How to Make a Successful Referral: What Professionals Need to Know
Making a referral to a supported living provider should be a straightforward process. In practice, it can feel anything but. Incomplete information, unclear criteria, slow responses, and the worry of making the wrong match for a vulnerable person, these are pressures that professionals face every day.
At Diverse Services, we want to make the referral process as clear, fast, and collaborative as possible. We work with social workers, care coordinators, community mental health teams, ICB commissioners, community forensic teams, and housing officers across West London, and we know that the quality of the referral relationship has a direct impact on the quality of the placement.
This blog is a practical guide to making a referral to Diverse Services; what we need from you, what you can expect from us, and how we can work together to give the people you support the best possible chance of a successful placement.
Before You Refer: Is Supported Living the Right Option?
Before picking up the phone or submitting a referral form, it is worth taking a moment to consider whether supported living is the most appropriate setting for the individual you are supporting. Supported living is not the right option for everyone, and a placement that is not the right fit can cause unnecessary disruption for the person and for the service.
Supported living is likely to be a good fit if the individual:
Wants to live with a degree of independence but needs structured support around daily living, mental health management, or both
Is not currently requiring acute or inpatient mental health care
Has some capacity to engage with support, even if that engagement is inconsistent or takes time to develop
Would benefit from a stable, community based environment with access to activities, keyworker support, and in house therapeutic input
Is ready or working towards being ready, to step down from a more intensive setting
If you are unsure whether supported living is the right pathway, please contact us before submitting a formal referral. We are happy to have an informal conversation about the individual's needs and help you think through the options. There is no obligation, and it will save time for everyone if we can establish suitability early.
What We Need from You: The Referral Information
A strong referral gives us what we need to carry out a thorough assessment quickly. The more relevant information you can provide upfront, the faster we can move and we do move quickly. We aim to complete initial assessments within 24 hours of receiving the required paperwork.
The information that is most helpful to us includes:
Current care and support documentation. This includes any existing care plans, support plans, risk assessments, and mental health or psychiatric reports. We need to understand the person's current needs, their history, and the level of support they require.
A clear picture of risk. This is not about risk being a barrier to placement, we support people with complex and high risk presentations. It is about ensuring we can manage risk safely and plan appropriately. Please share any known risks around self harm, aggression, absconding, exploitation, or substance use, and any history of placement breakdown.
The person's own views and wishes. We are committed to co production and person centred care. Knowing what the individual themselves wants from a placement, their preferences, goals, concerns, and what has and has not worked for them in the past, is genuinely important to us, not a box ticking exercise.
Current and proposed care package details. We need to understand what support hours are commissioned and what the funding pathway looks like. If this is still being finalised, let us know, we can work with you on that conversation if needed.
Existing professional relationships. Who else is involved in this person's care? Community mental health team, substance misuse services, GP, probation, advocacy? We will want to link in with these teams as part of transition planning.
You do not need to have everything perfectly packaged before you contact us. If you have concerns about a gap in the information, tell us, we would rather work through it together than have you hold back a referral that could genuinely help someone.
What Happens After You Refer
Here is what you can expect from us once a referral is received:
We will acknowledge your referral promptly and confirm receipt of documentation.
A member of our management team will review the referral and contact you to discuss suitability and any questions we have.
If appropriate, we will arrange for one of our team to carry out an assessment with the individual, ideally in person, but by video if circumstances require it.
We will consider carefully which of our 18 properties, and which specific placement within that property, is the right match, taking into account the existing resident group, the support team's experience, and the person's needs and preferences.
If we believe we can offer a good placement, we will share a proposed support and transition plan with you and invite feedback before any move takes place.
We will work with you and the individual to agree a transition timeline that is realistic and well supported.
Throughout this process, you will have a named contact at Diverse Services. We do not believe in passing professionals from person to person or leaving referrals in a queue without updates.
When a Placement Is Not the Right Fit
We will always be honest with you if we do not think we are the right provider for a particular individual. This is not a rejection of the person; it is a recognition that supported living placements work best when there is a genuine match between the person's needs and what a provider can safely and appropriately offer.
If we are not the right fit, we will tell you why, and where possible we will suggest alternative pathways or providers who may be better placed to help. Our goal is always the best outcome for the individual, not simply filling a vacancy.
After the Placement: Staying Connected
Our relationship with the professionals involved in a resident's care does not end at move in. We allocate a named keyworker to every resident and maintain regular contact with referring professionals and the wider care team.
We attend multi agency meetings and contribute to statutory reviews. We will contact you promptly if there are significant changes in a resident's presentation, wellbeing, or risk, and we expect the same openness in return. The best outcomes come from genuinely collaborative working, not from providers and commissioners operating in separate silos once a placement is agreed.
A placement is the beginning of a working relationship, not the end of one. We want to hear from you, and we will always make time to talk.
Ready to Make a Referral?
You can start a referral at any time by visiting diverseservices.co.uk/make a referral or by contacting our team directly at info@diverseservices.co.uk. If you would like to have an informal conversation before submitting a referral, to talk through whether we might be a good fit or to ask questions about our service, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
We are proud to work with the professionals who advocate for the most vulnerable adults in West London. We know how hard you work, and we want to make the referral process feel like one part of the system that works the way it should.
Get in Touch
To make a referral or discuss a potential placement, visit diverseservices.co.uk/make a referral or email info@diverseservices.co.uk
Diverse Services | Supporting adults with complex needs across West London