Social care

[whereartthouLord]

So I have a friend with brain damage (acquired)

She became homeless loosing her house and local council didn't help (gate keeping) she called them and they were interrogating her like a criminal and shouting etc

So she was decided to get Airbnb self funding and unfortunately for her she had to use her direct payment to avoid sleeping on the street

Now social services want to do a review and she is now suicidal saying she has been spending the money for temporary accommodation and that they will have her head.
I am telling her calm down but I don't really know much about these things and I am hoping to get advice here pls

What do you/she mean 'gatekeeping'?

Why did she lose her house, is she vulnerable.

@MyGooseisTotallyLoose
*
Gatekeeping* is a term in British housing law which describes when a Council refuses to accept a homelessness application and/or provide accommodation when they have a legal duty to do so.

She said they were very aggressive on the phone and not asking questions politely but harshly and she said she spoke to shelter at the time and they said it's a technic they us to turn people down/ put them off

@TraitorsGate
She is vunerable and she lost her house as should not pay the mortgage etc
She struggles badly with her finances etc

Can I just check I'm understanding this.

Your friend receives direct payments which are for her care needs but because she was homeless she spent them on accommodation through AirBnB instead?

Is that what you're saying?

I appreciate she is vulnerable but if she lost her house because she didn't pay the mortgage I don't think they would have a duty to house her.

To be honest the social services have failed her too, they should be helping her with housing. 🤨

I think she needs to make an appointment with shelter and her local MP, someone needs to go with her and support her.

@MeMyCatsAndMyBooks yes she was failed woefully but I don't even know where & how to help now🤦🏾‍♀️

They won’t “have her head”. She needs to be open and honest with the social worker and financial assessor carrying out the review and let them help her if they can. If she has misspent direct payments then they may well want to reclaim some or all of it over a period of time. But she needs to try to stay calm if she can. She may benefit from an advocate.

I suspect your friend was speaking to a housing advisor working for her local council.They have to ask questions to establish whether you’d friend is eligible for assistance under the relevant legislation.Its statutory and not a technique as your friend was advised.

if she was assessed as making herself intentionally homeless they have no statutory obligation to provide temporary accommodation such as a hostel.

Does you friend have a PA on an account she manages herself as this is the only way she would have direct access to Direct Payments money.

Sounds like a review is going to be helpful to look at her needs going forward.if your friend is worried she should contact a local advocacy scheme and take advice from Shelter on her situation

@MiltonNorthern

Well, if they are not obligated to help a vulnerable disabled person who lost her house then at least they can be polite & not go all aggressive by speaking harshly on the phone & I recall that day now- it is awful

Are you actually "the friend"? You sound disproportionately angry if not.

@TOM89

Yes they have to ask questions to determine eligibility etc but they can ask questions in a normal manner not in a harsh impolite manner

I recall her calling me in tears & I spent hours on the phone to shelter for further advice & was told they are like that
🤷🏽‍♀️

Thanks I will look into a local advocacy scheme for her.

Were you there? Did you hear the phone call? Is it possible they were not aggressive but she has interpreted it that way?

Hi op, I'm not sure where in the UK you are but your friend needs to go through a housing charity. It sounds like they have classed her as intentionally homeless due to not paying her bills when on paper she had enough income to do so without fully understanding the reasons why this was unrealistic for her to do. This decision needs appealed and there would be evidence required to support that appeal. I would also try to link her in with a charity that supports people with acquired brain injury as they will often offer support around housing issues.

Until your friend is classed as homeless the local authority has no duty of care to her but you say she has a social worker - her social worker should be liaising with the local housing authority on her behalf and explaining how her injury affects her.

If she doesn't engage with her social worker this will be much harder for them to help her with and a decent social worker will obviously want to discuss budgeting with her but shouldn't 'have her head'.

All that being said op, if she's actively suicidal then she needs to go to a and e and the rest can be figured out from there.

@PutMyFootIn I am not angry
I am just a friend trying to get help and understand these things & how best to help her

Ah ok.

So is it that she's spent the direct payments that should have been spent on care on accommodation instead? It's ok if she has, I mean she'll have to deal with it, I'm just trying to understand whats happened.