Next steps
- A care manager from Knowsley Council will complete an assessment of need with you.
- If you and your care manager feel that Shared Lives may be right for you, they will contact us on your behalf. If you do not have a Care Manager you will need to be allocated one. You (if you are able) or your family will need to contact the Knowsley Access Team to request the services of a Care Manager. You can do this by telephoning 0151 443 2060
- Once your Care Manager contacts us we will try to find a carer who is able to support you
- If we think we are able to offer you a service, you and your family, or the people who currently support you, will be visited by one of our Shared Lives Workers.
- They will support you to fill in a form called a Support Plan. This plan will be about you, what you like / don’t like; things you are interested in and how you like to be supported.
- You will then meet the person who we think may be suitable to support you. This meeting is called an introduction and normally takes place either in your own home or in the home of the Shared Lives Carer.
- If you are both happy you will agree to start a partnership.
- At this point your Shared Lives worker will draw up a Partnership Agreement with you and your carer. This is an agreement between you and your carer about how you would like to be supported.
- Can you say NO? If you are not happy with your Shared Lives carer, or do not want to continue with your arrangement at any stage, even after you have started living with someone, you can say NO. To speak to someone about your Shared Lives arrangement at any time, you can telephone the office on 0151 443 2060, between the hours of 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday, and speak to your Shared Lives worker.
- Review meetings: Your Shared Lives worker will talk to you about how things are going after a short period (usually within one month). After this initial chat, your Shared Lives arrangement will be reviewed by a Care Manager, usually once a year. You can request a review of your Shared Lives agreement at any time during this period, by speaking to your Shared Lives worker.