Assessment centres

St Christopher’s assessment centres provide a safe and supportive environment for young people at risk and single homeless people between the ages of 16 and 21.

"Key work helped me to see what areas I needed to focus on and what I was good at independently." St Christopher's assessment centre resident                                                                                                   

Each centre provides:

• A safe place for young people to stay while their needs are assessed
• Value-for-money solutions that help local authorities meet their legal responsibilities to 16 and 17 year olds
• Comprehensive support packages for young people and those accommodated under s20 of the Children Act 1989
• Intensive support to return home where appropriate
• 24 hour staffing

• A protective environment where young people are looked after “in the manner that a good parent would”. 

How it works

The programmes run in our centres support young people to rebuild their relationships with their families.  Where possible, this support enables them to return home.  If returning home is not possible, the young person’s housing and support needs are comprehensively assessed so that the most appropriate move on can be identified. 

All our Assessment Centres:

• Accept emergency referrals, alleviating the need to use unsuitable temporary accommodation.
• Assess a young person’s baseline support needs and create an Individual Support Plan to assist their development.  
• Measure progress through use of the Outcomes Star, which demonstrates the young person’s distance travelled towards independence. 
• Have clear boundaries about behaviour to ensure that young people are kept safe, with no overnight guests and an expectation that young people return at a stipulated time at night. 
• Work intensively with young people during their entire stay with us to develop their independent living skills.
• Offer young people the ability to achieve AQA Unit Awards which objectively demonstrate the attainment of independent living skills.   

What our commissioners, stakeholders and young people say about us…

"St Christopher’s … has demonstrated high levels of partnership working, both with other Pathway providers and with Supporting People."  Local Authority commissioner 

"I visit many of the supported housing providers in the borough and feel I should say that St Christopher’s provides one of the best examples of this kind of service."  Drug agency worker

"I enjoyed my stay, it was very different to what I was told hostels were like." St Christopher's assessment centre resident

If you are interested in commissioning St Christopher's services call 0208 780 7800 and ask for the Director of Operations or Chief Executive.