Supported Lodgings and Fostering Christmas Afternoon Tea, Basingstoke
3 December 2026
Children's Services can place a young person with a trained Step by Step host the same day, in a safe family home, while we work together to find the right next home.
Talk to usWhen a young person is facing homelessness, Children's Services need a safe, suitable and properly regulated place for them today, often at very short notice. Finding one in time is one of the hardest parts of the job.
Emergency Supported Lodgings is Step by Step's short-term placement in a trained host's family home for young people (aged 16-25) who need somewhere safe to stay at very short notice. A young person can move in within 2 hours of the first call, and the time they spend there is used to work out exactly the right next home for them.
This page explains how Emergency Supported Lodgings works, who it is for, and how to talk to us about emergency beds in your area.
Emergency Supported Lodgings is part of Step by Step's Ofsted-registered Supported Lodgings service. Every emergency host is assessed, approved and supported by the same team that supports our longer-term hosts.
It is far more than a bed for the night. An emergency placement gives a young person safety and stability straight away, and gives everyone around them the time and information to make the right plan for what happens next.
Every week we share a list of emergency hosts who are available for the next seven nights, so children's services always know who has a bed ready. The Local Authority pays the rental component for the full year, and when it is occupied there are additional payments for support and food.
When a young person needs somewhere to stay, children's services contact an available host directly and share the referral information. The host responds quickly, within 30 minutes, and a move-in time is usually agreed within two hours of the first call. The Social Worker usually brings the young person to the home.
A Step by Step placement coordinator visits the young person and their host within 72 hours. Together they complete additional paperwork, placement agreement and house expectations, and we keep in close contact with the young person's Social Worker from then on.
An emergency placement is an active assessment, not a holding bed. Our emergency hosts are highly skilled at this, and they work alongside our Placement Coordinators to build a full picture of the young person: their life skills, their aspirations and where they want to be, their needs, and any risks.
We share that picture with the young person's Social Worker and work with them, our own services and other providers to find exactly the right next placement, so that the next move succeeds and the young person thrives. Stays are short and planned, 10-15 working nights, depending on the Local Authority contract.
For many young people, the next step is a longer-term Supported Lodgings placement with a carefully matched host, using everything learned during the emergency stay. Matching is at the heart of Supported Lodgings, and a good match is what makes a placement last.
Other young people return to family with the right support in place, move on to another provider, or move into longer-term supported accommodation. Once a young person moves on, the emergency host's room is ready for the next young person who needs it.
Emergency beds are for young people referred by the Local Authority who need somewhere safe straight away. This includes:
· Young people in care, or coming into care, at an age where a family home with a Supported Lodgings host suits them better than foster care, usually 16 and 17 year olds
· Care leavers
· Young people found to be homeless, where the Local Authority has a duty to them
· Separated children (unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, UASC) who arrive at short notice and need somewhere safe straight away
Young people are typically aged 16 to 21, and we can support young people up to the age of 25. They come to an emergency bed from home, from friends or family, from another provider, or from sleeping rough.
Emergency beds are not ring-fenced for Supported Lodgings. They are open to any suitable young person the Local Authority needs to place in an emergency, whether their next step is Step by Step Supported Lodgings, another provider, supported accommodation or a return to family.
Emergency beds can also support young people with higher support needs. Every referral is checked carefully first, so the placement is safe for the young person and the host household.
· A safe room with clean bedding, food and toiletries from the moment they arrive
· Home-cooked evening meals, with the chance to cook alongside their host
· Seven to 15 hours of practical and emotional support a week, from settling in and filling in forms to budgeting and getting to know the local area
· For separated children, registration with a GP within two working days
· A steady adult on their side at one of the hardest moments of their life
Emergency placements happen quickly, but never without the right safeguards in place.
· Every emergency host is assessed and approved at panel, and completes safeguarding, psychological first aid and data protection training as part of their assessment.
· Every host's home is checked as part of their assessment, to make sure it is safe and suitable, with a private bedroom furnished for a young person (a bed, storage and a desk) and Wi-Fi.
· All hosts then complete our trauma-informed host training programme, covering safeguarding, mental health, childhood trauma, restorative practice, boundaries and communication.
· Hosts supporting separated children receive additional specialist training.
· Emergency hosts are reviewed after three months, then every six months.
· Hosts can reach our out-of-hours on-call line for advice whenever they need it.
· We generally do not approve emergency hosts with children under 12 living at home.
· Every referral is checked against clear safety criteria before a placement goes ahead, to protect both the young person and the host household.
· A family home. For some young people, particularly 16/17 year olds, separated children who have just arrived in the country and young people who have never lived away from home, a family home with a trained host is a better fit than a shared or staffed setting.
· Prevention at the point of crisis. A safe home and a trained adult from day one, provided through our Ofsted-registered Supported Lodgings service.
· An assessment, not just a bed. The time in an emergency placement builds the full picture needed to find the right next placement, so it is more likely to succeed.
· Speed. Beds on standby every week, direct contact with hosts and same-day moves.
· Value. A cost-effective alternative to foster or residential care for 16 and 17 year olds.
· Partnership. We work alongside your Social Workers, taking on the risk assessment, placement agreement and host support.
· Experience. We are the largest Supported Lodgings provider in the country, and the first Supported Lodgings provider inspected by Ofsted, awarded the highest possible rating.
“The emergency beds are used for new arrivals and Step by Step always responds immediately to demand and work closely alongside our Social Workers to settle new young people.”
Emergency Supported Lodgings is Step by Step's short-term placement in a trained host's family home for young people who need somewhere safe to stay at very short notice. It is part of Step by Step's Ofsted-registered Supported Lodgings service, so every emergency host is assessed, trained and supported by the same team as our longer-term hosts.
Hosts are on standby every week, children's services contact them directly, and a young person can move in within hours of the first call. During the stay, the host and a Step by Step placement coordinator build a full picture of the young person's needs, skills and aspirations, so the Local Authority can find exactly the right next placement.
A young person can stay in one of Step by Step's emergency beds for a short, planned period, 10-15 working nights, depending on the Local Authority contract. The stay is short by design: it gives a young person safety straight away while the right longer-term plan is put in place.
That time is used well. Within 72 working hours, a Step by Step placement coordinator visits to complete the risk assessment and placement agreement, and the host and coordinator then work together to assess the young person's life skills, needs, risks and aspirations. The young person's Social Worker leads the move-on plan, and we work alongside them to agree the move-out date and make sure the right referrals are in place.
Step by Step's emergency beds are for young people referred by the Local Authority who need somewhere safe straight away. That includes young people in care or coming into care, usually 16 and 17 year olds, for whom a family home with a Supported Lodgings host is a better fit than foster care; care leavers; young people found to be homeless where the Local Authority has a duty to them; and separated children who arrive at short notice.
Young people are usually aged 16 to 21, and Step by Step can support young people up to the age of 25. They come to an emergency bed from home, from friends or family, from another provider, or from sleeping rough, and every referral is checked against clear safety criteria before a placement goes ahead. Emergency beds are not ring-fenced for Supported Lodgings: they are open to any suitable young person the Local Authority needs to place in an emergency, whatever their next step.
Yes. Step by Step's emergency beds regularly support separated children, also known as unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC), who arrive at short notice and need somewhere safe straight away. Children's services can place a young person with an emergency host the same day.
All Step by Step hosts complete trauma-informed training, and hosts supporting separated children receive additional specialist training covering the journey many young people have made, trauma and sleep, the asylum process, and culturally appropriate care such as diet and faith. Each young person is registered with a GP within two working days, and the time in the emergency placement is used to find a well-matched longer-term home.
Children's services refer a young person to a Step by Step emergency bed by contacting an available emergency host directly. Every week, Step by Step shares a list of the emergency hosts available for the next seven nights, with their contact details, so the Local Authority always knows who has a bed ready.
The host responds quickly, within 30 minutes, and a move-in time is agreed within two hours of the first call. During the first call the Local Authority shares the referral information and risk assessment. The young person's Social Worker usually brings them to the home, and a Step by Step placement coordinator visits within 72 hours to complete additional paperwork and placement agreement with the young person and host.
After an emergency placement with Step by Step, a young person moves on to the next home that is right for them, informed by everything learned during their stay. For many young people, that is a longer-term Supported Lodgings placement with a carefully matched host.
Others go back to family with the right support in place, move on to another provider, or move into longer-term Supported Lodgings or supported accommodation. The young person's Social Worker leads on the move-on plan, and Step by Step works alongside them, sharing the assessment built up by the host and placement coordinator so the next placement is well matched and more likely to succeed. The emergency host's room is then ready for the next young person who needs it.
Step by Step builds emergency beds into a contract that is big enough to fund the dedicated placement coordinator time they need. Most often, that means emergency beds alongside a Supported Lodgings contract, usually this is two emergency beds alongside at least ten Supported Lodgings beds (block contract). A larger block of emergency beds can also work on its own, because it supports its own coordinator.
What Step by Step can't offer is just one or two emergency beds without a wider contract around them, because the staff support that keeps every placement safe wouldn't be there. The mix is flexible, and we'll work out the right balance with each Local Authority.
Step by Step currently provides emergency beds in Hampshire, Wokingham, West Berkshire and Swindon.
No young person should spend tonight somewhere unsafe because there was no bed ready. Emergency Supported Lodgings means there is one.
If you are a commissioner or placement manager and want to explore emergency beds in your area, talk to us. Tell us your Local Authority and what you need, and we will come back to you.
You can also read more about our Supported Lodgings model
