1. Youth homelessness in the UK A review for The OVO Foundation Beth Watts Heriot-Watt

2. About the review
Aim: to provide an evidence base to inform support for and/or development of projects that effectively prevent and/or alleviate homelessness among year olds
Socio-economic and policy context
Scale and trends
Profile, causes and support needs
Gaps in the Positive Pathway and promising models
Method:
Review of academic, policy and practice literature and relevant data
Interviews/focus groups with 26 voluntary/statutory sector youth homelessness experts from across the UK

3. Context Labour market Housing market Welfare system
Youth unemployment 3x overall rate
Poverty among young people increasing faster than for older age groups
Insecure, low paid work (a third of those on zero-hours contracts are 16-24)
Under 25s excluded from new National Living Wage
Housing market
Restricting access to home ownership and social housing
Young people living at home for longer, more likely to share and more likely to live in (high rent) private rented sector
Welfare system
Cuts to housing benefit and more planned (18-21 year olds)
At greater risk of being sanctioned, leading to reliance on food banks
Budget cuts effected generic youth service provision

4. What is ‘youth homelessness’?
Rough sleeping: on the streets, in parks, cars or tents
‘Statutory’ (official) homelessness: those entitled to assistance from their local authority (those in priority need)
Non-statutory homelessness: single homeless people living in hostels, shelters and supported accommodation (non-priority)
Hidden homelessness: young people who may be considered homeless but whose situation is not ‘visible’ on the streets/in official statistics

5. Youth homelessness policy
Rehousing duty for some ‘priority’ groups; Southwark Judgement; Johnson vs. Solihull, May 2015
Increasing emphasis on preventing homelessness via Housing Options
‘Staying Put’ arrangements and extension of after care support
Investment in programmes addressing single homelessness, complex needs and rough sleeping, including several targeting youth homelessness
Restrictions to welfare entitlements of young people e.g. access to Housing Benefit, benefit sanctions and budget cuts reducing youth services

6. Scale and trends
Significant decline in levels of ‘official’ statutory homelessness since 2008/09 reflecting emphasis on prevention – by 38% in England
Recent estimate that 83,000 young people in touch with homelessness services across UK in 2013/14, higher than previous estimates (75,000 in 2006/7 and 78-80,000 in 2008/9) though not directly comparable
year olds slept rough in London in 2014/15, up 40% since 2011/12 (only 9 under 18s)
Hidden homelessness: as many as a fifth of young people have sofa-surfed in the last year; household formation among year olds down (particularly in SE/London); overcrowding among 16-24s up across GB

7. Profile, causes and support needs
Young people (3x), some Black and Minority Ethnic groups and lone parents more likely to experience homelessness than overall population
Risk factors associated with youth homelessness: disruptive experiences in the family home; poor experiences in school and being an LGBT young person.
Relationship breakdown most important immediate trigger of youth homelessness. Ending private rented tenancies driving homelessness in England.
Complex/multiple needs, especially mental health/behavioural issues and learning difficulties/disabilities. Legal highs major challenge in some parts of country

8. Positive Pathway Framework
Need for pathway of services spanning preventative/early help and a range of accommodation/support options
Gaps vary by country, region, local area

9. Prevention and early help
Universal prevention via schools, including peer educator models and workshops on positive relationships, conflict resolution etc.
Considerable support, but hard to evidence effectiveness and resource intensive
Targeted prevention focused on at risk groups/deprived areas
Improved identification of those at risk (via schools, health services, youth services, Job Centres, the police), care leavers as “captive audience”
More, better, earlier specialist mediation; and ‘whole-family’ approaches and parenting support (links with Troubled Families); respite and ‘time-out’ services – prevention of “difficult fractured” moves

10. Accommodation and support
Non-institutional ‘community hosting’ forms of emergency accommodation (e.g. Nightstop): “some kind of anecdotal theory… [but] need to really clarify what does work” (Senior manager, youth homelessness service provider, UK-wide)
High quality, small scale, well-funded supported accommodation for those with high support needs, plus development of non-congregate options i.e. Supported Lodgings and (possibly) ‘Housing First for Youth’
Support for (necessity of?) Psychologically Informed Environments/approaches
“you are being asked to deliver the same service for less money, and yet the needs are increasing and, therefore, the training and development needs are increasing in order to meet that need safely…. We don't think we've got any choice because of the nature of the problems that young people are facing. We actually have to have a more skilled workforce.” (Senior manager, youth homelessness service provider, UK-wide)

11. Longer-term accommodation
Light touch support/housing management; Low cost design and build; subsidised accommodation linked to employment
Improving access to and quality of private rented sector e.g. not for profit ‘Social lettings agencies’
Developing shared accommodation models e.g. Peer Landlord Scheme, traditional ‘lodging’, matching, landlord liaison, tenancy management, ‘cultures of sharing’
“there are care leavers that come through that don't have as high support needs… and they need to be able to have access to lower support immediately… it can sometimes have a negative effect of taking that person through peer pressure into situations that they wouldn't have needed to go into had it been a different resource” (Senior manager, youth homelessness service provider, South of England)

12. Employment Social networks
Integration of youth homelessness and employment focussed services
Some role for social enterprises. Bigger emphasis on developing links with private sector employers to provide work experience, tasters and employment opportunities and provision of in-work support (retention and progression)
Social networks
Greater emphasis on strengthening social networks of young homeless people
‘Social networks approach’ to youth homelessness through e.g. ‘goal oriented’ mentoring focused on community integration e.g. Scottish Social Networks Forum
For some with complex needs, work shouldn’t be focus. Counterproductive.
But securing accommodation for out of work young people increasingly challenging; employment also key to tackling poor outcomes post-homelessness (high debt, continuing poverty)
e.g. Vi-Ability (North Wales), Flooks Café (Wales), The Calman Trust (Scotland)
Breakdown of young people’s social networks primary driver of youth homelessness; young homeless more likely to have experienced difficult relationships; isolation can lead to repeat homelessness

13. Conclusions
No grounds for thinking youth homelessness has declined and may have increased, in context of concerted prevention efforts. Concern regarding circumstances of young people experiencing ‘hidden homelessness’
Increasingly complex needs especially around mental health/behavioural issues and learning difficulties/disabilities. ‘Legal highs’ new challenge though issues vary across the country
Range of new programmes, promising models and positive policy/legal shifts, but in context of reducing welfare entitlements and wider budget cuts and lack of evidence on relative effectiveness e.g. hostels vs. community hosting