• NYHS home
• Wider needs
• Young people with multiple needs

Young people with multiple needs

This section of the website looks at how, working together, organisations can make a positive difference to long term outcomes for particularly vulnerable young people who have a range of needs in addition to a potential housing need.

We define multiple needs in this context as a breadth and depth of needs which are interconnected and impact significantly on the likelihood of positive outcomes for a young person.

It is not necessarily the case that a young people will continue to have multiple needs because everyone has the potential to develop and adapt. However, some young people with long term complex needs may always need high levels of support to reach their potential.

One way for practitioners to judge whether a young person has multiple needs is to consider whether, if the main presenting need was resolved, there would still be other needs to meet. The Common Assessment Framework, which is a holistic assessment tool, will identify the sorts of issues and needs a young person might present, in addition to a housing need, such as: 

• substance misuse
• mental health issues, such as depression, bi-polar disorder, self harm, eating disorders
• offending behaviour
• anti-social behaviour
• being part of an organised gang
• inappropriate sexual behaviour/sexually aggressive
• inability to form and maintain relationships
• poor self care and organisation
• involvement in prostitution and sexual exploitation
• poor attendance at school, college or training and being NEET

There can be several root causes for the development of multiple needs. The list below is not exhaustive, but gives some of the main underpinning factors which may be present in a young person's history:

• childhood abuse (physical, sexual, emotional and neglect)
• family dysfunction
• being looked after
• learning disability (e.g autism, dyspraxia)
• experience of being a refugee or seeking asylum
• sexuality and sexual orientation, in terms of identity, acceptance and homophobia
• ethnicity, in terms of identity, acceptance and racism
• personality disorder (often caused by childhood experiences of abuse and family dysfunction)
• underlying mental illness

There is anecdotal evidence that young people with the most chaotic and challenging behaviour are often the most likely to be placed in bed and breakfast accommodation because some supported housing providers cannot manage their behaviour or are concerned about their impact on other service users. Other young people may fall between gaps in services because the extent of their needs is not recognised or understood.

Through early intervention, prevention work and accommodation based support, young people with multiple needs can be supported to make a positive transition into adult life.

Hallmarks of success - working with young people with multiple needs

• services understand that all young people have the capacity to change and do not give up on young people with multiple needs
• there is a multi agency protocol in place for young people with multiple needs, which focuses on continuity of services and support during transition to adulthood
• young people are listened to, treated with respect and actively involved in decision making
• preventing young people with multiple needs from becoming homeless is pro actively addressed through multi-agency planning and Targeted Youth Support provision
• young people with multiple needs are a recognised client group within the Supporting People strategy and commissioning plan
• commissioning of emergency and supported housing for young people is based on local needs analysis and ensures that a continuum of support is available
• commissioners pool resources to meet the housing and other support needs of young people with multiple needs
• information sharing protocols are in place to enable services to share information about young people when appropriate
• there is a multi-agency approach to assessing needs, using the Common Assessment Framework and a shared approach to managing risks
• assessment focuses on the positive aspects of the young person's life as well the problems

Case studies             

In this section

• Multi-agency working and the role of lead professionals
• Joint commissioning of services to meet needs
• Assessing needs
• Engaging and working with young people
• Managing risk