For social workers & Personal Advisers
How to refer a young person to supported accommodation.
A step-by-step guide to making a referral that lands well — what to confirm first, what to send, how gatekeeping and matching work, and what a good provider does in return. Generic enough for any provider; specific where it counts.
By the Milestone Young People practice team · Reviewed: August 2026
To refer a young person to supported accommodation, confirm their care-leaver category and funding route, gather the referral information, send it to providers matched to their needs and area, and expect the provider to gatekeep — verify age and scope, assess need and risk, and return a written decision. The five steps below hold for any provider; a good one turns them round quickly.
A referral is a handover of a young person's safety and progress, not a form-filling exercise. The better the information and the clearer the matching, the more likely the placement holds. This guide sets out the process, then the standard Milestone works to.
The five steps
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Confirm eligibility and the funding route
Confirm the young person's care-leaver category, that a Pathway Plan exists and who the Personal Adviser is, and how the placement will be funded. Support is bought by spot, block or a Dynamic Purchasing System call-off; Housing Benefit meets the rent as a separate line. Getting the funding route straight before you refer saves days later.
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Gather the referral information
Assemble enough for a provider to check age, scope, needs and matching — details and evidence of age, the current situation and why a move is needed now, known needs and risks, key relationships, and the Pathway Plan. See the checklist below.
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Send to matched providers
Send the referral to providers registered for the right accommodation category and covering the right area, whose service genuinely matches the young person's needs — not simply whoever has a bed. For 16–17s that means an Ofsted-registered provider for the correct category; for 18+ it means a provider with a clear regulatory position and evidenced support.
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Expect gatekeeping and a decision
A good provider verifies age and scope, assesses needs and risk, checks matching against the existing household and location, and returns a written accept or a reasoned decline. Gatekeeping protects the young person you are placing and the young people already there — treat rigorous gatekeeping as a good sign.
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Agree the placement plan and start
On acceptance, agree the placement plan and the support charge, set up the Housing Benefit and Universal Credit claims (at the correct rate), and confirm the start date and the reports you will receive back. A strong provider does much of the set-up — GP and dentist registration, benefits, ID — in the first days.
What to send with a referral
- The young person's details and evidence of age
- Their current situation and why a move is needed now
- Known needs — health, mental health, substance use, finances, education or work
- Known risks — to self, from others, to others — and any exploitation or offending history
- Relationships, and anyone who should, or should not, know where they live
- Care-leaver category and the Pathway Plan (or PEP), if you have them
- The funding authority, the agreed or proposed rate, and your contact details
A gap in the paperwork is a reason for a provider to call you, not a reason to sit on the referral. Send what you have.
What a good provider does in return
The referral is only half the exchange. A provider worth placing with will acknowledge the referral the same day; make and record a clear accept-or-decline decision; write a decline to the same standard as an acceptance, with a rationale and, where it can, a pointer to a better-matched service; and, on acceptance, start the practical set-up quickly and send reporting that feeds — never replaces — your statutory recording and the Pathway Plan.
We give a written decision within two hours of a referral with enough information to work from — a clear acceptance, or a reasoned decline with a professional rationale. Every referral is acknowledged the same day. For a genuine emergency we hold a bridging option that gets a young person safe the same day and into a house soon after, held to the same age and scope discipline as a planned admission.
Frequently asked questions
What information do you need to make a referral?
The young person's details and evidence of age; the current situation and why a move is needed; known needs across health, mental health, substance use, finances and education; known risks to self, from others and to others, with any exploitation or offending history; key relationships; the care-leaver category and Pathway Plan; and the funding authority and contact. Send what you have — a gap is a reason to call, not to delay.
How does provider gatekeeping work?
A good provider verifies age and scope, assesses needs and risk, and checks matching and compatibility against the existing household and location before accepting, then returns a written decision — an acceptance, or a reasoned decline with a rationale and, where possible, a better-matched pointer. Recorded gatekeeping is a quality signal, not an obstacle.
How quickly should a provider respond?
There is no single statutory timescale, but a good provider acknowledges the same day and decides quickly. Milestone gives a written decision within two hours of a referral with enough information, and holds a bridging option for genuine emergencies.
Who pays for the placement?
Two separate lines. The commissioner pays the support charge from the leaving-care or commissioning budget via spot, block or a DPS call-off; Housing Benefit meets the rent. For a care leaver under 25 in a self-contained unit, the Shared Accommodation Rate exemption can lift the eligible rent. See our spot / block / DPS guide.
Related. How placements are funded — spot vs block vs DPS; emergency and same-day placements; and the regulatory checks for 16–17s — Ofsted registration.
Have a young person to place?
Send us what you have. You will hear back the same day, with a written decision within two hours of us having enough to work from.