Community enablement
Kirklees Council's Community Enablement Team is a service for adults and young people with learning disabilities and/ or autistic spectrum conditions.
Enablement helps people to become as independent as possible by learning new skills or develop existing skills. The approach is strengths-based and person-centred and, where appropriate, it involves working with the person's family and friends.
What we do
The team looks at what a person can do for themselves, identifies where there is potential to develop and plans how they can be supported to do so.
We can start working with young people from the age of 16 and there is no upper age limit. We work across the whole of Kirklees to offer targeted 1:1 support on a short term basis.
We work closely with occupational therapists, social workers, the learning disability health team and other professionals.
We also work closely with the My Life Team, which helps young people with an EHCP to prepare for adulthood, and with the assistive technology team to help people to access any technology they may need to support their independence.
The work takes place in people's homes or in the community to help them to develop the skills that are important to them. These may include:
- Independent Travel Training
- Cooking and healthy eating
- Shopping
- Money management
- Development of routines
- Use of mobile phones
- Managing health and medication (this may involve working alongside health professionals
Criteria
- Age 16 and above
- Have a learning disability or autism, (however if they do not have a formal diagnosis we would need to be clear that the person would receive significant benefit from an enablement intervention.
- The person needs to be motivated to engage with enablement.
Key information
The service is free. Although a mini financial assessment maybe needed should you need longer term services when we have completed.
We can still work with you if you already have support. We hope that your support networks will help you to maintain the goals that you achieve.
The Enablement team can work with you for up to 12 months.
The Enablement worker will tend to visit you once or twice per week, although this will be discussed with you. If you are doing travel training we may need to go with you each time you do this journey.
You will always see the same person. If your Enablement worker is on holiday or is sick, your visit will be rearranged.
How to refer a person to the Community Enablement Team
Fill in our online form.
Clock Completing this form takes about 30 minutes
Link To complete this form you need:
- Details of the person being referred
- Details of any abusive behaviour the referred person has displayed, including substance abuse
- Contact information of any agency involved with the referred person
- Details of any risks, including relevant risk assessments
- Details of any capacity concerns
- Details of any safeguarding issues
After you have made a referral
Initial visit
One of our management team will arrange to visit you, usually at your home, to discuss your referral, explain the enablement journey and make a professional assessment whether community enablement is the best service for you
If community enablement is not suitable for you
During the initial visit it may become clear that community enablement is not the best service for you. If this is the case we will offer information and advice. We have well established partnerships with other agencies and departments throughout Kirklees and we will aim to put you in touch with the most suitable provider.
Contact us
- Community Enablement Team
- Phone 01484 456849
- Email communityenablement@kirklees.gov.uk