Assessment Process

Homes Caring for Autism is committed to providing specialist placements for individuals with complex needs. In order to meet every individual’s needs in the most appropriate way for them, we undertake a thorough assessment process to fully evaluate every potential service user and determine the best possible support package for them.

Typically, the assessment process will be started following an initial enquiry from an individual’s social worker or family. First of all we would wish to gather as much background information as possible about that individual: from support plans, psychiatry reports, person centred reviews, school reports and any other relevant documentation. We would then hope to speak to the people who know that individual best, be they residential support staff, teaching staff, the individual’s family or other professionals, in order to build a more personal perspective about what is important to, and for, the individual.

Once we have an idea of an individuals personality and needs, we would then wish to visit them in their residential and educational settings. The structure of this visit will be completely dependent on the person themselves but ideally we would aim to observe them participating in normal day-to-day activities. These visits offers us the chance to find out more about the individual from their current support staff.

Based on all that we have learned about the person we will then create an Initial Assessment document. This will inform our understanding of their particular needs and contribute to our decision about whether or not we would be able to offer them a suitable placement.