Director Street and Hostel Services Making Money Work Audrey Mitchell Director Street and Hostel Services 29 April 2010

The Thames Reach approach Making Money Work The Thames Reach approach Changes in key-working More appropriate support Financial inclusion plans

Outreach Hostels Specialist housing Tenancy support Resettlement Learning & employment 39 teams 400 paid staff 80 volunteers 7393 service users – some “brief intervention” clients – core group around 4500 each year Of course secure and safe housing is fundamentally important but we know that to really have fulfilling lives people need more - and being clear and confident about how they use money is vital to that

£ embedded in all systems Changes to keywork £ embedded in all systems easier conversations proactive and empowering aspirations are a priority small steps Discussions about £ threaded through conversations from initial assessment, during ongoing support planning Conversations are more comfortable and proactive ensures that aspirational goals are kept on the agenda, and the role that £ plays within it – not just “needs” links with outcome star small steps – talk about £ as part of holistic service, each support review, risk management etc

Learning and more appropriate support money causes anxiety/apathy resistance and suspicion need long term input and focus staff positivity vital need to make it easy/fun what we’ve found out: money causes anxiety, resistance to accounts etc – need a lot of focus to turn around Staff need a wide range of toolkits/knowledge so a “next step” is quickly available for signposting etc need to make using any toolkit fun long term focus and priority for us

Financial inclusion plans link with personalisation priority = in all workplans monitor and develop further focus for service user groups embedded = inclusion in practice Having clarity and confidence around money is the difference between being empowered and not. We know from our personalisation pilots how vital it is to have an awareness of money often in person centred plans, goals are identified which need some resources – we need to ensure that work on financial inclusion is outlined in every team’s workplan – so for some teams there will be targets in terms of offering the workbook to SU s., - we will monitor and develop further - hopefully an interactive electronic version so that decisions around money can be made anytime; a focus group of staff and service users we need to continue to ask service users for their views – both in the SU survey but in other ways too knowing how to manage money is as fundamental as literacy, shelter or good health and we will be continuing to make financial inclusion more than just words – putting it into practice

Mission: Vision: live in decent homes, helping homeless and vulnerable people live in decent homes, build supportive relationships and lead fulfilling lives Vision: To end street homelessness Our mission and vision -- we won’t achieve either unless financial inclusion is embedded and prioritised