The Community Living Service has changed its name to "Shared Lives Fife".
Shared Lives Fife provides family-based care in the homes of carers across Fife to adults with disabilities and mental health difficulties.
It aims to match families or individuals who are willing to share their homes, lives, interests, experience and skills with adults who need support to live their lives to the full.
Shared Lives Fife provides:
- Long Term support which offers a place living with a family for as long as this meets their needs and the carer is able to provide the support
- Support for Short Breaks (either regular or one off breaks) to enable the main carer to have a break and giving the person with support needs a new experience within a family setting
- Day Opportunities where someone is supported to access their local community or work on their independent living skills
The benefits of Shared Lives Fife:
- It is delivered in the local community by the local community
- Based on building relationships, even a few hours a week can make a huge difference to someone’s life
- It is very personalised and gives the individual more choice in their lives
- This service is unique and is of mutual benefit to the carer and the supported individual
- It is a way of life, not a job
Becoming a Shared Lives Fife Carer
Choosing to become a Shared Lives Fife carer is a big decision, which affects you, your family and your community. You would be expected to offer both accommodation and support to someone and share your home with them. The support you provide may include:
- personal care, like washing and dressing
- emotional support
- helping the person you are caring for manage their money
- helping the person to take their medication
- helping the person with cooking and cleaning
- encouraging the person to be independent.
It can be a challenging job but it also brings many rewards. This could be for you if you are:
- patient
- committed
- willing to give someone the support and care they need
- willing to include that person in your everyday life
- over 21 and either single, married, civil partners or living together as a couple
- medically fit
- be willing to consider different ranges of support requirements
You must also:
- have a separate bedroom available
- have a telephone
- have your own transport or ready access to public transport
- not own dogs described in the Dangerous Dogs Act or other prohibited animals
- have some experience of supporting an adult with additional needs
As a Shared Lives Fife Carer you will:
- be self-employed and will work from home
- have a regular income while someone is staying with you
- not be taxed for most of your income
- get continuous support and guidance from us and have regular training, newsletters and support meetings with other Shared Lives Fife Carers
How To Apply
If you would like to become a Shared Lives Fife carer please complete the online form available on this page. There is also a Microsoft Word version available within the publications' section on this page. You can download this form to complete and then post or email it back to us. If you would like to talk to us before filling in the form, please use the contact details on this page.
What happens next?
- We will invite you to attend one of our regular information sessions to find out more about Shared Lives Fife
- Following this, if you want to continue we invite you to attend carers preparation training with other interested families
- This will be followed by a visit to your home to discuss what you feel you can offer and to ensure you meet our criteria
- At this point you will be formally invited to submit an application
For your application to be successful we must receive satisfactory references and checks as detailed at the information session.
After you are approved you will get:
- A link worker from Social Work Service
- Shared Lives Plus membership
- Person’s social worker
- Quarterly business meetings
- Dedicated training
- Financial Support (Shared Lives Fife carers are not salaried as members of staff but provide a service for the local authority on a self employed basis. Remuneration is in the form of weekly fee which reflects the high level of service you provide)
What Experience and Qualifications do you Need?
You must have experience of caring for adults. This could be through paid or voluntary work, or through caring for a relative. You may already be fostering a child with a disability. You do not need formal qualifications, but as part of the process to become a carer you will have to:
- go through training courses
- become a member of the PVG (Protection of Vulnerable Groups as run by Disclosure Scotland) Scheme
- have your home checked for health and safety