We started this because too many good young people were being let down by an unremarkable building and an even less remarkable level of support.
Care Quest Group is a London and Essex-based provider of 18+ semi-independent living and support services. We work with local authorities, social workers and families to give care leavers and vulnerable adults somewhere stable to live and someone reliable to turn to.
Most of our referrals come through local authority commissioning teams, and most of the people we support have already had more than their fair share of instability: moves between placements, changes of social worker, promises that didn't quite land. Our job is fairly unglamorous in that context: turn up, stay consistent, and do what we said we'd do.
We're not the biggest provider in London and Essex, and we don't especially want to be. We'd rather run a smaller number of properties well than a large number adequately.
Five things we try to get right, every time
Consistency over charisma
A keyworker who shows up on the day they said they would, week after week, does more for a young person's sense of stability than any single grand gesture.
Plans written with, not for
Support plans are drafted with the young person in the room, in language they'd actually use, working towards goals they've actually chosen.
Properties that feel lived-in
Individually furnished rooms, communal spaces people actually want to sit in, and a fabric maintenance schedule that doesn't wait for something to break.
Safeguarding as a habit, not a folder
Enhanced DBS checks, safer recruitment, regular supervision and training that staff can recall under pressure, not just paperwork that satisfies an inspection.
Straight answers to commissioners
If a placement isn't working, we'll say so early rather than let it drift. Local authorities tell us this is rarer than it should be.
No cliff edges we can help
Move-on planning starts long before a birthday or a review date forces it, so nobody is packing a bag with two weeks' notice.
Care leavers and adults, at different points in their journey
We provide semi-independent and independent living support for care leavers aged 18 to 25, and support services for adults who need extra help to live independently, whether that's due to a disability, a mental health condition, or simply not having the right people around them at the right time. We are not a regulated care provider, and we don't deliver personal care; our support is practical and social, designed to sit alongside any statutory or clinical care someone already has in place.
Not regulated, but not unaccountable
Because we don't provide personal care or Ofsted-registered accommodation, we don't sit under CQC or Ofsted registration. That doesn't mean anything goes: every member of staff holds an enhanced DBS check, every property is assessed for fire safety, and where HMO licensing or planning permission applies to a property, we hold the right consents before anyone moves in. We also hold ourselves to a written set of internal quality standards, reviewed regularly, covering safeguarding, property conditions and how support plans are actually put into practice.
No regulator requires us to do any of that. We do it because it's the right way to run the service.
Commissioning, or thinking about a referral?
We're happy to talk through a specific young person's needs before anything is formalised.
Get in touch