Building a bespoke home for a child with complex needs

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Case Study · Child, Complex Needs

We didn’t find a placement. We built one.

Child C, 15, has severe autism, a severe learning disability and is non-verbal. After a breakdown at home and six to seven months in hospital with no viable placement, NL Group designed and built a bespoke home around him — and the progress since has been significant.

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Case Introduction

One of the most complex children in the system

Child C is 15, with severe autism, a severe learning disability and no verbal communication. Following a serious incident, his placement at home broke down and he spent six to seven months in hospital with no viable onward placement — requiring up to 5:1 staffing and considered one of the most complex cases locally.

Rather than search for a placement that didn’t exist, NL Group built one: a dedicated home, designed around his needs, which he moved into in August 2024.

“Stability in complex care is not found. It is built.” — NL Group

A caregiver in a navy uniform sits beside a woman in bed using an oxygen mask, offering comfort in a home setting.

The Challenge

What Child C’s situation demanded

This was among the most complex cases in the local system:

  • A breakdown at home following a serious incident, with no safe way back
  • Six to seven months in hospital with no viable placement available
  • Up to 5:1 staffing required to keep him and others safe
  • Severe autism, severe learning disability and non-verbal communication
  • A calm, regulated environment and a consistent, specialist team
A young person smiles while assembling colorful plastic building blocks on a table in a cozy indoor setting.

What We Did

How the package grew

Crisis

Alongside Him in Hospital

NL Group supported Child C through the crisis phase in hospital while a solution was designed.

Built

Sourced and Adapted a Home

We found a property and adapted it — a sensory room, a swing and structured space designed for regulation.

Aug 2024

A Clinically-led Model

A consistent specialist team transitioned with him, within a multi-agency model (CAMHS, SALT, psychiatry) and a Positive Behaviour Support plan.

Since

Measurable Change

Daily incidents fell to just five in six months — mostly preventative — with big reductions in self-harm and dysregulation, and new progress in communication, education and independence.

The Outcome

“The progress across every area has been significant.”

Child C’s care team

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What Partners Say

In our commissioners’ own words

“NL Group Generally Manage Their Care Packages Very Well. They Took Over a Client That Had a Lot of Issues, and There Has Been No Issue with Them.”

Anita Broadwell, CHC Senior Clinician, East Riding of Yorkshire CCG

“For the More Complex Service Users, NL Group Is the Main Provider We Use in This Area.”

Diane Murray, Home Ventilation Service Lead, Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

“We Often Use NL Group When Our Packages Are in Crisis; NL Group Will Stabilise the Packages and Return Them to Order.”

Head of NHS Funded Care, North Lincolnshire

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