The Islington Survivors Support Services are based at 222 Upper Street. A specific team has been set up for survivors of non-recent child abuse in Islington children’s homes and other placements. Information about this is on Islington Council’s website.
The Non-Recent Abuse Team (NRAT) consists of a full time senior manager, a support worker, a social worker and administrator.
The service provided includes a broad range of practical assistance such as with benefits issues, housing, tribunal hearings and also access to records. The social worker can help with more complex issues. ISN have been involved from the beginning in the development of these services and regular reviews of the service are held with the council.
Address: 222 Upper Street, N1 1XR
Phone: 0207 527 1848 This is a duty number which the NRAT staff check twice a day 10 am and 4 pm
Email: survivorsupport@islington.gov.uk
Directions: Bus: 4, 19, 30, 43 Tube and train: Highbury and Islington station (three minutes walk). Road: The front entrance to the building is on Upper Street, with limited on-street parking available within 50m. Cycle: There are public cycle racks at the front of the building.
ISN and LBI Housing Services
ISN know of many survivors who did not get council accommodation when they left care and either returned to their families or shared rooms with friends. Most lived on the streets and some were placed in Bed and Breakfast accommodation unprotected from abusive adults. For many of those who had always lived in children’s homes outside of London they were suddenly isolated & abandoned in Islington with no friends or support networks. Some ISN survivors had continued to be homeless for many years until recently.
Survivors who were given accommodation under what was known as the ‘Adolescent Quota’, which had to be approved by a senior management advisor, often had no support and found managing a tenancy understandably difficult. It usually depended on whether they had a social worker helping them through the move as to whether they received a payment to help them settle in and get furniture etc. Many had nothing at all.
The council has acknowledged that even though for some years it was not a local authority legal responsibility to house children who had been in care, they now have a moral responsibility to provide a housing support service to ISN survivors. The following council statement was made in 2016 when ISN was just beginning to meet with the council regarding support services. The NRAT team have assisted many survivors with housing needs.
Islington Council will:
· Allocate a member of the Non-Recent Abuse Team (NRAT) to liaise with members of the Housing Team to provide realistic, accurate and appropriate housing advice
· Assess all applicants that report a housing need sympathetically and sensitively
· Each situation will be assessed independently taking all current factors into account, including, current and past housing history, mental and physical health concerns, social and support network and child care and adult care responsibilities.
· Provide a written evidence based housing option for all applicants
· Refer for additional support via the Support Coordinator Service
Housing options available include:
· Assistance with mutual exchanges
· Registering an applicant on the Homefinder UK website
· Assisting an applicant into the private rental sector
· Where an applicant is homeless, support to approach the council where they have a local connection and provide advocacy as required
· Supported accommodation
· If appropriate, support to apply on the council housing register
· Assistance with the process of bidding for properties: NRAT can help if people are having difficulty bidding, and will explain the bidding system so that they can bid themselves in order to have more choice about where they live.
More information can be found at:
Islington Survivors Network 