Shared lives placement

What is a Shared lives placement?

In a Shared lives placement, you live with a family and they share their home, lives, families, interests, experience and skills with you.

Support takes place in the home of a local family, who are approved to Shared lives support. It can be delivered in several different ways: 

• Living in a carer's home: the person needing support may live in the carer's own home and be supported in their everyday life. Sharing a carer's home can be to cover a short-term need (such as providing a break for a person's main carer) or a longer-term situation.
• Day-time support: regular support sessions held in the carer's home providing support and accommodation for LCC Shared Lives.

If you are staying overnight:

• You will have your own room and can bring your own things.
• You will still be able to do the things you normally do.
• You will be able to see your friends and family, if you wish to.

The Shared lives carer:

• Will support you to live the life you want, to keep in touch with your family and friends and to enjoy day-to-day activities.
• Can also support you with daily living tasks such as personal care, emotional support and help you develop independent living skills.

Your support is tailored to you.

Who is it for?

Shared lives might be suitable for you if you’re an adult aged 18 or over, with eligible care and support needs and have:

• a physical disability or
• a learning disability or
• autism 
• mental health problems
• dementia
• drug and alcohol dependency
• age-related disabilities

How long are placements for?

Shared lives placements can provide you with:

• Long-term care: You will live in someone’s home for an open-ended period of time
• Short-term care: You will stay with someone for periods varying from one night to few weeks
• Day support: This helps develop your skills and confidence and may take place in your home or in the community

Shared lives service that is regulated and inspected

All our Shared lives carers are checked, approved, trained and monitored by the Shared lives service.

The Shared lives service is regulated and inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the social care regulator. The last inspection took place on 9 May 2016. The overall summary and rating of the service was 'good'.

You can view a copy of the Shared lives inspection report on the CQC website.

We achieved an overall GOOD.

How much does it cost?

The cost of your placement will vary as it depends on the amount of support you need. We will tell you if you need to pay towards the cost of the service.

You will need an assessment to see if you are eligible for support.

If you have already had an assessment, please contact your social worker to find out more about support.

How do I apply for a Shared lives placement?

You’ll need to ask us for a care and support assessment first to see if you have eligible care and support needs.  

A social care worker will visit you to do the assessment and will talk to you about all your options and agree if Shared lives is the best way to meet your care and support needs.

If you’re eligible, we will check to see if we have any Shared lives carers who are able to support your needs and arrange for you to meet them. We may not always be able to find a suitable match.

Our Shared lives carers

Our Shared Lives team work closely with the elderly and disabled they care for to help them achieve independence and gain confidence.

Lesley Helps is a carer with the Shared Lives service within Leicestershire County Council and has been recently named as the Autism Carer of the Year, thanks to her dedication to helping those with the disability. Find out more about Lesley and the Autism Carer of the Year award.

Read about the personal experience of carers and the ones they care for during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Further reading