Who We Are
Life of Your Own, (LOYO) is a registered charity formed in 1996 to support individuals with disabilities and learning difficulties. This was in response to the fact that existing services were limited in the options available to people who needed help to live in their own home.
The vast majority of non-profit and proprietary agencies have been funded to provide congregate, or 'group' residential, daytime and other support services. In all cases (except for foster care), government was funding an agency to operate a certain number of 'program spaces'.
Typically, agencies keep all control in the hands of the provider. There are very few instances of real power in the hands of the individual people who are being supported, their families or community allies.
For several years, in conjunction with professional colleagues in other organisations, LOYO has encouraged the UK government to accept a new operating strategy in service funding and organisation.
The primary request was for government to accept the idea of individualised funding or 'direct payments' - basing service funding on a negotiated agreement related to a specific person's support needs, and building in flexibility so that as a person's support needs changed, it would be possible to quickly modify the type of support provided.
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