Sharing, compromise and risk

We have a new and very active email group for Shared Lives workers and an issue which has been the subject of some discussion recently is what happens when Shared Lives carers have visitors, or even other lodgers. Some schemes are nervous about the idea of adults (in some instances, grown-up children, but in other cases, strangers such as foreign students) coming to stay in the long term. Workers have been wondering about what happens if the Shared Lives carer has conflicting demands on their time and attention.

West Wales launches social enterprise

Last week I visited Adult Placement (AKA Shared Lives) in West Wales, where I had the honour of (virtually) opening http://westwaps.org.uk Cutting the virtual ribbon turned out to be a slight technical (and perhaps existential) challenge, but the site is now up and running and is a great model for other Shared Lives schemes who want to put their Shared Lives carers in real control. WestWAPS.org.uk has been set up as an independent social enterprise, with support from the council-run West Wales Adult Placement Scheme and
Carmarthenshire Adult Placement Service and aims to provide information, a place to share learning and in time, a training service. It is being established at the same time as a democratically elected consultation forum for the area.