Sitra bulletin 2013 no 6

www.sitra.org

bulletinTHE MAGAZINE FOR HOUSING WITH CARE, HEALTH AND SUPPORT 2013 – NO.6

The end of the ASBO?The Anti-social Crimeand Policing Bill2013-2014

Mappingthe benefitlandscape

Housing supportservices?

Building acrossEurope

Housing First

02 bulletin 2013 No.6 www.sitra.org

Contents

03 CEO’s Comment

04 Mapping the benefit landscapeGeoffrey Ferres

06 Is there any scope for personalising housing support?Burcu Borysik and Sue Baxter

07 Innovation and capacity building across EuropeRay Naicker

08 The end of the ASBO? The Anti-social Crime and Policing Bill Roselee Molloy

10 Housing First – the first move from homelessnessNicholas Pleace and Joanne Bretherton, from the Centre for Housing Policy atYork University discuss Camden Housing First, an innovative pilot projectdeveloped by SHP and funded by Camden Council.

Cover Story

The end of the ASBO?The Anti-social Crimeand Policing Bill2013-2014

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Sitra StaffChief ExecutiveVic RaynerDeputy Chief ExecutiveLisa HarrisonPolicy OfficersAdam Knight-MarkiegiGeoffrey FerresSue BaxterPolicy and Research Co-ordinatorsDani CohenBurcu BorysikBusiness Development Manager Kathleen Egan

Contracts OfficersAnna RobertsonWendy GreenBusiness SupportLana LewisSarah PinkHelen NorthoverHead of Finance & Central ServicesBerihu MohammedFinance OfficerRay NaickerFinance AssistantAlison Quinn

Office Co-ordinatorGill CottonCentral SupportMonica AntolinInternsRoselee MalloyAlice CheatleJordan GerlackGeorgina Gorton

Health & Social Care Partnership, part of Sitra

www.hscpartnership.org.uk

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03THE MAGAZINE FOR HOUSING WITH CARE, HEALTH AND SUPPORT

CEO’s Comment

Getting Personal

Vic RaynerChief ExecutiveEmail: [email protected]

Stay in touch with us on TwitterFollow us @sitrapolicy@sitratraining @Health_SocialCP

Keep up to date with our BlogKeep up with developments and add to the debateat Sitra CEO’s blog at www.sitraceo.wordpress.com

About SitraSitra is a membership organisation championing excellence in housing, support and care.

Membership benefits include discounts on all services and events, access to free advice, an annual subscription to the bulletinand regular briefings on key policy developments in the sector. Sitra works with local and central government to ensure thatthe needs of its members are recognised, understood and met by resource providers. If you would like to join Sitra pleasecontact the Membership Administrator on 020 7793 4710 and ask for an application form, or download one fromwww.sitra.orgContent ©2013 SITR (Services) Ltd except where stated, All right reserved. All images © individual photographers & illustrators. Opinions expressed by individuals writers are not necessarilythose of Sitra or the magazine’s Editorial Team. E&OE. Design: Aquatint BSC 020 8947 8571 www.aquatint.co.uk

Goodbye 2013………….

Personalisation remains a key agenda item for Sitra, and as the official end to the Right toControl Trailblazers passed on the 13th December, we are busy exploring just how muchpersonalisation has become embedded in the agendas of local authority commissioners.

In a study supported by the DCLG, Sitra colleagues have been conducting phoneinterviews with LA commissioners across the country. The research will be published in

the New Year,

We have begun work on the project to develop core competences for Housing Supportacross Europe. The first stage of this is an exciting research project by the University ofYork scoping out the shape of supported housing provision across Europe, and the kindsof training intervention developed to support practitioners across the countries involved.In February Sitra will be hosting the first kick off meeting bringing together partners from

Greece, Slovenia, Italy, France, Denmark, Ireland, Belgium, Finland and UK. If you areinterested to hear more about this exciting project to develop core training and

competences embedded with coproduction, then do contact me for more details.

This edition also provides an update on the research carried out by Sitra between July andSeptember, which focussed on 6 localities across England, scoping the housing costs ofworking age tenants in supported housing. The research reflects on the value of existingdata sources and finds that in its current form, it is insufficient in understanding the scopeof the whole sector. In addition it brings to light the level of mixed communities that existwithin supported housing, finding levels of working age adults in sheltered provision and

similarly older people in mental health services. We will continue to focus on thisresearch, and how it can be used to contribute towards the longer term solution to dealing

with supported housing costs under the government’s programme for welfare reform.

Reforms to Anti Social Behaviour legislation has been a hotly debated topic – and Sitra arekeen to ensure members are kept upto date with these changes. Rose from our policyand research team discusses the new legislation in advance of a new Sitra briefing and

information session in the New Year. She focusses on key components of the lawincluding the thrust to deliver justice to victims and to use the legislation as a tool to

empower communities.

Finally – this edition gives you a further update on Housing First. Riding on the back of thesuccess of a recent breakfast briefing, this update directs you to resources to expand yourunderstanding of this approach to working to a Housing First model. In addition, it picks up

on approaches to Housing First in Wales, broadening understanding across the UK.

2014 beckons, and I wish you all best wishes for the festive season.


The Government keeps saying itthinks the best way to handle theproblem of helping with theadditional costs of supportedhousing for people of working age infuture is to keep those costs out ofUniversal Credit and give theresponsibility in England to localauthorities – while allowingScotland, Wales and NorthernIreland to run their own nationalschemes if they wish.

So we thought our research wouldhelp test how easy it is to establish:l What specialist housing forvulnerable people there is, whoruns it and who it’s for

l How much Housing Benefit isgoing to supported housingtenants of working age.

The Government’s 2011consultation1 showed it did notknow then and it has not doneanything since to find out. Butwithout answers to these questions,can a new system be properlydesigned and safely implemented?And whatever the merits of anysystem the Government proposes, ifit cannot be sure how much

Housing Benefit is being spent, howcan it hand over the correct amountto whoever is to take over theresponsibility?

From our study and additionalanalysis we have conducted, wehave found there are some prettyserious obstacles to theGovernment getting any reform rightat the moment. We found:l Specialist housing for vulnerablepeople cannot be mapped usingexisting databases – either ontheir own or in any combination

l Housing Benefit data on exemptstatus is incomplete and variable

l There is not a neat separationbetween provision for people overand under pension age thatmirrors the Government’sseparate approach to benefits forthese two groups.

Existing databases

Whilst the Homes and CommunitiesAgency collects and publishes dataannually from all providersregistered with it on what it definesas “supported housing” and

“housing for older people”, there isno corresponding data for localauthorities. Where local authoritieshave retained stock, they can be themain providers of specialist housingfor vulnerable people in their ownarea because they often have ahuge amount of sheltered housingfor older people.

Local authorities’ sheltered housingis usually recorded in the ElderlyAccommodation Counsel’s fantasticdatabase2 but not their supportedhousing. Local authority shelteredand supported housing is eveninvisible in Housing Benefit databecause it can never count as“exempt accommodation”.3

Benefit data

This is not the only problem withHousing Benefit data. New statisticsare being gathered monthly fromHousing Benefit departments by theGovernment but we found localauthorities are as confused aslandlords and support providersabout what is and what is notexempt accommodation – the rule is

Civil servants have already made a start on preparing a new consultation on what is tohappen to Housing Benefit for supported housing when Housing Benefit has beenabolished – still, officially, only four years away. Sitra’s Geoffrey Ferres looks at a piece ofresearch conducted by Sitra that aimed to inform the debate that lies ahead.

Mappingthe benefitlandscape


complicated and the processing ofclaims does not always give theHousing Benefit departmentinformation on who receives supportand whether they receive it fromtheir landlord.

Mixed communities

Of course, you don’t findpensioners in teenage parentservices, but we found significantnumbers of people of working ageliving in sheltered housing and – toour surprise – of people overpension age in supported housingfor people with mental healthproblems. So it will create a mess ifthe replacement of Housing Benefitis handled separately in UniversalCredit and Pension Credit: theyneed to be considered together.

Local variation

We also found that benefit-eligiblerents in sheltered housing tend to belower than those for any other kind of

specialist housing for vulnerablepeople. That could be a strongargument for leaving ordinarysheltered housing rents in UniversalCredit – and the rent element ofPension Credit (which has not yetbeen designed)4. If this happened,there would be hardly any specialisthousing in many areas to cover in anynew system: even many of the morerural of the newer unitary authoritieshave hardly any specialist housing forvulnerable people apart fromsheltered housing for older people.

We found that supported housingfor socially excluded groups isheavily concentrated in majorpopulation centres. In Homes andCommunities Agency data less than10% of local authorities have about40% of supported housing – a groupthat includes over a dozen Londonboroughs, the eight members of theCore Cities group5 and a few otherauthorities like Bradford, Brightonand Southampton.

This also suggests the right amountof funding would not reach the right

local authorities unless it werebased on historic data rather thanthe supposedly needs-based modelsnormally used for allocatingGovernment funding to localauthorities. Otherwise, theauthorities with large amounts ofsupported housing would feelthemselves shortchanged.

From what we can see, the chancesof the Government coming up witha new model in which the housingcare and support world can haveconfidence may present challengesfor the year ahead.

1 Department for Work and Pensions, 2011.Housing Benefit Reform – SupportedHousing. Proposals for change in the wayHousing Benefit assists those living insupported housing within the social andVoluntary sector with their rent. Ananalysis of the responses to thisconsultation has yet to be published.

2 Available at: www.housingcare.org3 The only exception is housing provided bylocal authorities that have no housingresponsibilities – English shire countiessuch as Kent.

4 Extra Care sheltered rents tended to bemuch higher than ordinary sheltered rents.

5 This group, formed in 1995, consists of:Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool,Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham andSheffield.

January-March 2014 Training Guide is now available.http://bit.ly/Sitratraining14You can use the calendar to find the training or event that is right for you! If you cannot find what you are looking for contactGeorgina Gorton for more information at [email protected] or call 020 7793 4713.

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Sitra Training

5


Is there anyscope forpersonalisinghousing supportservices?

Sitra has been commissioned by DCLG to scope the sector response to implementingpersonalisation in housing related support services/ The research will be based oninterviews with HRS commissioners across 152 local authorities of England.

This study will identify:l How housing supportcommissioners are respondingto the challenges of offeringclients in their locality morechoice and control

l How personalised currentservices are

l What the scope for furtherdevelopment of personalisationacross the sector is

This study will ascertaincommissioners’ views andexperiences of:l Different models, including butnot limited to personal budgets

l Barriers to implementpersonalisation in housingsupport

All names of authorities andcommissioners will beanonymised.

31 October 2013

Housing Related Support: Personalisation Scoping Study

I am writing to ask you to take part in a small research project which Sitra isundertaking on behalf of the Department of Communities and Local Government. Theproject is to examine how local authorities are exploring approaches to personalisationin the commissioning of housing related support services (HRS) (also known asSupporting People services).

As you probably know, Sitra is an umbrella organisation for practitioners in housingwith care and support, with considerable expertise in this field. We havecommissioned Sitra to conduct the study to support the Government’s policy of thepersonalisation of services The aim of the study is to identify from the commissioners’perspective the benefits or otherwise of different forms of personalisation and thebarriers which may prevent wider adoption of the approach; the study will also suggestideas about how barriers might be overcome. This work will complement other workSitra is doing on our behalf including identifying, collecting and disseminating goodpractice being developed by providers.

I fully appreciate there are many demands on an authorities’ time but I hope you willbe able to support this study. The research will take the form of a 20 minute telephoneinterview.

You should discuss any detailed issues concerning the study with Sitra, though wewould be very happy to talk through any background to this work or any generalquestions you may have. Contact Corinne Gray in my team on 0303 444 2014 ore-mail at [email protected].

Many thanks in advance for your co-operation in this study

Yours sincerely

Paul DownieHead of Homelessness &Support Division

If you are interestedin taking part in thepersonalisationresearch, pleasecontact Burcu –[email protected] orSue – [email protected]


In January 2013, Sitra in partnershipwith 13 organisations based across9 EU countries including EASPDwon the bid for a project within theLeonardo da Vinci Transfer ofInnovation 2013 call. The projectstart date is 1st October 2013 andwill run for two years.

The project is called European CoreLearning Outcomes for Integration ofSupport and Housing or ELOSH.

European Core Learning Outcomesfor Integration of Support andHousing was developed in responseto reports published by the EuropeanExpert Group on the Transition fromInstitutional to Community BasedCare and CEDEFOP (EuropeanCentre for the Development ofVocational Training).1

This is an on-going process in theEU and to achieve this, the projectwill identify and strengthen key staffcompetences across the housingand support sector and seek toimprove services in the face ofpolicy and societal changes.

The availability of trained personnelto work in the community will affecthow quickly new services can beput in place. Most importantly, well-trained and motivated personnel canensure that institutional practicesare not replicated in communitysettings. This chapter outlines aprocess of workforce developmentthat countries can follow whilemoving from institutional tocommunity-based services in orderto sustain the provision of qualityservices in the community.

Giving service usersvoice and choice

The project will transfer innovativelearning outcomes and trainingmaterials that have been developed

by Sitra and will be underpinned byand promote co-production principles.Partners will blend and adapt theseinnovative learning outcomes andmaterials to create an adaptableEuropean pack. The European packwill be tested in 7 countries byhousing and support providers,working with training providers andservice users. Hence, principles of co-production is recognised as central toELOSH amongst all partners and willbe firmly embedded to develop andstimulate growing demand for thistype of CVET across the EuropeanUnion.

Capacity building acrossEurope

The project will be split into six workprogrammes to deliver a series ofpre-defined objectives and willultimately take the form of a trainingpack which will also be available asan online resource for a wideraudience. The project will evaluatelearning and identify next steps forembedding outcomes in relevantEuropean, national and regionalsystems and processes. It will beundertaken by a consortium ofpartners at EU and national level,including providers of housing andsupport services for vulnerablegroups; providers of training forfrontline staff and managers in these

services; service users; andresearch institutions. The outcomescould also be adapted to train arange of related stakeholders suchas local, regional and national levelpolicymakers and funders.

Project updateThe University of York willprepare a report on support andhousing services in Europefollowing the first EU partnermeeting. The report will alsoinclude references to theavailability of training for staffof housing services.

The methodology of the project. 1 To think about the range and

the nature of supportservices and look at differentmodels

2 To map the support servicesavailable and thetraining/qualificationsavailable to staff

A 30 page report will beavailable by mid-January 2014.We will then identify the corecompetencies from thisresearch report which will bediscussed at the second partnermeeting inFebruary.

Innovation and capacitybuilding across Europe Sitra’s first EU project application approved for funding, announced Sitra’s Ray Naicker.

The project will address the need forContinuous Vocational Education and Training(CVET) on the integration of support andhousing for vulnerable people; driven by twokey processes in the sector:deinstitutionalisation and personalisation.

“

”1 © European Expert Group on the Transition from Institutional to Community-based Care,November 2012 http://deinstitutionalisationguide.eu/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/2012-12-07-Guidelines-11-123-2012-FINAL-WEB-VERSION.pdf


Anti-social behaviour laws are getting a dramatic overhaul with an emphasis onempowering victims and getting perpetrators to address the causes of their behaviour.Sitra’s Rose Molloy provides a summary of what’s changing.

The Anti-social Behaviour, Crimeand Policing Bill is moving throughParliament at speed and isexpected to receive Royal Assentin the Spring. It will mean the endof the Anti-Social Behaviour Order(ASBO), the Anti-Social BehaviourInjunction (ASBI) and the raft oflegislation currently governing anti-social behaviour (ASB). These toolsare being replaced with six newpowers which are intended tostreamline the process and bringswift justice to victims whilerequiring offenders to address theunderlying causes of their anti-social behaviour:1. The Injunction Against Nuisanceand Annoyance (IPNA)

2. The Criminal Behaviour Order(CBO)

3. A new Absolute Ground foreviction and two newdiscretionary grounds foreviction

4. Dispersal powers for the police 5. Public space, communityprotection and closure orders

6. Community Trigger andCommunity Remedy to aidvictims of ASB

The Injunction AgainstNuisance andAnnoyance

The IPNA will replace ASBIs,drinking banning orders onapplication (DBO), interventionorders, individual support ordersand ASBOs on application. It is acivil injunction but arrest is availablein some circumstances. Registeredproviders will be able to file for anIPNA when there is anti-socialactivity that relates to, or affectstheir housing managementfunction. In stark contrast toexisting ASB laws, an IPNA canrequire the offender to attendtreatment or otherwise address theunderlying causes of their anti-social behaviour. However the newlaw is silent on who will pay forthese ‘positive’ requirements.

The Criminal BehaviourOrder

The CBO replaces the ASBO onconviction and BDO on conviction.It can only be applied for by the

Crown Prosecution Service and isonly available following a criminalconviction. Along with prohibitingcertain activities, a CBO can alsoimpose positive requirements onan offender. Examples of positiverequirement include drug or alcoholtreatment, responsible dogownership classes or angermanagement. Again, funding forpositive requirements has not beenidentified. Another significantdifference from the ASBO is thatthe CBO does not require that theOrder be ‘necessary’ but merelythat the Order ‘help prevent’ anti-social behaviour.

New Grounds forPossession

The law gives private and sociallandlords a new ‘absolute ground’for possession which aims to speedup the eviction process in cases ofanti-social behaviour. Under thisground the court must grant theorder for possession if the tenant (ora member of their family or guest)has been convicted of a serious

The end of the ASBO?The Anti-social Crime andPolicing Bill 2013-2014


offence or ASB. In effect, a landlordcould regain possession of aproperty by simply showing thecourt that a secured tenant hasbreached a CBO. However, whenthe landlord is a public authority (oracting as a public authority) theabsolute ground is vulnerable to ahuman rights defence and showingthat the eviction is a proportionateresponse.

In addition, there will be two newdiscretionary grounds for eviction:riot-related offences and anti-socialbehaviour directed towards alandlord or their staff. With riotrelated offences, a landlord couldseek possession if the tenant (ormember of the tenant’s family orguest) has been convicted of riotrelated offences anywhere in theUK, regardless of locality. Under thesecond new discretionary ground, alandlord could file for possession ifthe tenant (or member of thetenant’s family or guest) was foundguilty of ASB against the landlord,their contractors or staff, regardlessof locality. As with the absoluteground, these new discretionarygrounds would be subject to ahuman rights defence ofproportionality.

Dispersal Powers,Community ProtectionNotices, Public SpaceProtection Orders andClosure Orders

The dispersal powers enable thepolice to ban a person from a publicarea for up to 48 hours based on areasonable suspicion that theirbehaviour has caused alarm,harassment or distress. TheCommunity Protection Notice canbe issued by registered providers orpolice or local authority. It replaceslitter clearing notices, defacementremoval notices and street littercontrol notices. The Public SpaceProtection Order allows the localauthority to prohibit activities in aspecified area. It replaces alcohol-control zones, dog-control ordersand gating orders. Closure ordersallow the police to close a propertythat is at the heart of anti-socialactivity, such as a drug house.

Victim Empowerment

Empowering communities anddelivering justice to victims is a keycomponent of the law. To that end,the Community Trigger allows local,multi-agency panels to reviewcases and implement solutionsswiftly and completely. Everylocality will have a communitytrigger panel with members fromthe police, local authority, healthteams and housing providers. Thisgroup can approach the problem onmultiple fronts to provide lastingsolutions for the victim and thewhole community. The law requiresthe panel to inform and consult thevictim at each stage and the victimhas the right to appeal any decisionof the panel.

Community remedies are anotherarea were victims and providerscan come together with the policeto develop a comprehensivesolution to ASB. A ‘menu’ ofcommunity remedies will bedeveloped locally, incorporating theideals of restorative justice. Theseremedies will be available for low-level crime and ASB as analternative to a conditional cautionor more formal police action. Someexamples of community remediesinclude: mediation, acceptablebehaviour contracts, structuredactivities (mentorship programs), orreparation to the community (doinglocal unpaid work for up to 10hours). The victim would need tobe consulted on which communityremedy would be offered, though

the police make the final decisionon proportionality.

Other provisions

The law also addresses a myriad ofdisparate issues including:increasing the penalties for forcedmarriage, extending the reach ofdangerous dog laws to privateproperty, modifying sexual harmprevention orders, and increasingthe penalties for firearmspossession.

What can providers andresidents expect?

It is clear that residents andproviders of social housing must beactive participants if this newapproach is to reach its potential andreduce ASB. Providers will need todedicate staff resources to trainingin the new IPNA and CBO systemas well as having an on-going staffcommitment to community triggerpanels. Residents will need tofamiliarise themselves with the newcommunity trigger procedures andprovide input on the communityremedy options in their area.Residents will also need tocomment on proposed PublicSpace Orders, CommunityProtection Orders. What is less clearis how often the court will imposepositive requirements onperpetrators of ASB and howeffective the absolute ground foreviction will be.

Sitra Breakfast BriefingAt the time of writing, The Anti-social Crime and Policing Bill isin the Committee Stage atthe House of Lords andnumerous substantiveamendments have beenproposed. We will provideupdates at the briefing, onthe Sitra website and in afinal summary once it issigned into law. Contact [email protected] toregister for our February briefingon how anti-social behaviour laws

are changing and how these mightaffect your organisation.


This evaluation found that CamdenHousing First was achievinghousing stability among a group ofpeople with sustained and recurrentexperiences of homelessness, highrates of severe mental illness andpoor physical health, histories ofanti-social behaviour, criminality andsustained worklessness and oftenhighly problematic use of drugs andalcohol. Many had not lived in theirown home for many years or everlived independently. Most wereaged in their late 30s and 40s. Theextensive use of hostels andsupported housing by this group ofservice users over many years hadbeen, cumulatively, very financiallyexpensive.

Achieving benefits

Alongside achieving housingstability, Camden Housing Firstservice users also achieved gains inwell-being, reductions in drug andalcohol use and anti-social behaviourand increases in engagement withtreatment. The relatively intensive,flexible, tolerant and respectfulways in which support wasdelivered by Camden Housing Firstwas viewed very positively byservice users.

While not a low-cost service, therewas evidence that Camden HousingFirst was an efficient use offinancial resources. Sustainingchronically homeless people in their

SHP and CamdenHousing First:A Successful Pilotof ‘Housing First’in London

Nicholas Pleace and Joanne Bretherton, from the Centre for Housing Policy at YorkUniversity discuss Camden Housing First, an innovative pilot project developed by SHPand funded by Camden Council.

readiness in other respects. Serviceusers were provided with housingunder their own tenancy in theprivate rented sector, with mobilesupport services being offered tothem to help successfully sustaintheir new tenancies.

Two specialist support workers,with a caseload of five people each,provided mobile ‘intensive casemanagement’ (ICM) services duringand following the rehousingprocess. Support was open-ended,within, the confines of the pilotprojects two year duration.Alongside direct practical,informational and emotionalsupport, the support workers alsofacilitated access to any care, healthor other support required. Thisincluded working with the serviceuser to tackle issues including poorsocial supports, isolation andboredom. As in other Housing Firstservices, a harm reduction approachwith a recovery orientation wasused, supporting engagement withtreatment and drug and alcoholservices, but never making this arequirement.

Evaluation

An independent evaluation ofCamden Housing First, supportedby the University of York and SITRA,was conducted over 18 months bythe Centre for Housing Policy at theUniversity of York.

Drawing on the approach pioneeredby Pathways to Housing in NewYork, Camden Housing First isfocused on chronically homelesspeople. These are peoplecharacterised by recurrent,sustained homelessness with highrates of problematic drug andalcohol use, severe mental illness,long term worklessness and poorphysical health.

Camden Housing First targetedpeople who had been ‘stuck’ in theCamden hostels pathway for atleast three years. Other HousingFirst projects have been used toreplace similar, hostel-based,systems designed to train andsupport chronically homelesspeople to become housing readyand able to live more independentlywithin the community. However,Camden Housing First wasdesigned to help chronicallyhomeless people who had notcompleted the existing Camdenhostel pathway to housingreadiness, i.e. they had never beenassessed as reaching a point wherethey could live more independently.

As with other Housing Firstservices, Camden Housing Firstwas designed to very quicklyprovide service users with a settledhome without any requirement thatto comply with psychiatric or othermedical treatment, stop using drugsor alcohol (where that was an issue)or to demonstrate housing


own homes was being achieved forno more, and sometimes markedlyless, expenditure than keepingthem in hostels and temporarysupported housing.

The Camden Housing First projecthad faced some challenges.The project, unlike other HousingFirst pilots elsewhere in London,did not have priority access tosocial housing. This meant areliance on finding private rentedflats with rent levels that would becovered by Housing Benefit.Given the clients’ high needs andinstances, of historic anti-socialbehaviour, Camden Housing Firstdid not house service users ingroups. This meant securingaffordable private-rented one-bedroomed flats across London,a process that initially presentedmany hurdles.

Building Relationships

The specialist support workersworked intensively to form workingrelationships with letting agents,persuading and reassuring themtheir service users would pay theirrent and not exhibit anti-socialbehaviour. Over time, a network ofletting agents was established andthe service began to successfullyaccess and use private rentedhousing. Service users weresuccessfully housed in propertiesacross London, though securinghousing actually within Camdenremained difficult.

The Camden Housing First modelhas the potential for widerdeployment across London. Thismodel can support chronicallyhomeless people ‘stuck’ in existinghostel-based pathways.Consideration should also be givento using this model along the linesthat Housing First is usuallyemployed as a replacement forhostel-based pathways or staircasesdesigned to progress chronicallyhomeless people to housingreadiness. The Camden HousingFirst model has the potential toquickly and sustainably end chronichomelessness and to prevent itoccurring among at risk groups.

Housing First on the Isle of Anglesey

Support for rough sleepers and homeless people over 25 wasidentified by Anglesey County Council as a commissioningpriority. The temporary night shelter provision was no longersustainable and repeat homelessness was increasingly beingrecognised as a barrier to good life opportunities for a persistentnumber of people. A partnership of stakeholders was establishedto oversee implementation and design of the new service andusers of the night shelter and other potential service users wereactive from developing the business case to the procurement ofthe new provider to Angelsey, The Wallich.

The Wallich provides support to 12 people l It offers ‘chronically’ homeless people immediate access to

dispersed-site permanent accommodation with no abstinenceor treatment prerequisites. This will requires robust andeffective risk management policies and procedures

l Assertive and comprehensive floating support is delivered.The Key Worker acts as a link person and coordinate the inputof other services depending on the needs assessment andagreed support plan.

l Support is not time-limited (although continuing support isreviewed regularly) and the support employs a harm reductionapproach to substance misuse.

l Rapid housing through effective partnerships with sociallandlords and crucially, the private sector

l Access to support is 24/7 including on call service at nightl Support is person centredl Individual budgets are availablel Volunteers are recruited to provide additional support

Housing First approaches are based on theconcept that a homeless individual’s first andprimary need is to obtain stable housing,and that other issues that may affect themcan and should be addressed once housingis obtained. There is no requirement todemonstrate ‘housing readiness’ or to beabstinent from alcohol or other substances.This in contrast to ‘staircase’ or ‘pathway’approaches, which predominate in manyEuropean countries including the UK.

Sitra, together with SHP, London Borough ofCamden and York University launched theevaluation of Housing First on the 19thNovember. You can find the full report andpresentations from the day onhttp://www.sitra.org/news/housing-first-evaluation

12 bulletin 2013 No.3 www.sitra.orgTHE MAGAZINE FOR HOUSING WITH CARE, HEALTH AND SUPPORT www.sitra.org

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Sitra bulletin 2013 no 6

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