Author: Janice Higgins

Housing First branches out from April

Posted on

Doug Gibson has been involved in the adoption and scaling up of Housing First through his role as programme manager for the Housing First Pathfinder. As the approach extends across most council areas in Scotland starting from this week, he considers how it could help end large scale homelessness for good.

When I visited Finland in early 2020, I was struck by the confidence and pragmatism of this small nation, the only European country where homelessness is falling. It’s hardly surprising that the policy underpinning that success, Housing First, has more and more fans here in Scotland where the policy is well established, and also in the other GB nations and regions.

For decades the problem was viewed as intractable, a stubborn feature of metropolitan life in cities around the world, including those in the richest countries like ours. In attempting to resolve homelessness all manner of schemes and solution were broached and implemented, short of providing people with a home. The alternate approach of the Fins is simple. In 2007 they adopted Housing First as the anchor for a wider political vision to address the toughest experiences of homelessness as part of a rapid rehousing approach.

Finland ‘s enviable record since can be actively attributed to their adoption of the Housing First model, a system pioneered in the USA that is evidence based, compassionate and abandons notions of blame or deserving.  There is now an overwhelming body of international evidence showing that, with close fidelity to the Housing First principles, most tenants are likely to stay housed – and feel benefit in many other ways too.

In Scotland’s Housing First Pathfinder, which operates across five areas, the approach has delivered 87 percent housing retention rates in the first two years of the programme. This statistic – up there with the best international comparisons – tees up a range of benefits for both individuals and society as we begin to mainstream the policy across the country in this, the third and final year of the Pathfinder.

It improves health outcomes and decreases contact with community justice, in turn reducing A&E admissions and improving cost-effectiveness of service delivery. It is replacing chaos with support and temporary accommodation with permanent and there have been no evictions out of more than 450 tenancies created.

Many people who have taken up a tenancy through the programme have typically struggled in life, following adverse childhood experiences, negotiating multiple challenges and obstacles along the way such as trauma, addiction, poor mental health or physical disability and other forms of severe multiple disadvantage.

Estimates suggest that more than 800,000 adults in Scotland have experienced all three of the indicators of severe multiple disadvantage: homelessness, substance dependency and offending. Homelessness is the most common of these when viewed over an adult’s lifetime and a study for the Scottish Government in 2018 states that at least eight percent of the Scottish population had experienced homelessness at some point in their lives. When you consider this percentage also represents the entire population of Scotland within the UK, it is clear why the issue matters to us all.

If finding answers to society’s toughest problems is the prize then Housing First is an attractive, integrated solution. In recent years in Scotland, more so since the pandemic began, resolving homelessness has resulted in regular co-operation and an acknowledgment that solving this problem is not impossible, but will take time. We must trust the evidence that says if we stay the course Scotland could be the other country in Europe where homelessness is falling.

Glasgow Alliance to End Homelessness

Posted on

Coproduction workshops on Tuesday 11th & Wednesday 12th May 2021

The Alliance recognises that to achieve systems change and transform the lives of people experiencing homelessness in Glasgow we’ll need the skills, experience and knowledge of all our partners across the City.

The award of services is now one of the key responsibilities of the Alliance. This is a crucial element of the foundations that will enable the Alliance to meet its core mission of making sure that the right service is available at the right time to meet current and emerging needs.

We invite you to bring your skills, knowledge and experience to a coproduction workshop to help us develop a strategy for the award of services that the Alliance will implement.

The workshop will outline the Alliance’s vision for a new system with opportunities to discuss how we bring this vision to life in a way that is best for people using services.

We want to hear from people at all levels of your organisation to make sure that we capture the learning from everyone’s perspectives. With that in mind, we’d appreciate your help to make sure that we have representation from people being supported by your services, your organisation’s front line, operational management and senior management at the events.

We have created a short survey which we would ask you to complete prior to the workshops. Please share this with your colleagues and people using your service. We ask that this is completed by 5pm on Friday 23 April 2021 and you can find the survey here https://allin.limequery.com/946851

The dates of the workshops are:

  • Tuesday 11th May- 10am – 1pm – Lived and living experience
  • Wednesday 12th May – 10am – 1pm – All providers of homelessness services

People with lived or living experience who attend the workshop on Tuesday 11h May will receive a £10 incentive.

This invite is open to everyone with lived or living experience, front line staff, operational managers and directors so please share this invitation widely across your organisation. Places are limited at each workshop and we ask that you have no more than three representatives from across your organisation. 

To book your place, please click here:

  • Tuesday 11th May- 10am – 1pm – Lived and living experience Click Here to Book
  • Wednesday 12th May – 10am – 1pm  – All Providers of homelessness services Click Here to Book

Please contact Andrew McCall if you require further information: Andrew.McCall@salvationarmy.org.uk

Housing First is part of the solution

Posted on

Minister for Drugs Policy, Angela Constance MSP, delivered a keynote address at the ‘Branching Out’ Housing First Scotland conference today (Wednesday 24 March) organised by Homeless Network Scotland. The past week has seen a tranche of funding announced comprising separate funds worth a total of £18 million to improve drugs services. The Minister affirms the connection between Housing First and Drugs Policy in this exclusive article.

Housing First supports people with kindness and compassion, in their own homes, for as long as they require that support and in a way that meets their needs. The success of the Housing First Scotland Pathfinder, supported directly by the Scottish Government with up to £6.5m of additional funding for local councils to implement their own programmes, shows us that Housing First works as a way of ending homelessness for around 90 per cent of tenants. Since launching two years ago the Pathfinder has created more than 450 tenancies, with February seeing 32 new tenants move into a home of their own.

It is the most widely evidenced homeless intervention we have, which lines up Housing First as a critical tool in reducing the harm and chaos caused by addiction so often experienced by people with the toughest homelessness journey. The support plans included with Housing First are a critical part of the policy. They build on people’s strengths and aspirations, and while the ambition is to enable people to address issues, there is an understanding that this takes time and care. Abstinence is not mandatory and progress is not a straight line.

Supporting people with multiple needs beyond homelessness, Housing First often works to reduce harm from substance misuse, including accessing treatment. As reflected in the Housing to 2040 vision published last week, Housing First is already an integral part of this government’s housing policy and I see it as an important factor in reducing harm caused by drugs.

In the past week I have announced additional funding for drug services. Four schemes planned to start in May are part of the additional £250 million already announced by the First Minister to tackle drug deaths.  

Among the measures announced were:

·       a £5 million Communities Fund

·       a £5 million Improvement Fund

·       a £3 million Families and Children Fund

·       £5 million Recovery Fund fund

The Scottish Government has also committed to a £5 million recovery and rehabilitation fund to provide additional capacity and to support people financially through that process. Because of a lack of clarity around Housing Benefit, which is reserved to the UK Government, some councils do not allow people to retain tenancies funded by Housing Benefit while in residential rehabilitation. We cannot ask people to make an impossible choice between their tenancy and their recovery journey, so the fund will ensure that people no longer have to.

We recognise that residential rehabilitation may not be the right choice for everyone and our plans therefore include allowing people to access treatment in a setting and at a time that meets their needs.

The success of the Housing First pilot in Glasgow in 2010, underpinned by a wealth of international evidence, has informed the Pathfinder programme in Aberdeen/Aberdeenshire, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling, and Housing First is now making a real difference across Scotland.

Housing First has a central role in reducing harm caused by drugs and supporting recovery by providing a safe space, a normal, settled home from where people can start to build and live their lives.

‘Branching Out’ will light the way for Housing First in Scotland

Posted on

Branching Out: The National Framework for organisations and sectors starting or scaling up Housing First in Scotland, has been launched at Scotland’s Housing First conference. The 100-page guide endorsed by the Scottish Government and COSLA lends its title to the online event.

The highly detailed yet easy-to-navigate guide sets out the context in which Housing First will be successfully delivered and draws on learning from existing programmes such as the Housing First Pathfinder. It is a ‘how to and why’ guide to planning, commissioning and delivering the approach locally and nationally covering community justice, housing and social care issues as well as local and national government.

Kevin Stewart MSP, Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning in the Scottish Government, said:

“I believe the publication of this National Framework marks a significant milestone in the further scaling up of Housing First across Scotland. The Housing First model may have some differences in different localities, but the publication of this National Framework provides a solid foundation on which to build future delivery of the model across the country in a consistent way.

“I would like to extend my thanks to Homeless Network Scotland for their hard work in bringing together this important document. I would also like to thank all of those that have contributed to both the consultation which informed its content and to the implementation to date of Housing First across Scotland, including through the Pathfinder programme.”

Cllr Kelly Parry, COSLA Community Wellbeing Spokesperson, said:

“The publication of the framework is a significant milestone in our shift towards an evidence-based system with integrated services and a rights based, person-centred approach to housing and homelessness. I am grateful to those with lived experience of homelessness who have helped develop this through sharing their views and expertise.

“We know that homelessness is often the consequence of a combination and culmination of structural and individual factors, such as poverty, ill health and wider societal inequalities. And we know that preventing homelessness and mitigating the impact on the health and wellbeing of those people experiencing homelessness, requires a partnership approach.”

Martin Armstrong Chief Executive, Wheatley Group, said:

“We are proud to be one of the founding partners of Scotland’s Housing First approach. There is no doubt that Housing First is effective and we are delighted to see it becoming an integral part of social policy in Scotland. We will go on playing our part – with partners, such as Scottish Government and local authorities – and hope this new national framework will encourage others to do so too”.

John Mills Chair of ALACHO and the Rapid Rehousing Transition Plans sub-group of the Scottish Government Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group, said:

“I welcome the publication of the Housing First National Framework to guide the scaling up of the provision of Housing First tenancies in Scotland. Housing First is now confirmed as a core element of all Rapid Rehousing Transition Plans to assist homeless and potentially homeless people access secure tenancies with wrap-around support to sustain their tenancies.“

Sally Thomas Chief Executive, Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, said:

“SFHA is delighted to support the publication of the Housing First National Framework, which has been informed by consultation with our members as well as our strategic partnership with Homeless Network Scotland. Housing First has quite rightly been recognised as a key mechanism for delivering many of the ambitions set out in the Scottish Government’s Ending Homelessness Together and Housing to 2040 strategies and I know this National Framework will be a key resource for Scotland’s housing associations and co-operatives as they look to ensure everyone in Scotland has a safe, warm, affordable home.”

Maggie Brünjes, Chief Executive of Homeless Network Scotland, said:

“Housing First is a national challenge to redress the unfairness faced by people whose homelessness is made much harder by experiences with trauma, addictions and mental health. This National Framework draws from the learning of what’s gone before and underpins the task that lies ahead. It combines a practical framework for local partnerships, with a strategic oversight of progress toward achieving the best conditions and resources for Housing First to flourish.”

Supporting people without a settled address to vote in the Scottish Parliament election

Posted on

People who do not have a settled address or are experiencing homelessness can register to vote in the Scottish Parliament election on 6 May. The deadline to apply for a postal vote (including postal proxy vote) is 5pm on Tuesday 6 April. Anyone who wants to vote in person must ensure they register by midnight on Monday 19 April. The deadline to apply for an ‘in person’ proxy vote is 5pm on Tuesday 27 April.

The Electoral Commission’s guidance for professionals who work with people experiencing homelessness is available to download here. This was developed with support from the Everyone Home Collective. If you have any questions after reading the guide you can contact your local Electoral Registration Office. You can find their details by entering the postcode for the address which the person you are supporting would like to register at here. If you would like to raise awareness about voting in the election, you can download digital and print resources from the Electoral Commission here.