Summary of Stakeholder Consultation

Draft Report Knowsley 17 Dec 09

Annex C2: Summary of stakeholder consultation

Access to and sustaining emergency Access to and sustaining settled accommodation accommodation  Not enough emergency  Concerns about consistency of accommodation in the area standards in relation to floating support  Unclear what criteria used by Field services Lane (an important resource)  Not everyone wants to or can live on  Lack of female accommodation in the their own - isolation can be a critical borough – can lead women into the sex factor in substance misusers failing in trade their tenancy  Access to temporary refuge is a  Concerns about how decisions on particular problem – have to go out of intentionality and eligibility for social Borough housing affect offenders, limits access  Community of street homeless in Kirkby to housing  Temp accom can sometimes be quite  Poor mental health the main reason selective, and operate long bans why people fail to sustain tenancies  Need for local wet hostel provision, to  Sometimes people have need for a stabilise people’s drinking period of respite, especially those  Not many clients on DRRs have facing domestic abuse unstable housing, but those who do  Applications to KHT sometimes held up gave great difficulty finding anywhere over documentary proof of criminal  Real problem being able to place single record, and previous arrears people with history of substance  High Priority Panel can be an misuse issues in temporary intimidating process accommodation while waiting for a  Support agencies may only be brought homeless assessment in when an eviction is getting quite  Significant group of DIP clients aged close - housing staff not always 30-40, want to settle down but past proactive in contacting support history gets in their way, seen agencies when a tenant is having or unacceptable risk, and tend to end up causing difficulties living in houses with other drug users.  Too many people rehoused on leaving Forced to commit crimes in return for Field Lane hostel then fail their roof over their head, so revolving door tenancies, not enough done with them,  Too many intrusive questions asked, perhaps not enough time allowed for when people applying for them to build up skills needed to accommodation manage a tenancy  People with drugs or offending histories  An apparent policy of containing may have real difficulties supplying vulnerable people in blocks together identification papers, can lead to may be a cause of stress for some e.g. application or homeless case being older drinkers in blocks with younger delayed or closed drug users  Lack of information about temporary  Young people not able to access accommodation options for non-priority floating support, if tenancy collapses applicants they end up going round all the agencies again, little help if then seen as intentionally homeless Responding to drug and alcohol Pathways for resolving housing issues problems  The route through the service maze is  Drug and alcohol abuse is the biggest confusing hidden cause of homelessness and lies  There is often a gap when people have

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behind a lot of the cases reviewed by nowhere to go between detox and the Homeless Prevention Team rehab  Alcohol abuse is more the issue than  Papers of homeless applicants are drugs sometimes lost and this can lead to  There is a small group of older long people having to start the process from term drinkers who lost their scratch accommodation some years ago  No training for staff in drugs agencies  Older, long-term drinkers have a need about how best to help clients resolve for sheltered / supported housing problems, and not enough accommodation, in some instances resource information intense contact is required for short period – prone to loneliness left alone in their own flat Systems and working together Other  No clear pathway through service for  Most floating support is linked to having people - too much focus on treatment, a tenancy and not available to people in not enough on addressing underlying various forms of temporary social and environmental causes of accommodation problems  People with substance misuse history  More consistent and comprehensive are cause of significant level of ASB training needed for floating support staff problems  Homelessness staff have difficulty in  Boredom is a major trigger for relapses accessing social work support  Unclear what advice / housing services are provided for substance misusers  Resettlement service in prison do not appear to be working – often hear about need for accommodation only just before release date, too late to do any planning  Alcohol services operate on a more traditional model, and tend to refer people to Social Services rather than provide help on housing issues within the alcohol service  Not always effective communication about homelessness

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Suggestions about what else is needed:

Emergency housing  More emergency accommodation – men and young people, Accommodation for women and couples  Wet accommodation  Provision of floating support for people without a tenancy  Floating support for young people with substance misuse problems  A focus on taking action to address rough sleeping, to include a policy of clearing arrears of drug / alcohol users so that they can access accommodation  Local supported housing for families recovering from addictions  Consistent, honest, non-judgmental approach from KHT staff, and clear information about people need to bring with them to homeless and other interviews  More support for drinkers at Field Lane  Supported accommodation that made allowances for drinkers, and looks at the behaviour and risks associated with someone needing temporary accommodation  Immediate accommodation needed to be available while homeless assessments are done Settled housing  Need a dedicated KHT worker to work with this group  A need for shared housing or housing with some shared facilities, to combat isolation  More tenancy support  Probationary tenancies - opportunity to demonstrate capacity to manage independently before being granted a full tenancy  More intensive work to prepare people for tenancies (pre-tenancy training)  Younger powder cocaine users, need someone to prepare them for independent living in the future Systems and working together  More effective and integrated multi-disciplinary work – suggestion is for a social worker to work into each of the drug and alcohol teams Drug and alcohol services  Local residential provision for drug and alcohol users  People have to give up tenancies if go into places like Summergrove – deters families from using these resources

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 Hard to get funding for schemes like Summergrove and Park View  Big need for drop-in services in Knowsley, to get more engagement with people, earlier identification of housing problems

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