Case studies
Keys group Specialist Substance Misuse Advisor
Fran Gracie is Keys Group’s substance misuse specialist advisor. Her main purpose is ensuring that young people are kept safe from harm and that they are supported with a reduction in their substance use, particularly when they pose risks to their physical health and/or emotional well-being. Read more to find out how Fran has supported a young person to assess their relationship with alcohol and make positive changes.
Lower Lodge Cottage
Lower Lodge specialises in caring for young people with a variety of complex needs aged between 9 to 18 years old who need specialist support.
Lower Lodge Cottage utilise an holistic approach to providing positive outcomes for young people, in particular those who display challenging behaviour, or who may have been subject to abuse, such as emotional, physical or neglect or those who are deemed to be vulnerable and at risk of exploitation.
Read Jack’s story to find out how we support our young people.
Keys Group Police Liaison Specialist Advisor
Keys Group Activities and Interventions Team offer short term specialist care with the objective of supporting young people to settle back into longer term placements. The engagement of young people in outdoor adventurous activities, with the help and guidance of expert staff, provides opportunity
for them to benefit not only from physical activity but also to grow as a consequence of improved self-esteem and confidence.
During the pandemic and due to social distancing rules, arranging outdoor activities for our young people proved difficult, leading to our specialists team working to build relationships with external agencies to ensure Keys staff could continue supporting our young people.
To find out more about how Steve Challinor, Keys Group Police Liaison Specialist Advisor enhanced relationships throughout Covid, read Steve’s story.
Postland House
Postland House prides itself on being a warm home environment, through care and nurture we aim to bring out the best in young people by accepting their past and moving forward to laugh, love and trust again. Our experienced and dedicated staff team approach care therapeutically and address underlying emotional needs.
We provide a safe environment for young people to have normal teenage experiences and enjoy being a child. We are realistic in our views and expectations, this enables us to grow and develop young people for future life.
Young people who have lived at Postland House often come to consider it their home and look back fondly at their time here. Our young people often stay at Postland House for a number of years however we support and guide young people for however long they need us.
Find out more about how we have helped young people.
Selfwood Cottage
Selfwood Cottage provides short-term, specialist, care for children and young people who temporarily need to be accommodated away from other care settings or their families.
Selfwood Cottage is a place where young people are supported and enabled to express individuality and express a sense or personal identity. Young people will live in an environment of mutual respect with the ethos of treating others how we would like to be treated ourselves.
We endeavour to create an atmosphere based on truth, trust, honesty and self-expression and reduce or cease incidents of feeling alone or isolated. We also create an environment of understanding and look for constructive ways of meeting challenges, using, wherever possible, a restorative justice approach to incident resolution.
Find out more about how we have helped young people.
Keys group Specialist Substance Misuse Advisor
Substance misuse is one of many forms of risk-taking behaviour, but it can also be an indicator of other (potentially hidden) difficulties with identity formation or childhood adversity. For some young people, the use of drugs or alcohol is a form of ‘self- medication’, which enables them to relieve stress, or block emotionally distressing thoughts. This usage can be heightened amongst groups of children who face additional complexities in their lives, including looked after children. It is widely accepted that these children and young people are more susceptible to substance use, either recreationally, regularly or addictively.
Fran Gracie is Keys Group’s substance misuse specialist advisor. Her main purpose is ensuring that young people are kept safe from harm and that they are supported with a reduction in their substance use, particularly when they pose risks to their physical health and/or emotional well-being. She aims to:-
- Support staff in keeping the young people’s substance use to a minimum (by lessening the amount and/or frequency)
- Reduce the presence of polysubstance use
- Help children and young people understand the harmful effects of substance use and to implement harm reduction/harm minimisation strategies.
- Educate staff in the delivery of interventions with young people via consultation
- Deliver training with staff on all substances, looking at current trends and the sharing of intelligence on drug alerts within the UK
