How to become a Shared Lives Host | Provider Hub

The only three requirements for a person to become a Shared Lives Host applicant are:

Have a suitable spare bedroom at home
Have a willingness to support adults with learning disabilities or autism
Be comfortable using the internet, email and MS Office

Those requirements will be disclosed in the Application Pack the applicant will receive from Essex Shared Lives once they have demonstrated interest in becoming a Shared Lives Host.

Once the Application Pack is received by the Shared Lives team and the application fully assessed, Essex Shared Lives will request:

Enhanced DBS check of the applicant
References

Then, the application will be presented to an independent panel for approval.

Should the applicant be successful, a Care Licence will be issued by the Essex Shared Lives team and Agreements will be completed.

The scheme, through a Social Worker, will assess the needs of the person to identify and agree the level and type of support that the Shared Lives host will be required to provide to the individual and, in turn, the level of payment they will receive from the Shared Lives scheme. It is important that we know about a person’s physical, social, emotional and cultural needs and their hopes and wishes, so that we can meet these within the Essex Shared Lives scheme.

The assessments will place the Arrangement into one of the three payment bands and will identify points like:

Personal care needs
Capacity of the individual to stay alone and safe
How much help the individual need for basic tasks such as eating and drinking
Shopping and household tasks such as cleaning, cooking and laundry etc
Money management
Medical conditions etc

Depending on the needs of the person, the Care and Support Fee can vary between £280 and £427 per week.

As a Shared Lives host you will:

be registered as self-employed with HMRC and will work from your home and local community
have a regular income while someone is staying with you
receive tax allowances
have paid holiday time
get continuous and regular support and guidance from the Essex Shared Lives staff team.
get an Enhanced Membership of Shared Lives Plus, which offers a range of benefits such as Public Liability Insurance, Professional Advice, close support from a network of Shared Lives professionals, national meetings and discounts on retail shops and everyday shopping.

During periods of respite, the Shared Lives host will be paid 50% of the agreed fee per day that the adult spends with their Respite host.

If you are providing Live-in Support, you are entitled to up to a maximum of four weeks per year of support fee for the adult being supported for the period of respite provided. You will receive 50% of the care and support fee for the adult for the duration of the respite placement.

Training may take place both pre-assessment and post assessment. The only mandatory trainings are Medication Administration and Safeguarding, however you will have a range of other trainings opportunities available to you. They may cover mental capacity, health passport training, person centred planning, budgeting skills, letting go, moving on and others.

Essex Shared Lives will provide support and monitoring visits every three months to each Shared Lives arrangement. Our support and monitoring process ensures that Shared Lives arrangements are safe, effective and continue to work for everyone involved in them. Support and monitoring visits focus on:

The Shared Lives arrangement and any issues which may have arisen
How integrated the individual using Shared Lives is to the Shared Lives carer’s home
Reviewing records about the person they are supporting in Shared Lives, i.e., medication, financial records
How effectively the scheme is supporting the Shared Lives carer and the arrangement

Essex Shared Lives will also provide ongoing telephone support and additional support visits to any Shared Lives Hosts who need this. Our approach to support and monitoring of Shared Lives arrangements ensures that:

Our Shared Lives Hosts receive the practical and emotional support they require
Our approach ensures positive working relationships with our Shared Lives Hosts and that we have a detailed understanding of all arrangements in the scheme.

Last updated: 01/02/2022

Previous Page Overview Next How to be supported by the Essex Shared Lives scheme

RideLondon 2024

Calling all Care Workers! Launch of the Essex Care Worker Survey

New Safeguarding Portal