Support Planning Quick Guide

Support planning is our way of ensuring support is both reflective and practical. It is not just about meeting regulatory requirements but about creating a clear vision with the resident. The plan shows what we are doing and ensures we are actually doing it.

Support plans must balance:

• Stability – providing a safe and consistent base.
• Progress – supporting movement towards independence and future aspirations.

Principles of Support Planning

• Person-Centred – Work on the resident’s terms, recognising dignity, value, needs, preferences, and aspirations.
• Trauma-Informed – Look beneath behaviour, understanding the impact of trauma and responding to underlying needs.
• Strengths-Based – Focus on strengths, talents, and capabilities; the resident is the expert on their own life.
• Appropriate Risk Taking – Work with complexity and uncertainty, using informed decisions and harm reduction.
• Solution-Focused – Collaborate to overcome barriers and take constructive steps forward.

The Support Planning Cycle

Support planning is ongoing and adaptive. It involves:

1. Initial support plan on move-in, informed by referral and assessment.

2. Weekly support reviews to monitor, adapt, and keep plans live.

3. Formal support plan reviews every 3–4 months with resident involvement.

4. Regular reflection as a staff team to ensure we are adapting, not stuck in cycles.

Weekly Support Reviews

Each week, ask and record:

1. Last week – Did we do what we planned?
2. Emerging issues – What has changed? Are there new risks?
3. Other support needs – Are we doing the plan? Does the resident want or need our support? Any blockers?
4. This week – How are we responding? When will we see them? Do we need preparation?
5. Safety plan – Is it working? Does it need updating?

Formal Review Process

• Check the most recent plan is up to date (Google Drive copy).
• Print and go through the plan with the resident.
• Ask:
  • Are there parts to improve or change?
  • Do you still need supported accommodation?
  • Are you happy to review again in 3–4 months?
• Record the resident’s views and changes.
• Strike through outdated parts.
• Sign and date with the resident.
• Scan and upload to Airtable.
• Update Google Drive copy so it is ready for the next review.

Planning for Progress

Supported housing is not permanent. While stability is vital, we also support transition.

• Many residents fear moving on, so approach with sensitivity.
• Use reviews to explore future aspirations and create structured but flexible plans.
• Empower residents to set their own vision of progress.
• Set expectations early: engagement with support is essential.
• Challenge lack of engagement where appropriate.
• Staff must step back, reflect, and adapt regularly.

Risks and Pitfalls

• Self-Propagating Support – Avoid making residents dependent on support.
• Lip Service – Support planning must not become a box-ticking exercise.

Keep it solution-focused, reflective, and genuinely empowering.

Link with Safety Planning

• Safety planning begins on Day 1.
• Risks from referral and ongoing assessment are translated into safety plans.
• Weekly reviews must check that safety plans are up to date.
• Plans should show both what we do and what residents do for themselves.

Remember

Support planning is:

• A tool for reflection and action.
• A balance of stability and progress.
• Centred on dignity, trauma-awareness, strengths, risk, and solutions.
• Reviewed weekly and formally every 3–4 months.
• A pathway to independent living, not permanent dependency.