It will tell me about:-
- What is the Consortium?
- Who Manages the Consortium?
- How I can Have a Say
What is The Consortium?
Community Lives Consortium
Provides support to people who have a learning disability who wish to live in the local area.
The Consortium is an organisation that does not make a profit. It gets its money from Local Authorities and Housing Associations and a charge is made to tenants depending on the benefits they receive.
Where does The Consortium Work?
The Consortium provides support in two areas:
- City and County of Swansea
- Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council
It is an organisation that helps people with a learning disability to:
- Live as tenants in ordinary houses in ordinary streets.
- Be valued and accepted for who they are.
- Have the same rights as any other adult in our society.
- Decide what they want to happen in their own life as far as they are able to.
To make this happen for tenants, the Consortium works with:
- Family (if you choose).
- The Social Services Department.
- The Health Authority.
- Housing Associations.
- Advocacy Organisations.
Who Manages the Consortium?
The Management Committee
- CLC have people that meet to decide on how the Consortium is run.
- These people are called the Management Committee. The head of the CLC Committee is Pamela Evans.
- The Management Committee have a responsibility to oversee the management of the Community Lives Consortium.
Responsible Person
Under the Care Standards Act 2000, The Welsh Assembly require that to operate as a domiciliary care agency there has to be someone who has overall management responsibility. This person is known as the 'Responsible Person'.
The responsible person for The Consortium is:
Name: Rick Wilson
Job Title: Chief Executive
Relevant Qualifications and Experience: Rick has a Degree in Sociology & Politics and is a Qualified Social Worker.
Rick has had 17 years experience of working in services for people with a learning disability in the areas of; supporting people in their own homes; participation and advocacy; developing new housing, day care and resettlement services; training staff; and contracting and commissioning services for a Local Authority.
Since April 1995 Rick has worked for the Consortium with responsibility for managing, monitoring and developing it's services to tenants, he has been the Chief Executive since 2001.
What happens if The Responsible Person is not in Work?
If Rick is not going to be in work for 28 days or more The Consortium have other managers who will take over, they are:
Name: Christine Brian
Job Title: Director of Community Services
Relevant Qualifications and Experience:
- BA(HONS)Social Science
- NVQ assessors D32/D33
- NVQ Level 4 Management
- 15 years experience in learning disability field ranging from voluntary work
- Support Worker, Registered Manager
- Performance Manager
- Operations Manager &
- Director of Community Services.
Christine has responsibility for the support services and operational management structure of CLC.
Name: Alice O' Sullivan
Job Title: Operations Manager
Relevant Qualifications and Experience:
- SEN Mental, CSS (Certificate of Social Services)
- 5 years nursing experience in mental health
- 16 years in residential care with older people
- 1 year field social worker
- 5 years with a Registered Social Landlord
- With CLC as Operations Manager since 2002
Alice has responsibility for the day to day running of support services and manages the Contract Managers.
Other Staff of the Consortium
Keyworkers
My Keyworker will be a Support Worker who I get on well with. They should be there for me to talk about the service, the things I want, or things I like and dislike.
Service Co-ordinators
Service Co-ordinators manage Keyworkers.
Service Co-ordinators manage some of the money that pays for my service.
Support Co-ordinators
Support Co-ordinators manage all of the support workers that work with me.
Team Co-ordinators
Work with a group of services within a Contract Managers network, they will ensure that there are enough good staff to provide my service.
Housing Support Co-ordinators
Work with a larger group of tenants, and make sure that the my housing support needs are being met. This will ensure that I remain safe and secure in my own home.
Contract Managers
Oversee all the managers and staff and make sure that my service is the way it should be. Contract Managers manage a small group of services. Contract Managers are also Registered Managers with the Care Standards Inspectorate for Wales.
CLC Office Staff
There are also staff who work in the Consortium offices on Walter Road. These staff help in a number of different ways like paying staff wages, claiming tenants benefits, managing money and training etc.
You can ask your staff for a copy of the Consortium's Who's Who booklet, which will tell you more about the people who work in our office and what they do.
All the managers and staff in the Consortium want to work together with:
- You, your family members if you choose, your social worker or community nurses and other people who help you.
How can you have a Say?
The Consortium wants YOU to have a say about the things that happen in your life and about the support and services you get from them.
Some of the ways you can do this are:
- You can come along to the Consortium Tenants Group which meets every quarter in Consortium office in Swansea.
- At the tenants group you can:
- talk about what you like and don't like about where you live and your support service, hear about what Consortium is doing and say what you think of any changes they want to make
- meet tenants from other Consortium homes
- You can come to the annual review days to meet tenants, staff and other people who work with Consortium.
- You can help produce Consortium's newsletter and decide what goes in it.
- You can help Consortium to choose new staff
- You can complain if you are not happy about something. You can use Consortium's Complaints Procedure to complain. There is more information about this later on in the Service User Guide.