1. Supporting inclusive workplaces for everyone
Health Related Pathways to Work Project
Michaela Des Forges
Policy Manager, Homeless Link
Let’s end homelessness together

2. Outline Who we are Homeless Link Health and Wellbeing Alliance
Overview of the project
Employer Directory
Employer Pilot
Pathways to Work toolkits
PIE approach
5 key elements
Pathways to Work
Project timing
How to get involved
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3. Homeless Link
Homeless Link is the national membership organisation for agencies working with people experiencing homelessness and the wider supported housing sector.
Our vision is a country free of homelessness where everybody has a place to call home and the support they need to keep it.
We achieve this through:
advice and support
information, research and training
influencing
networking and events.
We support front line homelessness organisations to improve the way they work with people experiencing homelessness and campaign to change perceptions of homelessness and the people it affects.
We achieve this through:
Advice and support - we share good practice from the front line, helping others to improve the quality of their work; we develop new products that we can help improve services; and our national and regional teams offer support, advice, consultancy and tools to help improve services.
Information, research and training - we provide access to up-to-date information, including good practice toolkits, research, sector news and policy updates. We pilot new approaches to tackling homelessness and support staff to improve their skills through training.
Influencing - we work with local and national Government to improve the policies that affect people experiencing homelessness.
Networking and events - through our national, regional and online events we provide professionals with the opportunity to network with others in the sector - sharing knowledge, experiences and solutions.
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4. Health and Wellbeing Alliance
The Alliance is partnership between voluntary sectors and the health and care system to provide a voice and improve the health and wellbeing for all communities.
The Alliance is made up of 21 members that represent communities who share protected characteristics or that experience health inequalities.
It is jointly managed by the Department of Health and Social Care, Public Health England and NHS England.
The Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Health and Wellbeing Alliance is a key element of the Health and Wellbeing Programme. The Alliance has been established to:
facilitate integrated working between the voluntary and statutory sectors
support a two way flow of information between communities, the VCSE sector and policy leads
amplify the voice of the VCSE sector and people with lived experience to inform national policy
facilitate co-produced solutions to promote equality and reduce health inequalities.
It includes: Citizen’s Advice, Clinks, Nacro, Friends, Families and Travellers, Mental Health Consortium, National LGB&T Partnership, Maternity Action, and Age UK.
The Health and Wellbeing Programme was launched in April 2017 and is the place where the Department of Health, NHS England and Public Health England work together with VCSE organisations to drive transformation of health and care systems; promote equality; address health inequalities and help people, families and communities to achieve and maintain wellbeing.
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5. Overview of the project
It is an Alliance project, led by Homeless Link and Win/Win Alliance and involving Employment Related Services Association and Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM).
The project will produce resources to help employers embed good practice approaches supporting disabled people, people with long term health conditions and/or people from protected characteristic groups towards, into and to stay in work.
It is an Alliance project, led by Homeless Link and Win/Win Alliance (a consortium which includes Disability Rights UK, Shaping Our Lives, CHANGE and the National Survivor and User Network) and involving Employment Related Services Association and Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) and eight other Alliance members as well - the LGBT Consortium, Race Equality Foundation, Friends, Families and Travellers, Maternity Action, Age UK, Faith Action, Mental Health Consortium, and the Men’s Health Forum.
It is being supported by PHE’s Health and Work team to work towards inclusive workplaces for everyone. The project will produce resources to help employers to embed good practice approaches supporting disabled people, people with long term health conditions and people with protected characteristics, as defined by the Equalities Act 2010 (age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation) towards, into and to stay in work. The work will also seek to address the needs of homeless people, those with experience of poor mental health, people in contact with the criminal justice system and people with experience of substance misuse.
The project aims to ensure that when looking to get into work, there are clear accessible employment options and processes in place to make a smooth transition, whilst being able to access flexible working (and other reasonable adjustments) in order to manage the long term condition, and be effective in the workplace.
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6. Employer Directory
Central to the work is developing an Employer Directory to highlight ‘national and local pathways to work’.
We are currently looking for examples of national and local employment support initiatives and “success stories”.
The good practice and success stories will be brought together as an online Directory that will be shared with employers, to be hosted on the ERSA website.
Central to the work is developing an Employer Directory to highlight ‘national and local pathways to work’. As part of this project we are issuing a Call for Evidence for examples of national and local employment support initiatives and “success stories” helping people towards, into and to stay in work. The good practice and success stories will be brought together as a Directory that will be shared with employers. This will be grouped so it will be easy to find programmes and initiatives that could work for an organisation want to support someone.
A good example is…
Our call for evidence is open till to Friday 19 October 2018 so if you have any good examples, please get in contact with me or visit our website and send them through. We are particularly interested in organisations which use reflective practice and/or an understanding of the impact trauma can have on a person’s emotions and behaviour.
Let’s end homelessness together

7. Employer pilot programme
We are inviting employers across the voluntary, community, social enterprise and the public sectors to commit to being part of a pilot programme.
It is aimed at embedding positive attitudes towards employing and supporting people with long term conditions and disabled people.
If you are interested in this initiative, or if you would like more information, please contact Philipa Bragman, CEO of CHANGE at or
We are encouraging members of the pilot to commit to employing at least one person with a long term health condition and/or disability. If you are interested in this initiative, or if you would like more information, please contact Philipa Bragman, CEO of CHANGE at or
Let’s end homelessness together

8. Pathways to Work toolkits
Using the Psychologically Informed Environment (PIE) framework, we will develop Pathways to Work toolkits aimed at employers in both the voluntary and public sectors.
The toolkits will be developed with the six pilot employers and co-produced with people with lived experience.
The toolkits will provide “road maps” to best practice in embedding a PIE approach across their recruitment and employment processes.
This project will include a toolkit which supports employers to implement a psychologically informed approach - a framework for working with people who have experienced repeated adverse life events.
The Pathways to Work toolkit for public sector employers and the voluntary and community sector will sit alongside the electronic Directory of Employment Support Programmes.
The development of the Pathways to Work toolkits will be led by Claire Ritchie, an expert in the PIE framework.
Let’s end homelessness together

9. Psychologically Informed Environment
A Psychologically Informed Environment is one that takes into account the thinking, emotions, personalities and past experience - of its participants in the way that it operates.
It’s an approach to supporting people who have experienced complex trauma and adverse childhood experiences.
It also considers the psychological needs of staff working with challenging behaviours.
Psychological trauma is increasingly seen as a public health issue, requiring an appropriate response, increased understanding and sensitivity. Originally developed for the homeless sector its principles are transferrable and beneficial to a variety of other fields. The PIE framework is not prescriptive, each element can be achieved in a variety of ways, tailored to the specific service.
Putting relationships at the heart of service provision can make the real difference between success and failure in attempts to support people out of homelessness.
It also considers the psychological needs of staff working with challenging behaviours: developing trauma related skills and knowledge thereby increasing motivation, job satisfaction and resilience.
Let’s end homelessness together

10. Psychologically Informed Environment
A PIE has 5 elements:
A psychological framework
Relationships
Staff support and training
The physical environment
Evidence generating practice
Trauma informed care can be used as a psychological framework for PIE. It helps us to understand the impact of trauma and adverse childhood experiences over a person’s lifetime.
1. A psychological framework: using psychological approaches, tools and models to support and inform our interventions e.g. Trauma Informed Care, a strengths-based approach, cognitive behavioural coaching. TIC asks how actions may re-traumatise people, and re evaluate each element of their service design and delivery through the lens of trauma.
2. Relationships: staff use therapeutic style relationships to build trust and provide consistency to ensure people feel psychologically safe, a prerequisite to change. This can be supported by adaptations, to policies and procedures such as referral, assessment and support planning.
3. Staff support and training: working with people who exhibit challenging behaviour or are reluctant to engage, can be emotionally draining and frustrating. Becoming a PIE encourages this behaviour to be viewed from a different perspective, one of trauma. PIE services intentionally support staff to build emotional resilience in working with such behaviours and embed reflective practice. This leads to greater staff competence, confidence and commitment, reducing burn-out, increasing motivation.
4. The physical environment: there’s a wealth of evidence showing that people’s behaviour is influenced by the physical environment. How lighting, colours, temperature and design, for example, can impact on actions and mood, whether an individual feels psychologically safe or threatened. PIE applies this understanding to shaping the design and delivery of services working with vulnerable people.
5. Evidence generating practice: measuring and evaluating the impact of changes implemented. Have they had the intended impact? Do they need to be modified? What have we achieved? What have we learned?
We will include these approaches in the Toolkit providing advice, guidance and resources which support a psychologically informed environment using trauma informed care and strengths-based practice as psychological frameworks influencing the 5 elements of PIE.
Let’s end homelessness together

11. Project timing Call for evidence for Directory – October 2018.
Development of Pathway to Work toolkit using PIE approach – November 2018.
Workshops with employers and people with lived experience from across protected characteristics groups, to discuss and shape the resources – October 2018 to January 2019.
Final resources launched March 2019.
Keep an eye out for the resources on the ESRA website -
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12. How to get involved Employer Directory
Please return examples to by Friday 19 October 2018.
Employer pilot programme
Contact Philipa Bragman, CEO of CHANGE at or
Contact me at:
We have a template that you can find a link to on our website – under our Health and Wellbeing Alliance latest update blog.
For the employer pilot programme you can find out more information on the CHANGE website under employers network blog.
Let’s end homelessness together

13. What we do Homeless Link www.homeless.org.uk
Homeless Link is the national membership charity for organisations working directly with people who become homeless or who live with multiple and complex support needs. We work to improve services and campaign for policy change that will help end homelessness and secure a sustainable future for supported housing.
Homeless Link
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