Homeless and Hopeless?

Homeless and Hopeless? Homelessness : Causes, Challenges and Pathways

Causes of HomelessnessOne or more of the following factors: • Relationship Breakdown • Leaving The Armed Forces • Alcohol Misuse • Domestic Violence • Loss Of Job • Repossession Of Home • Debts • Family Breakdown or Dispute i.e. Parent finding a new partner. • Leaving The Care System • Leaving Prison • Substance Misuse • Eviction (Illegal or otherwise) • Mental Health Issues • Sexual and Physical Abuse • Parents Who Use Drugs or Alcohol • Domestic Violence

Primary/Societal/Structural Underlying • Family Relationship Breakdown • Breakdown of Relationship with Partner • Eviction/Loss of Private Dwelling (including tied accommodation) • Mortgage Arrears • Rent Arrears The above account for over 80% of the reasons for homelessness given in current CLG statistics • Alcohol or Substance Misuse • Mental Health diagnosed or not • Domestic Violence • Job Loss • Debts • Parents who misuse drugs or alcohol • Prison Sentence • Leaving Armed Forces • Leaving Care • Sexual/Physical Abuse • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

The Local Picture Since November 2009 we have seen an average of 14 persons, solely sleeping rough, per week. In the past 3 months we have seen that number climb to an average of 18 per week. That indicates roughly a 25% increase in 3 months. The largest single week figure is 23.

WHY? Due to the nature of some of the clients, it is hard to find accommodation appropriate to their needs. When this can be found they are often over-subscribed and have long waiting times. Changes in funding streams have made it nearly impossible to house someone quickly and this process now often takes a number of weeks. A shortage of reasonably priced private rented accommodation, willing to take people who are claiming benefits.

Alcohol and Substance Misuse 81% of homeless people are addicted to either drugs or alcohol (Crisis, Home and Dry 2002) (A study of 389 homeless people in London.)

Mental Health • Significant mental illness is present in 30- 50% of the homeless J Scott, The British Journal of Psychiatry 162: 314-324 (1993) Seventy-eight homeless men, women, and children staying at an emergencyshelter were interviewed. The vast majority were found to have severepsychological illnesses that largely remained untreated. Approximately 91%were given primary psychiatric diagnoses: About 40% had psychoses, 29% werechronic alcoholics, and 21% had personality disorders. Approximatelyone-third had been hospitalized for psychiatric care. Bassuk, Rubin and Lauriat : Is Homelessness a Mental Health Problem (1984)

Mental Health Problems • Women report more but do not necessarily experience more. • 8 times more common within the homeless population. • Access to help restricted because of lack of GP (homeless people much less likely to have a GP) • 20% of homeless and one third of rough sleepers have severe mental health problems.

Ex-Offenders Around 28,500 people are homeless on leaving prison each year • Around one in three prisoners are not in permanent accommodation prior to imprisonment • In one recent study around 1 in every 20 prisoners claimed to be sleeping rough immediately prior to imprisonment (Source: Social Exclusion Unit, July 2002, Reducing re- offending by ex- prisoners)

Ex-Offenders • As many as a third of prisoners lose their housing on imprisonment • Around a third of prisoners about to leave prison said that they had nowhere to stay • Of short-term, repeat prisoners going back into prison following a previous sentence, 10% said that they had slept rough when they left custody last time. Another survey found that of those who had been homeless at any time since leaving prison, 33 per cent said that this had been the case for more than six weeks. (Source: Social Exclusion Unit, July 2002, Reducing re- offending by ex- prisoners)

Ex-Services • An estimated 1,100 non-statutory (single) homeless ex-Service personnel (predominantly hostel residents, but including some rough sleepers) are living in London on any given night. (Source: The Experience of Homeless Ex-Service Personnel in London. Johnsen, Jones and Rugg, The Centre for Housing Policy 2oo8)

Young People • ...at least 75,000 young people experienced homelessness in the UK in 2006–07 (Source: Youth Homelessness in the UK, Quilgars, Johnsen and Pleace. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation 2008) In-depth interviews with families living on local authority estates in Staffordshire found that: Half the parents agreed it was reasonable to let a 16-year old girl leave home rather than accept a boyfriend to whom they objected. Almost all agreed that a 16-year old boy who was in conflict with his mother's new partner should be the one to leave home, rather than the partner (Source: The Family Background of Homeless Young People, Smith, Gilford and O’Sullivan. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation 1998)

Young People • “it is generally socially excluded young people who become homeless and a study of young people and homelessness found that 46% had experienced at least one type of institution, a third had been in local authority care and a fifth in a young offender institution or both” (Randall and Brown, Trouble at home: family conflict, young people and homelessness. Crisis 2001)

Challenges Barriers to Obtaining Accommodation

Challenges • Availability of Accommodation (appropriate supported accommodation, social housing, privated rented etc) • Availability of Specialist Support • Availabilty of General Support • Breaking Negative Social Contacts • Social Exclusion • Patchy, Underfunded, Overloaded Services • Lack of Prison Resettlement • Lack of Specialist Mental Health Accommodation Services (Enhanced) • Dual Diagnosis • Lack of Multi-Agency Working • Official Streetcount • Statutory Funding Conditions • End of Supporting People Ringfencing in 2011.

Pathways Routes to Accommodation

Services • Night Shelters (Permanent, Winter and Rolling) • Supported Accommodation/Hostels (Generic and Specialist) • Outreach Services • Day Centres • NOMS funded prison in reach (patchy) • Drug Intervention Programme • Councils (Homeless Applications – Priority Need) • Rent Deposit Bond Schemes • Probation Service • CARAT Teams (no resettlement responsibility) • Connexions • 16 Plus (Social Services) • CPNs

Local Services • Porchlight (Generic Supported Accommodation) • DIP Programme (CRI) • KCA • Stonham (Wincheap) • Umbrella Day Centre, (Mental Health Support) • Salvation Army Annexe • Mount Zeehan, soon to be CRI, (Community Alcohol Service) • Canterbury City Council Housing Options • CanterCare • Rising Sun (Domestic Violence) • Specialist Drug and Alcohol Supported Accommodation (CRI – The Cedars and Shepherd House) • New Horizons Projects (George Culmer Court etc) • Canterbury Housing Advice Centre • Porchlight Outreach • Laurel House, (Community Mental Health Service PCT) • Porchlight 74/76 specialist Young Persons Accommodation service • Hope-Kent Ltd (Ex-Offenders Acc.) • Carr Gomm (Mental Health Acc.) • Various Floating Support Services

Tenancy Sustainment • Floating Support. • Employment. • Training. • Activities. • Life Skills, such as cooking. budgeting, nutrition and house keeping. • Volunteering • Self – Esteem and Confidence. • Education. • Budgeting • Registering with GPs & Dentists. • Building a support network appropriate to needs ( NA, AA Mental Health Support) • Counselling

The Future What does it hold?

Locally and Nationally • Capping of housing benefit may lead to more evictions evictions. • Reduced funding will lead to reduced services (Those already affected include local alcohol services), unless they can be replaced through voluntary services. • Changes in national and local mental health and substance misuse services are in the pipeline. • Access to ongoing support, and tenancy sustainment services will be restricted (These services are already under review)

Terry Gore & Ewan Flack Canterbury Open Centre 2010 terry@catchinglives.org ewan@catchinglives.org 01227 464904

Homeless and Hopeless?