People who have "fallen through the cracks" are the focus of a new scheme offering support such as counselling to people living in parts of Ashfield. The Coxmoor and Kirkby areas have been chosen as the focus of the Vulnerable Adult Support Scheme, targeted at people such as domestic abuse survivors and those suffering with their mental health.
It brings together authorities such as the NHS, council and police so that people with "complex needs" have just one point of contact. Those behind the project hope it will make it easier for people to access support such as help with substance misuse and guidance on getting back into employment.
Ashfield District Council, which has launched the scheme alongside Nottinghamshire Police and the Police and Crime Commissioner, says 17 people have already been helped. One of the areas of focus has been on identifying vulnerable people in areas where those who have had their properties closed may move to.
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Councillor Helen-Ann Smith, the Deputy Leader of Ashfield District Council, said: "This is a lot more targeted and we've been in areas where we've got significant levels of drug misuse and anti-social behaviour. When we've got closure orders to shut properties down, we've also been identifying vulnerable people in the areas that these people will migrate to once their properties have been closed and putting injunctions in place to protect those individuals and prevent cuckooing in the future.
"Where we've been able to get a closure order, people say that their area is suddenly a lot quieter and they aren't getting people arriving at the property next door to them 50 times a day. They are seeing a significantly better quality of life."
The new scheme has come after a successful bid to the Government's latest round of safer streets funding, which was focused on tackling neighbourhood crime, anti-social behaviour and violence against women and girls. But Ashfield District Council says it will continue its scheme beyond the life of the Government funding.
Antonio Taylor, the Head of Community Safety at Ashfield District Council, said: "We have identified a pool of different residents who will most benefit from the support that is being provided. A lot of these residents, in their words, have fallen through the cracks and have ended up repeating their story to multiple different services because of the complexity of their issues
"One of the things we have to focus on is identifying vulnerable people that are quite high demanding on services. We're streamlining the support being provided because a lot of residents do find it quite difficult navigating all these services."
Speaking about the work the scheme has done so far, Inspector Jon Hewitt from Nottinghamshire Police said: "It's a bit difficult to measure the success of this in terms of crime rates, I think the measure should be the quality of people's lives. Long term this is a preventative scheme and the issues are very unique to each individual, although we do see them replicated across the wider area."
The Vulnerable Adult Support scheme comes on top of other safer streets funding in Ashfield, including a refuge point CCTV camera system. Police and Crime Commissioner Caroline Henry added: "By helping vulnerable people tackle the root causes of their offending, it gives them the best possible chance of leading a more positive lifestyle. This is not only great for them but also for the communities who would have otherwise been impacted by this offending."
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