Introduction

Priority Youth Housing acknowledges that discrimination and prejudices exist, and we are committed that no one working with us, receiving our services, or applying for services is discriminated against in terms of:

	Race
	Colour
	Nationality
	Religion
	Ethnic or cultural origins
	Disability
	Gender
	Marital status
	Sexual orientation
	Political or trade union membership
	Age ( although it should be noted that housing & support services are restricted to those aged 16 to 25)
	Priority Youth Housing aims to ensure that no one is discriminated on the grounds that they have a criminal conviction. However, given that we provide services to young people at risk we will consider criminal convictions of applicants for our services and for employment. We will not employ or provide services to anyone if this would present an unacceptably high risk to service users or our employees.

What is Discrimination?

	Treating a person differently because of any thing that is irrelevant to the individual’s right to receive fair and equal treatment.
	Discrimination is against the law and can be direct or indirect:   Direct discrimination is deliberate Indirect discrimination is where unfair treatment is not deliberate but happened anyway

What we do  

As a service provider & policy maker

	Monitor applications for our services to ensure as far as possible that discrimination does not occur.
	Contractors or providers of services to Priority Youth Housing who harass residents may have their contracts terminated.
	We will avoid discrimination when developing and delivering services
	We will ensure that information about services is published widely and available in different formats where required
	We will be fair when dealing with your complaints, comments and compliments
	We will work with other housing and support services to provide specialist support where needed
	We will ensure that there is a planned approach to supporting victims of any form of abuse, harassment or discrimination
	We will ensure that information is available to service users about cultural and religious organisations and centres
	We will complete an annual review on our service delivery, policies and strategies to ensure they are fair.

As an Employer

We will:

	Monitor personnel and employment procedures to ensure they are fair
	Seek to attract a wide range of applicants for posts in the organisation
	Strive to provide an accessible environment for people with disabilities
	Offer training & development for employees on a fair and equal basis
	Ensure employees are fully aware of this policy, what it means and how they work to it

Accessibility to this policy

	All new employees will be given a copy of the policy, and asked if they understand it
	A copy is available for all staff to view on all staff computers
	All new service users will be given a copy of this policy at start of service
	Main referrers will already have a copy
	A full copy is available from all office receptions on request

What to do if you think you are being discriminated against

Talk to your support worker Talk to your line manager

The manager of your service is responsible for looking into any problems you find in the service or how you are treated. Overall responsibility for monitoring the carrying out of this policy lies with the Director and the Board members.

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