Supporting homeless young people to participate

1. Supporting homeless young people to participate Centrepoint Monday 29 April 2013

2. Scale of youth homelessness

3. Scale of youth homelessness 80,000 young people experience homelessness in a year across the UK Homelessness in London is growing particularly fast – all age statutory homelessness rose 30% between 2011 and 2012. The number of young people aged 16-24 seen rough sleeping in London by outreach teams doubled between 2010/11 and 2011/12, from 316 to 638. Provisional figures for 2012/13 suggest rough sleeping it is continuing to rise.

4. Local authority duties to homeless young people Homeless 16 and 17 year olds are a priority need group and are therefore entitled to a statutory homelessness duty The Southwark judgement and resulting DFE and DCLG guidance stated that all homeless 16 and 17 year olds should all be given a child in need assessment Homeless 16 and 17 years are therefore increasingly becoming ‘looked after’ and therefore entitled to support from children’s services. Over 20% of young people at Centrepoint are care leavers

5. Characteristics of homeless young people What are the barriers to participation?

6. Levels of participation 51% of young people are NEET when they arrive at Centrepoint Only 50% have achieved level 2 or above (compared to 82% of young people nationally) Only 20% have attained or are studying for level 3. The most frequently taken vocational subjects are health and social care (23%), followed by business related courses (10%) and beauty therapy (9%)

7. Levels of participation Females (53%) are nearly twice as likely as males (29%) to be in education Young people between 16 and 18 (51%) are more likely to be in education than those 19 and over (34%) Those who were currently not British Citizens are more likely to be in education (53%) BME British citizens (43%) are more likely to be in education than the white British (14%)

8. Barriers to participation 33% of young at Centrepoint have a mental health problem 13% have a physical health problem 28% are known or suspected to use illegal drugs 20% have a history of offending 16% have literacy problems 27% have English as a second language (this includes unaccompanied minors under the care of children’s services) Our Opportunity Lost research also suggested a number of ‘softer’ barriers: Disruption in home and personal life Lack of confidence in their academic ability Lack of good careers advice/support

9. The additional help that homeless young people need

10. Additional help needed • Financial Support to stay in education • Good quality advice and guidance • Flexibility and work based learning options eg Quality and suitably paid apprenticeships • Role Models and Mentors

11. Financial support available Homeless young people can claim Income Support up to the age of 21 if they are in full-time education and can prove they are estranged from their families Young people on Income Support have been prioritised for the 16-19 bursary and are eligible for £1200 a year

12. Potential solutions 1. Face-to-face careers advice 2. Specialist re-engagement provision

13. Face-to-face careers advice The Centrepoint Parliament identified the lack of face-to-face careers advice as one of the key challenges facing homeless young people in London There is currently a big gap in provision for NEET 16 and 17 year olds Face-to-face provision is particularly important for homeless young people who are unlikely to receive guidance from their parents Many do not have reliable access to the internet to access online resources It is therefore vital that they have the opportunity to talk through their options and given guidance on how to achieve their goals

14. Centrepoint Parliament’s key priorities for careers advice The advisor should work with the young person to develop a clear list of actions and provide information of how to achieve these. The discussion should start from what the young person wants to do, and then cover what they would need to do to achieve this e.g. qualifications, experience. However, this should be linked to up-to-date advice about which sectors have the most job vacancies and where opportunities are likely to come up in the future. The service must be able to link young people up with other services they need. Connexions used to play an important role in referring young people to services such as Centrepoint. Young people should be able to access advice in a range of different places, and it should be available at different times of day to suit young people that are in college or work in normal office hours. Any young person should be able to access it, but targeted advertising should be done with those who are most likely to need advice, for example through the Jobcentre, leaving care services, homelessness services etc.

15. Centrepoint Parliament’s key priorities for careers advice A clear brand, so that even if the services are offered by different organisations in different places, young people can recognise the name and what it is for. All young people should be told about the service when at school, and offered access to it before leaving school. There should be a single phoneline and/or website that can tell young people where their nearest service is and how to access it. The service should be able to link young people with mentors if they need more ongoing, informal support. Young people should get an initial meeting of at least 30 minutes, and then be able to get follow up meetings as needed. There should be no time limit of support or maximum number of sessions.

16. Specialist re-engagement provision DfE have confirmed that provision to help young people back into mainstream education or training will satisfy the duty to participate RPA guidance includes non-statutory principles of what re-engagement provision should look like (that Centrepoint helped to draft): Provision should be tailored to the young person, taking account of appropriate background information. This should include an on-going individual needs assessment, focused on the range of barriers preventing them from participating. Achievable and agreed outcomes should be decided with the young person and may be expressed in an individual plan. This should cover social and emotional capabilities as well as educational skills where appropriate. The focus should be on progression, monitored by the provider, into sustained education, employment or training. Providers should work with local authorities to provide access to information to help young people make informed choices and help them access relevant sources of support, such as financial support. Strong partnership working is needed to ensure that re-engagement programmes are as effective as possible, providing all round support to allow a range of needs to be met.

17. Centrepoint learning offer All young people have a learning assessment within their first four weeks to develop a personal development plan They are then given tailored support to help them achieve their goals and access relevant education courses A range of opportunities are available: Lifewise - Young people are offered AQA accredited workshops on a range of topics, including budgeting and tenancy management Workwise - provides training on CV writing, appropriate behaviour in the workplace, as well as a work placement with one of our corporate partners Sportswise - helps engage young people through sports activities 87% of the NEET young people who completed the Workwise course secured an EET outcome, with 57% of these went into employment.

18. Questions? Contact: Jennifer Barnes, j.barnes@centrepoint.org; or the Centrepoint Parliament, Centrepointparliament@centrepoint.org