Good Practice Library

1. Good Practice Library Introducing the idea

2. Why develop a good practice library? We committed to There is a lot of duplication Practice exchange and sharing is not well coordinated or organised Everyone is still learning with the HRA Save time and drive up standards

3. Navigating the library: tags Primary Tags Cause of homelessness Example: Secondary Tags Service design & management HRA duty System change Assessment & PHP Pre-HRA duty Prevention Duty HRA duty Relief Duty Partnership working Duty to Refer Prevention measures Relief measures Specific cohort Issue-based

4. Example Predictive analytics Early identification of those at risk of homelessness. Uses council data and predictive analytics to identify households most at risk of entering homelessness. Enables local authorities to contact those identified sensitively and target earlier intervention and prevention as well as monitor the efficacy of the interventions made e.g. online self-help or referrals to community support Primary Tags Secondary Tags Service design & management Data Targeted prevention Prevention measures

5. Navigating the library: standards of practice New Established Evidence-Based Promising Whilst there may not be any reliable evidence to support this area of practice, it is either used by a large number of local authorities and/or has been in use for a long period of time within Housing Options Emerging and/or innovative practice in use by a handful of local authorities. May take the form of a formal 'pilot' There is some reliable evidence of this area of practice having a positive effect e.g. service evaluation or other equivalent studies A number of local authorities are using this practice but it is not well established by a majority. Limited or no reliable evidence of positive effects

6. Navigating the library: contextual factors for case studies Factors Sheffield Urban/Rural Urban with conurbation Social Stock Stock Holding LA Type Unitary Region Yorkshire & Humber Quarterly Demand 401+ Affordability (2-Bed LHA Shortfall) £100-200 p/m TA Numbers Political Control

7. Exercise: navigating the library Review in your tables the three navigation handouts (tags, practice standard and contextual factors) Use post-its and pens to write and share feedback, in particular: Usefulness – Would these help you navigate the library? If not, why? Suggested edits – Any amendments/additions  Please place them on the handouts at the end

8. Exercise: exploring the library Review in your tables the practice handouts. For each area of practice: 1. Write in what you think the tags and standard of practice should be 2. Create the following grid on the plain A4 and complete for each area 3. Add any other thoughts or notes on the handout e.g. other case studies, comments, success factors, barriers etc.

9. Good practice areas For use with exercise

10. Gateway schemes Tags Gateway schemes provide a streamlined, regulated and clear route to accessing services in a local area. Rather than having multiple referral processes between multiple agencies, all referrals are channeled through the gateway as the single point of contact with a single process. Households can be assessed and then access a range of support and accommodation. It also enables the collection and sharing of information about the people who have accessed gateway services in one central location. Some areas have gateways for particular issues or groups of people e.g. single people, domestic abuse, and mental health. Issues identified with gateway schemes are that they may create an additional layer and barrier to access services for individuals and are less person-centred due to the single route. The importance of a holistic, person-centred assessment is still paramount. Tags Practice Standard Established Promising London Borough of Croydon Contextual Factors Croydon’s Gateway division became the first combined council department in the country – covering housing, benefits, debt management and social care assessment – to support families affected by the Government welfare reforms like the benefit cap and universal credit. To date the project has helped more than 1,000 families avoid homelessness, 5,400 people to become more financially independent, and more than 600 into employment. The project focusses on early intervention and prevention and assists residents that are homeless, at risk of homelessness or struggling financially. It has recently moved the innovative Gateway approach into the community, helping prevent homelessness and build community resilience Other relevant authorities: Newcastle

11. Specialists embedded or co-located in Housing Options Tags The requirement of the HRA to assess and address support needs (as well as housing) has led a number of local authorities in Wales and England to introduce other professional and specialist roles into the housing options service. These can include mental health practitioners, social workers, early help, welfare reform, employment support, debt advice and drug and alcohol co-ordinators. This creates a more multi-disciplinary service which can include centralising other roles that are often disparate across different parts of councils e.g. PRS officers, business support and procurement. Some local authorities also have 3rd sector agencies co-located within the housing options service or other statutory services like JCP Practice Standard Promising Established London Borough of Southwark Contextual Factors Southwark have Shelter and Solace co-located with housing options. Solace Woman's Aid deliver the Southwark Advocacy & Support Service (SASS), provideing confidential advice, advocacy and support to women and men who have experienced domestic abuse. Other relevant authorities: Welsh local authorities

12. Using PHPs to make a difference Tags This involves putting the roles and support mechanisms in place to really make the most out of the new personalised plans. See case study below Practice Standard Promising Established Luton Council Contextual Factors Host PHP forums and educational workshops for those threatened with homelessness. These help build politive relationshpi with the service, dispel myths, increase awarenesss of PRS, manage expectations, explain the process and provide information about key services. It also relieves pressure on frontline staff and improves customer self-confidence. Between Jul 18 - Jan 19 240 people attended with a 76% attendance rate. They also have four ‘back-on-track’ officers, who help households to follow individual assessment plans and ensure PHPs are regularly reviewed Other relevant authorities: Lewisham

13. Service navigators Tags Service providers are not collaborating as well as they could because of poor awareness, lack of capacity or competitive commissioning environments. This forces service users to engage with a fractured, confusing, and frustrating system. Service navigators help reimagine the homelessness sector from the service user's perspective and give them more control over what support they receive. This can include specific 'navigator' roles embedded within the community and other areas but also high quality information, advice and guidance to support people to access services. This can often include service directories, resource packs or a map of local services and how each can assist someone. Increasingly, local authorities are looking at how digital solutions can support this as well. Practice Standard New Oxfordshire Trailblazer The Community Navigators Project incorporates three full-time community navigators and three part-time grow workers, some of which have a lived experience of homelessness. The team are divided in to three locations; the north & west of Oxfordshire, the south and the city; with one of each worker located in each area. The purpose of the project is to provide a support, brokerage and advocacy function that will empower and enable beneficiaries to engage effectively and confidently with statutory and support agencies, centred on their housing and homeless prevention needs. This will include working in collaboration with multiple services across Oxfordshire, including from co-located venues and in an outreach capacity. As well as being in the major towns and cities in the county, the team have focused their attention on known areas of deprivation (e.g. Berinsfield). This is so that they can reach out and target households that may otherwise slip through the net and only appear at crisis point, By engaging with people at risk of homelessness before crisis point is reached, the team realises that there is far more potential to work with individuals and use their energy, ideas and resilience to create a better outcome together. At the heart of the approach is partnership working with statutory services, housing authorities, housing associations, health partners (including GP practices), charities and community organisations to reach those most in need Contextual Factors Other relevant authorities: West midlands digital solution, navigators in Newcastle & Gateshead

14. Integrated housing pathways Tags Many local authorities have developed pathways for at risk client groups. These need to be appropriate to the local needs and services within the area. Examples include pathways for care leavers, victims of domestic abuse, rough sleepers and former members of the regular armed forces. Integrated housing pathways include the appropriate accommodation and relevant support, often coordinated by a number of organisations working together. Pathways should have clear working arrangements, an appropriate supply of accommodation and functioning entry and exit routes. There are specific pathway models such as the St. Basil's Positive Pathway Model for youth homelessness which is used by 66% local authorities. Practice Standard Promising Through the Gate Contextual Factors Most prisons have a resettlement service called Through the Gate. The service is delivered by charities including Shelter, St Giles Trust and Catch22. Shelter provides support to people in prison and services include helping with accommodation, finance and debt. Shelter also works with service users in the community, providing the same support but combined with a mentoring service. Shelter help deliver offender resettlement services in 19 prisons with over 50 resettlement workers and 50 peer advisors. The approach is built around prisoner needs to reduce risks of re-offending Other relevant authorities:

15. Strategic and regional approaches to domestic abuse Tags Households at risk of domestic abuse often have to leave their homes and the area where they have lived. Housing authorities may consider implementing a reciprocal agreement with other housing authorities and providers to facilitate out of area moves for victims of domestic violence and abuse. This should be incorporated into local domestic violence partnerships and multi-agency risk assessment conferences (MARAC) Practice Standard Promising Safer London Pan-London Housing Reciprocal Contextual Factors To facilitate the Reciprocal, Safer London has secured the agreement of 32 local authorities and 43 housing associations to support tenants experiencing domestic abuse, other forms of violence against women/girls, gang-related violence, hate crime or other abuse. This allows resettlement to an area where tenants are away from risk and can keep a social tenancy. They have already supported 132 adults and children who are fleeing abuse to find safe, long-term housing; an average of three households moving per month. Safer London has also reached approximately 1000 professionals through delivering over 35 training and awareness raising sessions, ranging from webinars to two high profile events at City Hall. Still very challenging. Number are very low considering number of cases Other relevant authorities:

16. Enhanced support for singles Tags Since the HRA, more single people are now eligible for help and support and local authorities are looking at new options and support pathways for this cohort. In particular methods of relief for "non-priority" individuals e.g. Blackpool have a separate relief team focused on supported accommodation and move-on. Practice Standard London Borough of Brent Brent Single Homeless Prevention Service (SHPS) is the first homeless prevention service for single people in the UK to be delivered on a ‘payment by results’ basis. Crisis and Thames Reach are working together with the London Borough of Brent and Bridges Fund Management, a specialist impact investor, to support up to 1,755 people over two years. Working with single people – and other households without dependent children – the programme seeks to engage with those at risk of homelessness early to prevent homelessness, and to help those already homeless find suitable accommodation. The programme has been designed – by commissioners in partnership with the third sector – to reward providers for achieving sustained, long-term housing outcomes for these people. And because of this focus on outcomes, the providers have much more flexibility to tailor their interventions to individual circumstances. It enables the local authority to support a group of people that have often been neglected by existing services (because they did not meet the criteria for statutory housing provision or for support from homeless organisations). But it goes much further than that: the programme aims to transform service users’ circumstances, enabling them to sustain high-quality stable housing, and thereby creating the necessary long-term foundations for a better life Promising Contextual Factors Other relevant authorities: Single people hubs in Hackney (Greenhouse) and Westminster (Passage) 

17. Holistic assessments Tags Use of tools that enable staff to comprehensively assess and tease out all relevant needs – not just those most apparent. Person-centred approaches are used to capture the applicant's wishes and preferences, provide sensitive encouragement and make the assessment individual and interactive. Practice Standard Promising Outcome Star Contextual Factors First edition of the Homelessness Outcome Star was developed in 2006 by the London Housing Federation and Homeless Link. Covers ten key outcome areas, is used for support planning in a holistic way that addresses multiple areas of a person's life (from managing money, managing a tenancy to emotional and mental health). It also follows the underlying model of change: stuck, accepting help, believing, learning, self-reliance which supports motivational and coaching based approaches Other relevant authorities:

18. Predictive analytics Tags Early identification of those at risk of homelessness. Uses council data and predictive analytics to identify households most at risk of entering homelessness. Enables local authorities to contact those identified sensitively and target earlier intervention and prevention as well as monitor the efficacy of the interventions made e.g. online self-help or referrals to community support Practice Standard Promising Bristol City Council New Development of a predictive analytic model to enable the early identification of at risk cases. In Bristol a Business Intelligence Developer had been employed to design a predictive analytics system that uses combined local authority, Jobcentre Plus and other data to identify and score individuals at risk of homelessness on a number of dimensions. At the time of the case study research the system was being used to identify at risk cases - but only using housing benefit data due to restrictions that came to light with accessing data from other sources. Potentially at-risk cases were being identified solely on the basis that they were facing reduced housing benefit due to the benefits cap. Bristol are seeking to set up data sharing agreements with the local Jobcentre Plus district and others to enable the identification of at risk cases on more dimensions in the future Contextual Factors Other relevant authorities: Luton

19. Data sharing Tags Local authorities are attempting to develop single data systems both with other authorities and partners and with other teams and services within their authority. This enables the creation of common performance dashboards, ward profiling and profiling those at immediate risk. It is also vital for integrated and joined up working around households engaging with multiple services to provide a 360-degree view Practice Standard Promising City of York Contextual Factors Single View is a webpage application on City of York council’s internal intranet site, which allows 857 staff working with vulnerable people to share information. Designed in-house by digital experts, it brings seven council data sets from adult social care, children’s services, early help and intervention teams, children’s centres, housing, education and youth offending teams into a single searchable online space Other relevant authorities: Single data system across Greater Manchester 

20. TA collaboration with neighbouring authorities Tags Coordination across local authorities to procure temporary accommodation, control costs, avoid competition and make it easier to place households in TA. There is also the potential to use digital solutions e.g. London-wide temporary accommodation platform: a pan-London property listing platform for local authorities to use, listing all properties available for temporary accommodation. Increases visibility of options available and enables placements to be made faster Tags Practice Standard Inter-Borough Accommodation Agreement (IBAA) Shrinking supply and increasing demand means that London boroughs often pay over the odds for temporary rented accommodation for homeless people. Sometimes a council will try to relocate people on its housing waiting list outside its borough, and private landlords will look for the borough that will pay the most. To tackle rent inflation, in February 2016 all 32 London boroughs shared information about what they were being charged, using bespoke CarePlace software. It involved hundreds of people inputting data. At a time when prices are shooting up in the private rental sector, prices in temporary accommodation have fallen slightly, as a result of this information-sharing. Contextual Factors Not everyone sticks to this – something about monitoring/ reviewing Other relevant authorities: GM - jointly commission emergency accommodation framework, Capital Letters

21. Recruiting people with lived experience Tags To support the intended culture change and principles of the HRA, some local authorities are specifically employing people with lived experience of homelessness. This is more common practice in the third sector but is relatively new for local authorities Practice Standard New Southwark/ Hackney Contextual Factors Both the London Borough of Southwark and the London Borough of Hackney have developed tailored programmes to employ people with lived experience at entry level positions, usually as apprentices. They are then provided with at least 2 years training and additional support through a managed pathway to become a housing officer. A number at Southwark have already made this transition. Early signs are positive – especially feedback from the clients they work with Other relevant authorities:

22. Professional training and support Tags The HRA has brought significant change for frontline officers. There are substantial changes to the legal framework and knowledge required and a change in the role from 'investigator' to 'skilled helper'. To support staff, local authorities are investing in and funding programmes of professional support and training Practice Standard New PATH Training Programme Contextual Factors The PATH training programme was funded by Welsh Government and developed in partnership with Cymorth Cymru, ACEs Hubs, Welsh LGA and Supporting People networks. It trained 1,200 housing and homelessness staff through three training programmes focused on Trauma Informed Approaches, Psychologically Informed Environments and Reflective Practice. The project aimed to help staff within these organisations to become better informed about trauma, ACEs and its impact on people, to improve their skills and expertise, and to translate their learning into practice Other relevant authorities: London Training Academy

23. Digital self-service Tags Local authorities are utilising digital channels to manage demand and minimise the administrative burden from the HRA. The best approaches are when these are co-designed with clients. Functionality can include automatic reminders and prompts, viewing and updating PHPs and self-help tools for those with higher levels of resilience/capability Practice Standard New Luton Council Promising Designing an online self-help tool on the council’s website to help direct people with higher levels of resilience/capability to self-serve. Online self-help is important because it starts to build resilience early on, and sets the expectation that council support is for cases where crisis is more immediate but that individuals can take other action themselves or get from community organisation. They have prototyped an early version of what the self-help might contain (for example raising awareness of risk of financial or housing insecurity, a budget calculator, actions and tips to prevent homelessness) and now want to develop it. This will also include a "support checkecker" to help residents understand the severity of their situation and direct them to the type of support they need. They have been prototyping different kinds of questions and phrasing that would resonate with customers as a user needs to become aware of their own risk (as many people would not identify with the term ‘homeless’). Contextual Factors Other relevant authorities:

24. Flexible allocation schemes Tags Schemes and nomination agreements that support prevention rather than hindering it i.e. removing restrictions or blanket exclusions. Good practice includes monitoring and reporting publicly the flow of social housing lettings to single homeless people and other categories of household within Annual Lettings Plans. Almost all schemes currently exclude on local connection, half on finances and some on convictions or past behaviour. Any pre-tenancy assessments should utilise a person-centred approach. Practice Standard Promising New Good practice case studies: Contextual Factors Other relevant authorities: Brighton (RS)

25. Hub provision Tags Multi-agency hubs that provide a "one-stop shop" with integrated, co-located services and joint case working. Functions can include joint commissioning, assessments, protocols, data, systems and a single access point. Can also include using existing local hubs for the delivery of homelessness prevention services e.g. early help Practice Standard Promising Established St. Basil's Youth Hub in Birmingham St. Basil's Youth Hub in Birmingham - prevention and relief to 16-25 year olds. %80+ prevention rate. Made 1,307 onward referrals for young homeless people. Nearly half were for Step Down and over a third for immediate access to accommodation Contextual Factors The Point in Greenwich The Point in Greenwich - integrated service prevents homelessness and YP looked after at 16/17. MA Hub 16-25. Evidence-based joint commissioning - young people needs assessment. Youth partnership protocols: youth offending service, joint protocols. Pathway referral. Supported lodgings scheme. Accommodation. Risk Adolescent Safeguarding Panel. Meetings with providers. Other relevant authorities: Single Person's Hub (Hackney and Westminster), Dartford, Oxford RS Hub

26. One council approaches to homelessness Tags Starts with a corporate commitment that acknowledges homelessness is everyone's responsibility and a shared priority, not just the housing options service. Operationally this means every council department working towards and supporting the aims of the HRA. Methods used include training for other teams, shared governance, data sharing agreements and the development of internal champions networks. Some authorities have undergone more fundamental restructures to create more generic staff models or centralise disparate functions for easier alignment Practice Standard New Promising London Borough of Barking & Dagenham Contextual Factors Piloted their 'one council' community solutions approach in a shared priority area – reducing homelessness. This aimed to get targeted help to residents sooner by combining seven services into one. They redesigned the council’s approach to early action, prevention and targeted support, and also assess the practicalities of this change. In essence, this meant designing a new service that encompassed seven different areas - including employment, housing, community safety, children’s and adult’s services. It also involved the Council’s Corporate Insight Hub working with the homelessness service to create a model to forecast demand and allows the Council to objectively evaluate the effectiveness of different interventions for individual customers by balancing the likely cost with the likely outcome Other relevant authorities:

27. Checking s.21 validity Tags Cambridge House's Safer Renting programme saw one valid s.21 out of two hundred in a random sample. Local authorities check documentation as routine but there are variations in the robustness of these checks and how they are completed. Tenancy relations officer (TRO) can also support these checks, deal with complaints about private landlords and provide expert outreach advice and advocacy. These can take the form of mobile outreach teams that identify at-risk tenants of offending landlords by intelligence gathering across multiple local authority teams Practice Standard Established London Borough of Southwark  Contextual Factors The council has a Tenancy Relations Service (TRS) which is an impartial service offering advice and assistance to those in the private rented sector. If clients are facing issues with their landlord such as harassment or possible illegal eviction, then the TRS willy be able to help. Further to this, they offer advice on rights in rented home as well as landlords' responsibilities.  Need to ensure that opportunities to resolve relationship with landlords/tenants. Need to work with PRS Other relevant authorities: Cambridge House - Safer Renting (4 London Councils)

28. Trauma-informed and strength-based approaches Tags Trauma informed approaches recognise and actively respond to the trauma that homeless people may have faced. This approach is used with children in care and offenders, but is not mainstream with homeless people. Strengths based approaches build on people’s strengths rather than focusing on their deficits. Both have been proven to improve outcomes Practice Standard Promising Cambridgeshire & Fenland Trailblazer Contextual Factors Developing a motivational interviewing/ skills approach to tackling homelessness across the whole area. Reaching all practitioners across the county who may come into contact with people at risk of homelessness. 200+ practitioners have received training across 40 organisations. Aiming to train 600 people Other relevant authorities: Personal Transitions Service (PTS) developed by Mayday Trust

29. Tenancy sustainment support Tags Tenancy sustainment functions help existing vulnerable tenants sustain their tenancy when they are at risk of losing their home. Typically, help is provided with claiming benefits, budgeting, furnishing accommodation, accessing health and other services. Support, and where needed legal advocacy, can also be offered to mediate between landlords and tenants when problems arise, for example to help resolve issues with disrepair. This may be commissioned as flexible support packages rather than provided by a specific function – it may also vary depending on the accommodation provider. It is good practice to align homelessness and housing-related support services in an area (e.g. commissioning and monitoring) - this is particularly relevant for district authorities working with the county council Practice Standard Established Evidence-Based Good practice case studies: Contextual Factors Other relevant authorities:

30. Preventing evictions from social housing Tags This includes various arrangements that help profile tenants at risk, identify them early and prevent evictions e.g. housing association protocols, visits to general needs properties to spot any issues early, early referrals. The NHF's innovation programme has developed a product to identify tenant vulnerabilities providing up-to-date, regular and on-going focused support for these tenants Practice Standard Established West Midlands Housing Association Partnership Contextual Factors Have made a voluntary commitment to collaborate to prevent and relieve homelessness across the region. Ambition to work towards no-one being made homeless from social housing. Task group set up to deliver this. Mixture of reciprocal agreements and pre-eviction planning. Where ending a tenancy is the only way forward, a programme of ‘leaving well’ will be triggered using all the support on offer in the locality to avoid a route to homelessness Other relevant authorities:

31. Discharge programmes and protocols Tags Discharge programmes can involve physically locating staff in institutional settings or by establishing protocols to ensure people have a planned move into secure accommodation. Typical sectors include health (mental and physical), criminal justice and the asylum system. Link workers can also be used to operate between the institution and the housing options service e.g. prison resettlement officers, health link workers Practice Standard Evidence-Based Pathway Model The Pathway model of enhanced care coordination improves the quality of hospital care for people who are homeless. After a pilot it has now spread to a number of sites. The Pathway model involves GP and nurse-led care coordination. When a homeless person is admitted to hospital, a specialist team works to build a relationship with them. The key is to understand the person’s situation and what can be done to improve outcomes for them, supporting and advocating for them during their stay. The team works with ward staff and other agencies, liaising with other health specialties, statutory and voluntary sector services. An early analysis found a 30% reduction in bed days Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council have a coordinating officer who is the single point of contact for key partners supporting asylum seekers, refugees and other migrant communities potentially at risk of homelessness Contextual Factors Other relevant authorities:

32. Widening access to housing options Tags Local authorities are using various methods to increase access to advice and assistance and widen the reach of the service from single physical locations. Methods include home visits, 'floating' mobile advice or outreach surgeries and options officers co-located in partner organisations advising on early signs of homelessness. The purpose is to improve accessibility and resolve housing problems before they become a tangible threat of homelessness  Practice Standard Wigan & Westminster Wigan have developed a non-office based service with a strong focus on home visits, co-location with partners and advice outlets embedded beyond the options service. They have an outreach dimension targeted at vulnerable groups involving visits to Jobcentres, community centres, day centres, prisons and hospitals. Westminster Council’s Trailblazer project is looking to ensure full coverage of services across the borough. They give advice in health centres and GP surgeries, colleges and community centres. They have a partnership with Shelter to provide an early prevention service Contextual Factors Other relevant authorities: