyping while still acknowledging that certain groups may have distinctive experiences that influence service delivery.
120 Needs & Demand Factors
5. The specific needs, circumstances, and experiences that lead individuals to require supported housing. These factors often interact and create complex needs.
6. Commentary: This crucial section maps the specific support needs that drive demand for supported housing. It recognises that individuals rarely present with isolated needs, but rather with interconnected challenges requiring holistic support. The framework acknowledges this complexity explicitly in section 120.1 on Multiple/Complex Needs. The detailed breakdown of need categories enables more accurate assessment, resource allocation, and service development while acknowledging that these categories often overlap in practice.
130 Individual Rights & Entitlements
7. Legal and policy rights of individuals within the supported housing system, ensuring access to services, protection from discrimination, and fair treatment.
8. Commentary: This final section grounds the framework in a rights-based approach to supported housing. By explicitly identifying legal and policy entitlements, it emphasises that supported housing is not merely a service provision but the fulfilment of fundamental rights. This section connects individual needs to wider social justice principles and legal frameworks such as the Equality Act 2010, Care Act 2014, and data protection legislation, ensuring that supported housing provision is understood within its proper legal and ethical context.