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Eradicating 'Core Homelessness' in Scotland's Four Largest Cities: Providing an Evidence Base and Guiding a Funding Framework

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Eradicating 'Core Homelessness' in Scotland's Four Largest Cities: Providing an Evidence Base and Guiding a Funding Framework Eradicating 'Core Homelessness' in Scotland's Four Largest Cities: Providing an Evidence Base and Guiding a Funding Framework A Report to Social Bite by: Mandy Littlewood, Glen Bramley, Suzanne Fitzpatrick, Jenny Wood, I-SPHERE, Heriot-Watt University October 2017 Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Josh Littlejohn and the Board of Social Bite for supporting this study. We are very grateful to all of the focus group attendees and key informants who took the time to participate in the research. We owe particular thanks to colleagues at Glasgow Homelessness Network, the Edinburgh Cyrenians, Aberdeen Foyer, and the Salvation Army in Dundee who provided the venue for the focus groups and dealt with many aspects of the logistics on our behalf, and to the Scottish Government for assisting with data access requests. We are also grateful to our colleagues Dr Beth Watts and Professor Sarah Johnsen for their invaluable help with specific aspects of this report, and to Katie Colliver for her excellent work in proofing the report. Our thanks also to members of the Scottish Government 'Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group' who provided a range of helpful comments on an earlier draft of this report. Disclaimer The views expressed in this independent report by I-SPHERE are those of the authors alone and should not be assumed to be those of Social Bite, the funders of any of the other studies on which it draws, or the organisations that participated in the research or commented on the draft report. Any errors or omissions are the sole responsibility of the authors. Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................... i Background .......................................................................................................... i Research focus and methods .............................................................................. i Main Findings ...................................................................................................... iii Recommendations .............................................................................................. vi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................ 1 Background ......................................................................................................... 1 Research aims .................................................................................................... 1 Research methods .............................................................................................. 2 Report structure .................................................................................................. 3 CHAPTER TWO: THE CONTEXT FOR HOMELESSNESS IN SCOTLAND ......... 4 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 4 Trends in official homelessness levels ................................................................ 4 'Sofa surfing' and long-term rooflessness ........................................................... 6 Key drivers of homelessness ............................................................................ 16 Central and local government responses to homelessness .............................. 19 Homelessness Context - Summary ................................................................... 24 CHAPTER THREE: UK AND INTERNATIONAL EVIDENCE ON 'BEST PRACTICE' IN TACKLING HOMELESSNESS AND COMPLEX NEEDS ........... 27 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 27 Core principles: rooted in 'recovery' .................................................................. 27 Best practice in addressing rough sleeping: assertive outreach ....................... 29 Best practice in meeting housing and support needs: 'Housing First', 'community hosting' and other 'non-institutional' options ...................................................... 32 Best practice in meeting employment needs: Individual Placement Support and Job Coaching .................................................................................................... 38 Wider aspects of practice and 'systems change' in working with homeless people with complex needs ............................................................................... 40 Summary – UK and international evidence on good practice ............................ 42 CHAPTER FOUR: THE OVERALL SCALE OF 'CORE' HOMELESSNESS IN THE FOUR CITIES ............................................................................................... 43 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 43 Definition and measurement of core homelessness .......................................... 43 Core homelessness estimates .......................................................................... 44 Projections for core homelessness ................................................................... 46 Summary – scale and projections of core homelessness ................................. 51 CHAPTER FIVE: PROFILE OF THOSE EXPERIENCING 'CORE' FORMS OF HOMELESSNESS IN THE FOUR CITIES ........................................................... 53 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 53 Data Sources .................................................................................................... 53 Age .................................................................................................................... 54 Homelessness and complex needs ................................................................... 56 Summary – profile of those experiencing core forms of homelessness ............ 59 CHAPTER SIX: THE VIEWS OF SERVICE PROVIDERS IN THE FOUR CITIES .............................................................................................................................. 61 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 61 Perceptions of rough sleeping ........................................................................... 61 Temporary accommodation .............................................................................. 63 Substance misuse ............................................................................................. 70 Employability and independent living ................................................................ 75 Solutions for independent living ........................................................................ 77 Systemic and policy solutions ........................................................................... 78 Summary of service provider views ................................................................... 83 CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................... 86 Appendix A : List of Participating Organisations ....................................................... 90 Appendix B: Estimation data sources and methods ................................................. 92 Projection method ............................................................................................. 93 Regression models ........................................................................................... 94 Appendix C: Detailed homelessness tables ............................................................. 96 Tables of Figures Figure 1: Homelessness applicants and assessments (Scotland) 2007-08 to 2016- 2017 ........................................................................................................................... 4 Figure 2: Incidence of rough sleeping ........................................................................ 5 Figure 3: percentage of homeless applicants in 2016-17 who slept rough the night before applying for assistance .................................................................................... 7 Figure 4: Incidence of long-term rooflessness and ‘sofa surfing’ ................................ 7 Figure 5: Repeat homeless applications as a percentage of all applications ............. 8 Figure 6: Households subject to formal homelessness assessment: percentage breakdown by previous housing circumstances – broad categories .......................... 9 Figure 7: Households subject to formal homelessness assessment: breakdown by previous housing circumstances (selected categories) – percentage reduction 2009/10-2014/15 ...................................................................................................... 10 Figure 8: Households subject to formal homelessness assessment: percentage breakdown according to reason for homelessness – broad categories .................... 11 Figure 9: Homeless households in temporary accommodation – snapshot total at financial year end ..................................................................................................... 12 Figure 10: Homeless households in temporary accommodation – number of household by type of property used by the four cities, compared with Scotland ...... 13 Figure 11: Homeless households in temporary accommodation – change in the number of household (between March 2016 and March 17) by type of property used by the four cities and Scotland ................................................................................. 14 Figure 12: Homelessness applicants
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