At Youth Matters we work with Local Authorities to provide their young people with floating support, and accommodation, for semi-independent young people between the ages of 16 and 25.

Our young people are generally responsible for themselves and our role is to support them and provide them with guidance in accessing and planning for services that are relevant to their needs and desires, such as:

• Education
• Mental health support
• Substance misuse support
• Training
• Work experience

As part of young people's preparation for independence, our staff also work with young people to support them with building basic life skills and knowledge that they'll need in order to be able to live fully independently such as:

• Applying for housing benefits
• Budgeting and applying for bank accounts
• Building and maintaining positive peer relationships
• Cooking and general household duties
• Planning ahead, being prepared and organised
• Registering with local health services
• Routines and boundaries

Due to the fact that we're not a children's care home, there are certain services and things we can't do for young people, such as:

• Controlling young people's freedom to come and go as they please without staff permission
• Controlling young people's finances
• Making decisions for young people in terms of their health needs or controlling young people's medication
• Controlling whether or not a young person stays away overnight
• Imposing sanctions beyond house rules and legal sanctions
• Constantly supervising young people on their premises
• Providing aftercare to young people once they have left Youth Matters
• Providing or commissioning, as a primary function, any specialist support services to young people
• Restraining young people