1. What we Know about What Works Nicholas Pleace

2. Different forms of homelessness Innovation in service design
Overview
Different forms of homelessness
Different forms of need
Innovation in service design
Prevention
Housing First and Housing-Led
The importance of an integrated strategy
Coherence and coordination
Costs

3. Different Forms of Homelessness
The common stereotype of a homeless person exists throughout Europe
High and complex needs
Severe mental health problems
Drug and alcohol use
Poor physical health
Nuisance and criminal behaviour
Economically inactive
Male, early middle age

4. Different Forms of Homelessness
But our understanding of who this group of people are has changed
Support and treatment needs may exist before and arise during homelessness
Clear American evidence that many long- term and repeatedly homeless people with high needs, become homeless with low, or no, support/treatment needs
Some European data suggest a similar pattern

5. Different Forms of Homelessness
Women do not experience homelessness in the same ways as men
Women use relatives, friends and acquaintances to keep a roof over their head
Male domestic/gender based violence is a major cause
Exhaust informal support before seeking help
Often living without no legal or physical security, or privacy, or amenities
Evidence suggesting high support needs

6. Different Forms of Homelessness
Family homelessness
Highly gendered, relatively young
Bulk of family homelessness is women lone parents with dependent children
Poverty, poor life chances
Violence and relationship breakdown are major causes
Only a few have high or complex needs

7. Different Forms of Homelessness
Young people (16-24)
Strongly associated with disrupted childhoods
Experience of child protection/social work systems
Economic and social marginalisation
Needs can be high and complex

8. Low intensity support services Support to prevent eviction
Service Innovation
Prevention
Low intensity support services
Housing advice and information
Support to prevent eviction
Financial
Legal
Practical

9. Housing access schemes
Service Innovation
Prevention
Support services
For people with higher needs
Case management, service brokerage
Direct practical support
Housing access schemes
Not ‘prevention’ technically, but rapid re-housing
Social lettings schemes, rent deposit/bond schemes, assistance with rent

10. Service Innovation Housing-Led services Housing First Ordinary housing
Combined with floating (mobile/peripatetic) support
Low to medium support
Housing First
Of which more in the next presentation
Related approaches, particularly Critical Time Intervention

11. Service innovation Common aspects to all these service models
Based on recognising diversity of need
Providing a bespoke/tailored response
Supporting strengths, recognising and respecting the views of homeless people
Flexible, non-judgemental
Essentially reflecting best practice in health and social care systems

12. Service innovation
Clear evidence that services that focus on making an individual ‘housing ready’ in an institutional setting are less effective
Mass of data from EU/OECD studies on Housing First, CTI
Person centred, flexible, tolerant services are more effective in preventing/ending homelessness and more cost effective

13. Integrated Strategies
Thinking about homelessness across Europe has tended to be at the level of individual services or service models
Truly strategic thinking is less common and tends to be at the level of individual cities or regions
There are integrated national strategies, e.g. Finland

14. Integrated Strategies
An effective strategy is a comprehensive strategy
Recognising different forms of homelessness
Different sets of needs to be met
Directly (South and East)
Interagency coordination (North West)
And which is coordinated with health, social care and criminal justice systems

15. Homeless Families
Some support needs will be present, but high support needs are unusual
Facilitate access to suitable, affordable, adequate housing
Preventative services
Rapid re-housing when homelessness has occurred
Access to training, education, employment

16. Young people
Support needs can be high
Both preventative and homelessness services will need to provide support and treatment
An element of ‘parenting’ in a broad sense
Access to training, education, employment
Emphasis on social integration

17. Lone Women May not use existing homelessness services
Alternatives that allow women to retain or secure an independent home
Prevention and rapid re-housing
Support will need to be intensive in some cases
Recognition of the role of domestic violence in causation of homelessness is important

18. Lone Men Prevention is crucial
Evidence that men deteriorate when homelessness is not resolved
Costs increase, potentially dramatically, when homelessness is not rapidly resolved
Good evidence on how to end recurrent/long term homelessness
Housing First
CTI

19. Needs may be high for some But many economic migrants are young
Complex area
Needs may be high for some
Asylum seekers and refugees
But many economic migrants are young
Crucial balance is between humanitarian responses and maintenance of border controls
Political risks

20. Integrated Strategy
Prevention
Emergency accommodation
Housing-Led, Housing First, CTI
High intensity services for most complex needs

21. Housing Must pay attention to housing supply
Does not matter how comprehensive
how effective
how well tested
how integrated, a strategy is…
If there is nowhere adequate, affordable and secure to house families and individuals
A strategy, indeed an individual service, will always be limited in effectiveness if housing supply is not in place.

22. Do nothing…

23. An Effective Integrated Homelessness Strategy
Will at least partially pay for itself
There may even be savings which can be redeployed elsewhere
UK spent £600 million in 2016 on temporary accommodation for statutory homeless people in London alone
Upwards of an additional £1 billion on other homelessness services/homelessness related spending (health, criminal justice) in 2016
Because systems to prevent and resolve homelessness rapidly were not in place

24. Thanks for Listening Nicholas Pleace
Deputy Director, Centre for Housing Policy
European Observatory on Homelessness
Women’s Homelessness in Europe Network