Changing Futures is a city-wide team within Stoke-on-Trent Adult Social Care, which supports people experiencing multiple disadvantage.

Your local Changing Futures team consists of Case Co-ordination, Recovery Coordinators, and the INSIGHT Academy. Many of the team have lived experience and specialisms in the team include, criminal justice, benefits advice, drug and alcohol misuse.

We work with clients over a 12-week period aiming to ensure a responsive and personalised experience for our customers.

We work with clients who meet 4 out of the 5 following criteria:

  1. Homeless or at risk of homelessness
  2. Offending behavious
  3. Mental Health issues
  4. Experiencing abuse/ domestic violence
  5. Substance misuse

Changing Futures Funding

The Changing Futures programme is a £77 million joint initiative by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest community funder in the UK.

The National Lottery Community Fund has invested over £21 million, adding to the £55 million of Government funding.  This extends the length of the programme to help local partnerships develop longer term and more effective support.

 

Core Principles

Work in Partnership

across local services and the voluntary and community sector, building strong cross-sector partnerships at a strategic and operational level.  That can design and implement an improved approach to tackling multiple disadvantage.

Coordinate support

 and better integrate local services that support adults experiencing multiple disadvantage to enable a ‘whole person’ approach.

 

Create flexibility in how local services respond

to adults experiencing multiple disadvantage, taking a system-wide view with shared accountability and ownership.  Leading to better service provision across statutory and voluntary organisations and a ‘no wrong door’ approach to support.

Involve people with lived experience

of multiple disadvantage in the design, delivery and evaluation of improved services and in governance and decision making.

Take a trauma-informed approach

across local system, services and in the governance of the programme.

 

Commit to drive lasting system-change

with long-term sustainable changes to benefit people experiencing multiple disadvantage. Commitment to sustain the benefits of the programme beyond the lifetime of the funding.

Aims

A cross-governmental, cross-organisational initiative, it seeks to test new ways of bringing together the public sector and community sector. To address cross-cutting issues and to drive the modernisation of public services for people experiencing multiple disadvantage.

The Locations

The programme will be working with 15 local area partnerships across England. The programme will work with people who experience a combination of homelessness, substance misuse, mental health issues, domestic abuse and contact with the criminal justice system.

People in this situation are among the most vulnerable in our communities, often with past experiences of trauma. Getting coordinated support from local services can be difficult, and this can lead to greater risk of homelessness, ill health, and increased contact with the criminal justice system. This in turn can result in greater pressures on services that respond to crises such as A&E, policing and homelessness services.

The Funding

Bringing together £55m of funding from the Government and over £21m from The National Lottery Community Fund – the largest community funder in the UK. This means the programme can work with local areas for a third year, enabling more vulnerable people in our communities to get the help they need.

The funding builds on The National Lottery Community Fund’s ‘Fulfilling Lives’ programme.  A £112 million investment over 8 years (2014-2022) that focuses on improving support for vulnerable people, by giving them a greater voice in the design and delivery of services.

The Programme

The Changing Futures programme, announced in 2020, began work in local areas in June 2021 and will continue until the end of March 2025. It aims to deliver improvements at the individual, service and system level:

  • to stabilise and then improve the life situation of adults who face multiple disadvantage
  • to transform local services to provide a person-centred approach and to reduce crisis demand.
  • to test a different approach to funding, accountability and engagement between local commissioners and services, and between central government and local areas.

The Partners

  • Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
  • The National Lottery Community Fund
  • Ministry of Justice
  • Department for Work and Pensions
  • Home Office
  • Department of Culture, Media and Sport
  • Department of Health and Social Care
  • Office for Health Improvement & Disparities
  • NHS England
  • HM Treasury
  • Government Equalities Office

Changing Futures Approach

Many vulnerable adults who will be supported through the programme also experience ill-health and disability, disadvantage and trauma.

They often experience difficulties in getting the coordinated support from local services that they need, which can lead to worsening problems. Issues include increased reoffending and greater risk of rough sleeping and ill-health.

Stoke-on-Trent will take a ‘person-centred’ and ‘trauma-informed’ approach to tailor support to individuals and their needs. Changing Futures will transform how services operate by linking up support across areas such as health, employment, and drug misuse. This will make sure support services suit the needs of each individual. Ensuring they benefit from the staff who have first-hand experience of issues such as homelessness or drug misuse.