Hidden Depths Mandy Carlson Director of Crisis Skylight South Yorkshire

Hidden What? Local Authorities identified a need to provide a Homeless Prevention and Education Programme to year 10 & 11 students. Tender specification put together by a consortium of the four South Yorkshire Local Authorities. An innovative approach was required

Context Welfare reforms are expected to increase likelihood of youth homelessness Youth homelessness increases social and health disadvantage and long term life chances Low availability of suitable 1 bed general needs housing High costs of PRS housing against HB shared accommodation rates Young people who stay at home are more likely to thrive and take advantage of opportunities offered LA’s recognised the need to work proactively to inform young people of the realities of homelessness and the issues facing young people trying to get on the housing ladder.

Aims of the project Three key messages to deliver Don’t become homeless if you can help it If you do, there are places to seek help and this is what will happen Independent living is hard! Specification had three key messages to deliver but within that it also wanted to educate young people that yes there was support available if they did become homeless, but that this is not an easy route and is not guaranteed to result in housing

Objectives Prevent youth homelessness from rising Signpost young people to available services and support Educate young people on the issues that can lead to homelessness Change the attitude of young people towards homelessness Educate young people in the management of a tenancy and raise financial awareness Raise awareness of the issues of living independently at a young age Crisis helped the LA’s to create a set of objectives to get across the aims of the project. these made up the bulk of the LA’s specification. Company that won the bid was a theatre in education organisation called Collingwood Learning, based in Shepley, outside of Huddersfield. Large portfolio of work specialising in delivering educational programmes to young people via theatre based learning Healthy relationships DV Road Safety

The role of Crisis To work in partnership with the chosen provider to: Educate young people on the issues that can lead to homelessness Educate young people in the management of a tenancy and raise financial awareness Raise awareness of the issues of living independently at a young age Within the specification the LA’s highlighted those areas of the project that Crisis would be able to support the winning bidder with

Development of the Programme Informal focus groups with Crisis members to obtain ‘real’ stories from young people experiencing homelessness Development of a script detailing three distinct, but common routes into homelessness Performance piece previewed by contributing young people and critically assessed for authenticity Final rehearsal in front of the Yps that contributed to the focus groups, they were very vocal about how things should be said and that facts were accurate

Development of the Programme Teachers packs created for follow up learning in schools Learning resources created that align with national curriculum for PHSE to encourage take up Abridged version of Crisis’s ‘Renting Ready’ course provided ‘Get Help Fast’ information on credit card flyer for every young person, tailored to the local area services Collingwood created a resource pack that aligned with curriculum for PHSE and the new subject areas around budgeting and financial capability, using Crisis’s ‘Renting Ready’ course materials and scheme of work Renting ready – 12 week accredited course aimed at equipping homeless people with the tools to access and sustain a tenancy in the PRS An abridged version was created especially for this project Aim to encourage tutors to follow up message delivered in the project and embed more underpinning learning with students The credit cards were produced so that students could keep information local to them in a wallet / purse so that even if they forgot the key message, they would have access to help in the future.

The Finished Product A live 30 minute ‘Talking Heads’ style theatre piece performed by three actors A 30 minute workshop facilitated by the actors, discussing the issues raised and possible alternative actions Teaching resource pack Get Help Fast information for every young person each of the 3 actors taking it in turns to deliver their monologue on a very basic set with just background music. Powerful impact Daniel - violent interactions with mum so told to leave and as his options run out finds himself homeless Sam - leaves the family home due to the abusive nature of her alcoholic father Mark – after his mum dies, Mark is thrown out by his step dad as he’s no longer his responsibility Students are informed that All 3 stories actually happened to people aged 16-17 who are currently living in supported hostel accommodation Workshop allowed students to recreate key passages from the dialogue and to think about how the actions of the characters impacted on their situation and what / how they could have done / acted differently to avoid the resulting situations.

Did it work? Some results from the student pre /post event evaluations Do you recognise the term ‘hidden homelessness’? pre post no 63.3% 6.51% maybe 27.34% 10.36% yes 8.62% 82.25% Collingwood designed both pre and post evaluation questionnaires for the students and teachers. These are the headline responses Yes pre only 8.62% recognised the term hidden homelessness, this rose to 82.25% afterwards They were also asked what they thought it meant and answers ranged from ‘when you can’t find a homeless person’ to Where the homeless hide Showing a clear need for the project

Did it work? If you were homeless, would you know who to turn to for help? pre post yes 51.97% 86.54% no 13.79% 2.66% not sure 25.12% 6.95% Whilst 51.97% said they would know who to turn to - more detailed responses showed that this was primarily family and friends or the police. There was little mention of the Council or named charities other than the Red Cross Post event the answers were far more specific – Council Child line Crisis Shelter Social services

Did it work? If you leave home at 16, are you entitled to a council flat / house? pre post yes 13.30% 10.50% no 11.82% 63.91% not sure 65.27% 18.93% Whilst it appears that the message is starting to get across that its no longer possible to walk into social housing, there was still a large percentage who ticked not sure which could be read as having an underlying belief that if the worst happened they wouldn’t be on the street. More worrying is the fact that even after the event, there was still a belief among some of the students that they would be housed.

Did it work? Did you enjoy the performance and workshop session? post yes 82.54% no 5.03% not sure 5.18%

Did it work? Tutor Responses: Did the event explore homelessness issues pertinent to this age group? yes 90.91% not sure 9.09% Has the project increased awareness of hidden homelessness amongst this age group? yes 81.82% not sure 9.09% Would you have the programme again next year? yes 100% Tutors were also asked to provide their comments on the project – Absolutely fantastic presentation,vry effective and gripping. Would definitely have back again and again Excellent, at a level appropriate to learners. Got their attention from the start really impressed. We will use this as a way to get learners involved in other projects Excellent great acting. Good workshop to involve them, no areas for improvement Our lot were gripped, thank you Liked the way it was delivered, good acting and good follow-up talk Learnt a lot myself about this We also received some follow up emails from the schools – One from Milton Special School –who were really pleased to be able to host an age appropriate dramatic presentation for their upper school pupils And from Dearne Valley College we were informed that the staff had been approached by a student who felt they needed support with homelessness. They stated that both staff and students had thoroughly enjoyed the event Without exception – schools would welcome further performances

Next Steps Roll out to other areas? Investigate funding opportunities from Local Authorities Central Government Grant funding Develop delivery to other age groups, e.g. primary? Long term evaluation of the project We knew this was a great idea and the feedback has confirmed that. Crisis is really enthusiastic about getting involved in proactive work around preventing homelessness and feels that this is something that as an organisation we need to promote and try and secure future funding for. We are also looking at the idea of an age appropriate version for younger students in the future We are working alongside Collingwood to draw up a project brief to make this a reality and looking at how we could assess the longer term impact of the project on the numbers of young people approaching their council as homeless.

Further information Mandy Carlson – Director of Crisis Skylight South Yorkshire mandy.carlson@crisis.org.uk Chris Simes – CEO Collingwood Learning chris@collingwoodlearning.com Chris Hancock – Head of Housing, Crisis chris.hancock@crisis.org.uk