Personalising support for rough sleepers

8-month interim research findings

The Big Event

16th March 2010

City of London Personalised Budgets project

• Offered to 15 known rough sleepers – Between 4 and 45 years sleeping out – Consistently refused standard offers– Often had poor relationships with outreach teams

• Resources available– A Personalised Budgets Co-ordinator– Personal budget of up to £3000 per person – Joseph Rowntree Foundation funded evaluation

The evaluation

• Conducted by Broadway’s research team in partnership with Lancaster University

• An action research methodology– Regular reflective meetings with Personalised Budgets

Co-ordinator– Qualitative interviews with clients – Monitoring forms showing changes in accommodation situation

and support needs

• Reporting in autumn 2010

Engagement with the project

• 12 rough sleepers have accepted a personal budget

• 11 of these have agreed action plans

• 2 people have refused a personalised budget

• 1 accepted then dropped out

Outcomes

• 10 clients are in accommodation

• 5 clients have started new benefit claims

• Clients are engaging and planning for a future

• Clients are beginning to access meaningful occupation

How the way of working brings about engagement

• ‘Personal service’ is as important as a personal budget– Working where people wish to meet, not at sleep sites – Working alone– Meeting people regularly and spending more time with them– The Personal Budget provides something new to talk about

• The perceived experience and characteristics of the Co-ordinator (eg. age) are important

• These result in client’s confidence that this is something different, sense of control, and a trusting relationship

How the way of working brings about change

• The Co-ordinator:

– Helps people define what they would like

– Provides support and encouragement

– Allays anxiety

• An action plan is agreed with responsibilities for both

client and co-ordinator

• Many actions (and positive outcomes) do not require

the use of the personal budget

The role of the personal budget in bringing about change

• Provides an incentive to go into accommodation – Eg. furniture, travel costs

• Enables a flexible response to clients’ individual needs– Eg. rent deposits, temporary accommodation while awaiting

resettlement

• Helps maintain fragile moves by responding to crisis – Eg. service charges, gas and electricity

• Enables clients to sustain change by planning for a future– Eg. clothes, courses, pre-tenancy training

Challenges

• Refusals

• Clients’ anxiety and initial difficulties with going into

accommodation

• The need for longer term support

• Getting mental health assessments

• Working with people with drug problems

Conclusions

• A successful project: 10 people in accommodation • Most long term rough sleepers do want to go in• The personal budget provides an incentive to go in,

enables a flexible response to need and to crisis, and helps people plan for a future

• The way of working (‘personal service’) can be as important as the personal budget

• Sustaining these outcomes may require long term support

• Work is now needed to explore how personalisation can be applied to a broader group of rough sleepers