Community Support Services, Chichester
The Community Support Service provides a referral route for social workers in the Chichester District and Bognor Regis area to refer clients who need support with one off practical tasks to enable them to continue living independently in the community.
These clients have a variety of needs and could receive other support services from Adult Services. The practical help provided by our Community Support Workers (CSW) frees up the social workers allowing them to address other areas relating to their clients.
All referrals are received from Adult Services in Chichester and Bognor Regis. Referrals can be received via email, telephone or on a referral form and these are collected on a weekly basis. On receipt of the referral our CSW contacts the client to discuss the issue that they require support with. We would then carry out any research necessary to support the client and arrange a home visit. We discuss the issue with the client and agree an action plan with goals and outcomes. This plan is then carried out accordingly and the social worker who made the referral is kept informed. When all actions are completed we will close the case and or refer the client onto other agencies as necessary. On completion of the case we will inform the appropriate social worker of the outcome.
Staffing
We employ three people to deliver this service, they work 45 hours per week. We operated a robust recruitment policy for all our employees and this includes taking up references and CRB checking all staff delivering services to clients. We monitor performance via one to one supervisions and the monitoring of activity reports on a monthly basis. During our one to one sessions we discuss with staff personal development and identify and action any training needs.
Service
During the last 12 months we have responded to 208 referrals that resulted in 260 home visits. Resulting from these referrals we achieved outcomes relating to 418 different issues. When visiting clients they may present with one particular issue but once you start to delve you normally find that each client has multiple issues that require resolutions. Breakdown of subject matter as follows:
| Benefits | 221 |
| Care at Home | 81 |
| Residential Care | 1 |
| Health | 9 |
| Housing | 37 |
| Utilities | 6 |
| Finance | 10 |
| Consumer | 5 |
| Family | 2 |
| Transport | 7 |
| Leisure | 20 |
| Education | 4 |
| Good Neighbours | 9 |
| Total | 412 |
