User involvement at the heart of smart solutions for young people

In partnership with young people and stakeholders MACS developed a range of projects to meet gaps in service provision.  Over the last 20 years MACS has proven to be a leader in its field of working with vulnerable young people.  During this time MACS has offered quality services to hundreds of young people. Services include:

• Supported Housing Service (Est. 1990) which aims to support young people leaving care (16-25) to make the transition to interdependence and their own tenancy.  The service motto is: Move in to Move on.
• Mentoring Service (Est. 2000) works together with vulnerable young people (16-25) to enable them ‘to realize their full potential’ and to nurture their dreams and aspiration through a voluntary relationship with a mentor.  The service motto is: Dare to Dream.
• Floating Support Service (Est. 2003) offers flexible, person-centred, holistic services to vulnerable or at risk young people ages 16-25 to enable them to gain and/or maintain their own accommodation.  The service motto is: Building Futures Together.

MACS supported over 255 young people across the 3 services and  98% of young people indicated they received a good or excellent service and 100% of stakeholders indicated that they received a good or excellent service.

As an organistion MACS strives for excellence and staff and volunteer development is central to its ethos. ThE quality of MACS work has been recognised through the gaining of Supporting People accreditation and the organisation being awared the Investor In People standard in 2009.

However its the impact of MACS work that really makes them stand out as a high quality provider of services to some of our most vulnerable young people.  Joe story is typical of that impact.

Joe has been part of floating support since April 2009. In the beginning he was stuck in a rut. He was drinking, gambling, in debt, in temporary accommodation and felt isolated from everything. He felt that he was going nowhere in his life and longed for something more permanent. Joe began to experience progress once he began to trust his project worker Joanna.

Joe got his own tenancy in February 2010. Without Joanna’s support Joe would not have known his rights in relation to tenancies. Joanna advocated on Joe’s behalf to the Housing Executive to have offers reinstated and was with him every step of the way. She helped make the transition easier for Joe by making a three month plan and incorporating this into his support plan. Together they moved his furniture into his new accommodation. They went shopping for essentials, stripped wallpaper and cleaned his new flat. They contacted the Housing Executive requesting repairs. Joe was initially anxious about making calls to organisations like the Housing Executive, Northern Ireland Electricity and Phoenix Gas. After making the calls with support from Joanna, Joe felt he could do it on his own in the future.

A massive achievement for Joe was getting his Electoral Card. It took him many years to understand who he was as an individual and gain his own identity. Joe stated in a review of his support that he felt that getting his Electoral Card was the final step to achieving his own identity and leaving his old one behind. He had put it off since July 2009 but he and Joanna still put it into every support and action plan. Joe feels that it would have taken longer to achieve if he did not have Floating Support. Every time he had a review he knew it was something he hadn’t achieved but longed too. Joe believed the review helped reinforce this and he and Joanna planned how he was going to achieve this. Regular reviews helped Joe see the progress he was making and see things in a positive way.

Joe in the past would only focus on the negatives and regularly put himself down. Joanna saw the positives and continually reaffirmed these. Joe stated, “My project worker could see what I didn’t. She didn’t give up on me. Now I can see progress I am making myself and don’t need my project worker to tell me”.

The support Joe has received from Floating Support has opened many doors for him. Apart from helping him with getting his own place and becoming more confident in groups, he is now a member of MACS Board of Directors. This was a big achievement for Joe as he faced tough competition with 7 other young people. He is now part of MACS interview panels where he helps recruit new project workers. He has completed an NVQ Level 2 in Business Enterprise and is hoping to achieve his Level 3 soon. He plans to complete the Princes Trust Team Programme in September. This is something that Joe never thought he would ever be able to do. He always avoided such things as he lacked the confidence.

You can hear more about the work of MACS from some of the young people on their advisory group here.