Happy New Year

A relatively quiet week to start 2022. The local council have actually replied to some of my queries over the Christmas period, although unfortunately they haven't given all the information I need. I look forward to a further weeks-long wait before they cough up anything further. Also irritating is the imbalance of expectations. It's not a problem for me to provide documents within 10 working days, but when I've waited 30 days+ for some simple, factual information to come back from them, it grates.

The first appointment of the year is a surprise one: an older man with alcohol dependency, who I helped a bit last year. I'd left him a voicemail to remind him of his telephone assessment for the local substance misuse team, and he'd misunderstood and thought he had an appointment with me. I sit with him as he calls them, and it's a good job I do, because he struggles on the phone and was getting frustrated at the lengthy, repetitive list of clinical questions about his drinking. It takes two sessions to complete it, and it's very likely that he would have given up on it altogether without someone there with him. But he is on his way with them.

My last act of 2021 was to apply to a charity for bankruptcy fees for a client, and the charity has responded to say they will make a decision shortly. We both feel positive about the chances. This is a rare client who has no trouble taking steps herself; she had already made contact with the charity before we met, and is excited about making a fresh start.

Other than that, there's a couple of meetings with other local organisations, and a DHP application to submit. The council likes these to go through their portal, but that portal requires either a Housing Benefit or Council Tax Support reference number, and this client receives Universal Credit but not Council Tax Support, as she has adult, working sons who live with her. So I email it instead, and we wait.