Tag: homelessness

Deciding how to help might be ignoring the obvious

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Homeless Network Scotland recently made over 1,000 cash payments of £100 to people affected by homelessness, thanks to the Scottish Government’s Wellbeing Fund, supported by SCVO and the Hunter Foundation. The one-off payment was available to households in temporary homelessness accommodation, or people who have recently taken on a Housing First tenancy. Martin Gavin, Head of External Relations at Homeless Network Scotland, explains how it came about.

The coronavirus crisis is helping to shift the concept of direct cash transfers to people who need money away from the fringes of charity fundraising and into the mainstream, both in the UK and abroad. Schemes operating worldwide have enabled people to buy equipment to start a business or repair their homes, or simply supporting them to get by. 

The Staying In Fund came about through a grant of £100K provided as part of the Scottish Government’s emergency response measures. The award of the grant to Homeless Network Scotland permitted us to use the money in the most effective way possible, and in this case simply providing cash or vouchers to people who need it was the preferred option. There is no good time to be short of money, but during this pandemic has been an especially stressful time and we wanted to help ease some money worries or allow people to clear money owed.

There is robust, well-researched evidence that providing money directly to people who need it is an effective response. American non-profit organisation, Give Directly, has been pioneering direct cash transfers for the past decade, according to its website delivering more than $160 million in cash directly to 170,000 families in different parts of the world. The organisation received funding from Silicon Valley tech companies and investors as the pandemic began to take hold in April. Research indicates that receiving a cash transfer has advantages beyond the initial payment, with some people who receive a payment experiencing a growth in income over time, with additional benefits relating to wellbeing and positive health outcomes also recorded.

Here in Scotland, people in temporary accommodation or a Housing First tenancy were able to apply with many applications coming through support providers such as Salvation Army, which delivers services across Scotland including Housing First support.

Kelly Storm, Service Manager at Salvation Army, said: “On a practical level people have been able to buy things like clothes, which they would not normally buy for themselves, items for their tenancies to help make their house feel more like home and also forms of entertainment, such as phones and DVDs, which have helped combat isolation during the lockdown period. We have been able to encourage people to shop in their local stores and supermarkets as well which has helped them connect with their communities. The fund has had an incredibly positive impact on all. For those really feeling the effects of increased isolation and boredom, the receipt of the voucher was a huge pick me up and really lifted their spirits.”

This round of our staying in fund is now closed but testing this method of providing support has demonstrated the value of direct cash grants for people who may have limited access to financial assistance, from friends or family members for example. For us, this confirmed that deciding how best to assist someone might be as simple as enabling them to decide for themselves.

People in temporary accommodation or Housing First were able to apply for the grant, including Lenny from Refrewshire, pictured, who received £100 of shopping vouchers in June.

SURVEY: Impact of Covid-19 on Homelessness Sector

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Crisis are conducting research to better understand the impact that Coronavirus has had on people experiencing homelessness, how it has impacted on the support that is needed, and what that means for both front line services, local authority and national government responses. The findings of this will be enormously useful to understanding next steps – please take part if you can. You can find the survey here.

Covid-19: Leading homelessness charities call on national and UK Governments to protect people sleeping rough

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Dear Prime Minister,

As Chief Executives of leading homelessness charities, we appreciate the significant pressure the Government is facing in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and stand ready to lend our support as you set out plans to help protect the most vulnerable in our society, including people who are facing homelessness.

People experiencing homelessness, particularly those who are rough sleeping, are especially vulnerable in this outbreak. They are three times more likely to experience a chronic health condition including asthma and COPD. It is therefore vital that they are recognised as a vulnerable group for the purposes of government planning.

We note the publication of Public Health England’s information on COVID-19 for hostel or day centre providers of services for people experiencing rough sleeping. We are concerned that these measures however, fail to provide the much more comprehensive plan and wide-ranging action needed to ensure that everyone facing homelessness is provided with self-contained accommodation, to ensure that they can self-isolate, and that people experiencing financial hardship are not left facing homelessness as a result of the impact of COVID-19.

Please find enclosed a full set of measures that we believe will help ensure people facing homelessness are protected during this period. As a matter of urgency, we are calling on governments to set out a plan, which will include detail on:

• Assistance from the Government to secure hotel style accommodation to meet the increased need for self-contained accommodation so that people can self-isolate.
• The removal of legal barriers in the homelessness legislation so that anyone who is at risk of, or is already homeless, can access self-contained accommodation. This should also include a suspension of rules that prevent people with no recourse to public funds from accessing housing and homelessness assistance.
• The provision of additional financial support through the Universal Credit system to ensure that people are not pushed into homelessness.
• Protecting renters from evictions by temporarily suspending the use of Section 21 and Section 8 evictions.
• Increasing the fund for Discretionary Housing Payments to help renters facing homelessness.
• Measures to ensure that people sleeping rough and living in hostels and shelter accommodation have rapid access to testing for the virus and healthcare assistance.
• An assurance that frontline workers in homelessness organisations are recognised as an emergency service as part of the response to COVID-19.
• A ringfenced proportion of the £5bn fund announced in the Budget last week to fight COVID-19 for local authorities to help deliver these measures.

In light of the speed of recent developments, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss with you and your officials as a matter of urgency how we can help to deliver this plan.


Yours sincerely,


Jon Sparkes, Crisis
Rick Henderson, Homeless Link
Howard Sinclair, St Mungo’s
Seyi Obakin, Centrepoint
Mick Clarke, The Passage
Steven Platts, Groundswell
John Puzey, Shelter Cymru
Margaret-Ann Brünjes, Homeless Network Scotland
Pam Orchard, Connection at St Martin’s
Bill Tidnam, Thames Reach


cc. Rt. Hon. Nicola Sturgeon MSP, Rt Hon. Mark Drakeford AM, Rt Hon. Matt Hancock MP

Homelessness system broken ‘beyond repair’

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NEWS RELEASE

Preventing homelessness will not be possible until the current system is replaced with a fairer, more effective and accessible one, according to the charity, Homeless Network Scotland(1).


The charity works to end homelessness in Scotland and is warning that the current system is no longer fit for purpose, at the same time calling on professionals and Scottish society to get behind the real change that’s taking place in 2020 if plans to end long-term homelessness are to succeed.


After almost a decade of decreasing homelessness applications, numbers have increased again in recent years. In 2018/19, 36,465 homelessness applications were made to Scottish local authorities, with 21,095 households entering temporary accommodation during the year, ranging from people whose need is housing only, to those whose homelessness is compounded by other issues such as mental ill health, historical sexual abuse, trauma, addictions and domestic abuse. Those people with the toughest circumstances often find it hard to keep a home, or even a hostel placement, without support, becoming stuck in a ‘revolving door’ of unstable temporary accommodation or rough sleeping.


The current homelessness system is heavily weighted in favour of what is called ‘emergency response’ and does not make it easy for councils and their partners to be proactive and intervene early, even when there is evidence that someone is at risk. Under the Scottish Government’s Ending Homelessness Together Action Plan several programmes and initiatives are introducing new solutions, with greater emphasis on the role of people who have personal experience of homelessness to help drive change.


Chris, who was homeless for three years, is spending Christmas in his own, permanent home for the first time in a decade through one of those programmes, called Housing First. As well as a permanent home, Chris has a dedicated support worker from The Salvation Army. “This place is a lifeline,” said Chris. “I grew up in a really rough area and I’ve made some bad decisions in my life, but this flat is about turning a corner for me. I’m blessed to have this place, to have another chance.”


Homeless Network Scotland manages the Housing First programme in five areas; Aberdeen/shire, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling. Maggie Brunjes, Chief Executive of Homeless Network Scotland, said:

“At this time of year, homelessness comes sharply into focus for many people and it’s hard to think long term when we see people in urgent need. But the current system is broken beyond repair, only by putting in place long-term solutions to homelessness can we end it for good. Most importantly, those of us who want to end homelessness in Scotland must listen to what people with personal experience of homelessness are saying, and in the coming year get behind the changes that are already taking shape.”


“The new direction is based on what we already know, that the answer to homelessness is a home. If we keep on saying: ‘What about tonight?’ then there will always be another night. Under Ending Homelessness Together, programmes such as Housing First and the broader Rapid Rehousing Plans in all 32 council areas in Scotland are introducing a new approach to ending homelessness that’s based on evidence of what works (2).”


Under the current system too many people struggle to get the help they need when they need it, ending up in temporary accommodation that can be unsuitable. Vulnerable people struggle to find the right service, getting lost in a system that is intended to help them. For many people this is all too much, leading them to opt out. That catastrophic decision increases rather than reduces trauma, resulting in rough sleeping, spells in prison and in many cases problem alcohol or drug use – and the cycle goes on(2).


At the start of December (2019) a new approach was launched, All In For Change(3), driven by a newly recruited team of 30 frontline workers and people with personal experience of homelessness to take forward the Scottish Government’s Ending Homelessness Together plans and shape future services. In future, collaborative teams will be formed to make decisions ‘with’ those who have lived experience rather than ‘for’ them. The ‘All In for Change’ team starts work in January 2020.


“We are closer than ever to getting a handle on homelessness, preventing it happening and the damage it causes,” added Maggie Brunjes. “Through ‘All In for Change’ the Government, charities and councils are putting great new policy into practice. We must move urgently to implement the local plans in all 32 council areas that have been drawn up to replace what we have with something better, fairer and more effective that has prevention and the views of those with personal experience of homelessness at its centre.


“There is room for all those who want an end to homelessness to be part of the transition from the old way of doing things to the new. I urge everyone to forget what they think they know about homelessness, find out about the changes coming in 2020. We know how to fix it – but it needs everyone to get behind that fix.”


Housing First tenant, Chris:
“Last year at this time I was homeless after relationship breakdown. I was living in a homeless B&B. Being homeless at Christmas was really depressing. I’ve been homeless about five times since I was 16. I’d always just end up slipping back into my old lifestyle. It was when Housing First Scotland got involved that I got this tenancy and it is the most important thing in my life. This is my cornerstone and my foundation to take my life forward. My journey isn’t over yet, but after coming through addiction and getting this flat through Housing First, I am blessed – it’s the best Christmas present I could have.”


Homeless Network Scotland will host a series of public meetings in towns and cities across Scotland in 2020 to explore the new responses to homelessness and seek the views of those who want to help end homelessness. More details will be published at www.homelessnetwork.scot

Ends

Notes to editors:

  1. Formerly Glasgow Homelessness Network (GHN), Homeless Network Scotland operates across the country with partners including Social Bite, Corra Foundation, the public and third sector and the Scottish Government on a range of work aimed at ending homelessness. It was set up originally in 1980 to bring together the different sectors, services and perspectives on homelessness. It manages the Housing First Scotland Pathfinder on behalf of funders; Scottish Government, Social Bite and Merchants’ House Glasgow. In 2018, working with Crisis, it set up the Centre for Homelessness Impact in London, which is now part of the UK Government ‘What Works’ network.
  2. Hard Edges Scotland; published by Lankelly Chase 2019. According to the report, based on official data and survey responses, out of the group identified as experiencing three forms of multiple disadvantage annually in Scotland – substance misuse, offending and homelessness – the largest group, 53,000, experienced homelessness. Those experiencing all three forms of multiple disadvantage over the course of a year was 5,700 people.
  3. The Change Team of around 30 will be represented on a national strategy group on homelessness chaired by the Housing Minister, Kevin Stewart MSP, building a network of those living and working with homelessness to influence policy and strategy at a local and national level, while developing an online shared resource which will ensure everyone keeps up-to-date with what is happening. Supported by Homeless Network Scotland, Cyrenians and Scottish Community Development Centre, the work is funded by Scottish Government and Frontline Network, from St Martin-in-the-Fields.
  4. Housing First is a model developed in the USA in the early 1990s for people with multiple needs beyond housing. It is built on seven principles which are central to ending people’s experience of homelessness:

    o People have a right to a home
    o Flexible support is provided for as long as is needed
    o Housing and support are separate
    o Individuals have choice and control
    o An active engagement approach is used
    o The service is based on people’s strengths, goals and aspirations
    o A harm reduction approach is used.

  5. The Scottish Government’s Ending Homelessness Together Action Plan is here
  6. Quick facts;

    o A person is more than eight times more likely to become homeless if household income is under £10k (includes benefit levels) than over £20k
    o On any given night around 11,000 people in Scotland are in temporary accommodation, people stay too long and the cost is too high.
    o Temporary furnished flats (most often used) average around £300 per week, which is double the cost of the average UK mortgage. This discourages people taking work at minimum wage as rent would be unaffordable.

For more information contact Martin Gavin – Head of External Relations at the Homeless Network Scotland, mgavin@homelessnetwork.scot