Families with Rent Arrears Protocol Neighbourhood Services & Children and Families Service Content 1. Introduction 2. Procedures for Neighbourhood Services and Children and Families Service Appendix A: Early Help Note Appendix B: Process Flow Chart Appendix C: Troubled Family Criteria Appendix D: Contact Details Appendix E: COG letter April 2016 Reviewed September 2016 Author: Denise Hooper Neighbourhood Services [email protected] Contact 0121 569 5130 1 | P a g e Introduction At any one time during the year, approximately 11,000 Sandwell council tenants fall into rent arrears; at least a third of which are families with children. The council has a duty to recognise a child’s need for a safe and secure home in any action taken in pursuit of family evictions. An eviction is preventable and only undertaken as a last resort, it is recognised that an eviction usually extends the difficulties faced by families with children, rather than reducing them. This protocol applies to all tenants with dependent children. It has been developed to make sure that at every key stage of the arrears process, we ensure information is shared with Children and Families, to identify where preventative interventions are appropriate to ultimately safeguard children. The protocol and processes have been developed with the involvement and agreement from Neighbourhood Services Income Management Team and Children and Families Service. The Aims of this protocol are: To safeguard children and families To support employees to take a proactive, preventative approach and identify potential safeguarding issues To ensure the best outcomes for children and families To embed information sharing/partnership working To improve tenancy sustainment and prevent evictions To identify clear expectations/responsibilities of officers within Neighbourhoods Services Income Management Team and Children and Families Service The protocol will operate on three common principles: Information sharing Joint decision making Coordinated intervention 2 | P a g e Information Sharing Information sharing is necessary in order to assess whether a child is at risk of significant harm, or to decide on the appropriate action to reduce the risk of significant harm. Officers from the Income Management team have received training and have access to Safety Net and eCAF. It has been agreed that at every key stage of the arrears process, officers will check Safety Net to find out if there is any Children and Families Service involvement with the child(ren) or if children have been known to the Children and Families Service. Information about the arrears situation will be shared with the appropriate professional involved in the case. Officers will endeavour to gain consent to share the information, but if they are unable to, will share the information based on the fact that if the family become homeless, the children may be at significant risk of harm. The purpose of sharing the information is to quantify the risk and decide on the appropriate action to take. Joint Decision Making Within the agreed process, officers from Neighbourhoods Services and Children and Families Service will make joint decisions on the next course of action at specified stages within the arrears recovery processes, with the focus on preventing eviction. The decision to carry out an eviction will ultimately remain with Neighbourhoods, but when pursuing eviction proceedings, the child’s need for a secure home will be taken into account and effective joint working practices will be implemented to ensure their support needs are met. In order for this to happen there needs to be a commitment from both services that officers will work together and appreciate each other’s priorities, but make a positive outcome for the family the joint priority. Co-ordinated Intervention Within the agreed processes, there are several identified points where there will be the opportunity to take a co-ordinated approach to intervention. These include: Joint visits involving Family Support Workers or Social Workers and Neighbourhood’s officers. 3 | P a g e The presentation of the case for discussion at the Community Operating Group (COG) weekly case meetings by Neighbourhoods Officers Neighbourhood Officers checking the Troubled Families criteria and notifying Early Help services. Neighbourhood Officers attending Team around the Family Meetings. Neighbourhood Officers working jointly with Officers from the Children and Families Service. The purpose of taking a co-ordinated approach is to ensure that intervention and support is offered at all stages of the arrears recovery process with the primary outcome of trying to resolve the arrears issues and prevent the eviction, but at the same time identifying the underlying issues that may be taking place within the family and ensuring effective support is offered. In order for this protocol to work officers from both services should: Return phone calls within 1 working day Answer e mails within 1 working day Keep joint appointments or let each other know if unable to attend. Jointly focus on the best outcome for the family Respect each other’s priorities It is hoped that following this protocol will prevent the council from reaching the eviction stage with tenants who have dependent children. 4 | P a g e Procedures for Neighbourhood Services and Children and Families Please see appendix B the process flow chart At any time if contact is made with the tenant and there are concerns about the family, an Early Help Assessment with consent or a MARF can be made subject to the Sandwell Safeguarding Children's Board Threshold Framework. Arrears Stage 1 (AR1) When a tenant falls into arrears of £140 plus, the arrears stage one is instigated. This is an investigatory stage that requires the Income Management Team to contact the tenant to establish household circumstances including those of a financial nature. If contact is not made a letter is sent to the tenant advising of the arrears and what action the tenant needs to take to prevent further action. Due to the number of cases that fall into this amount of arrears and the fact that many are resolved once the letter 1 has been received, this key stage will not prompt any action within this protocol. Arrears Stage 2 (AR2) For all cases where there has been no contact, payment or agreement following the previous course of action, a second letter is sent to the tenant. Income Management Officers will check Safety Net to see if there is any involvement from the Children and Families Service. If the case is open to the Children and Families Service, contact will be made with the Social Worker/Lead Professional and the information shared about the current arrears situation. Arrears Stage Visit (ARV) For all cases where there has been no contact, payment or agreement following the previous course of action, a notice of seeking possession is served. If there is still no contact or payment following this, Income Management Officers will carry out a visit, if they are unable to have contact with the tenant or do not receive payment they will check Safety Net to see if there is any involvement from the Children and Families Service . If the case is open to the Children and Families Service, contact will be made with the Social 5 | P a g e Worker/Lead Professional and the information shared about the current arrears. Arrears Stage 4 (AR4) For all cases where there has been no contact, payment or agreement following the previous course of action, a letter will be sent warning the tenant that the council is about to apply to the courts for possession. For all cases at this stage, the officer will check Safety Net to see if there is any involvement from the Children and Families Service. If the case is open to the Children and Families Service, contact will be made with the Social Worker/Lead Professional and the information shared about the current arrears situation. Arrears Stage Memo for Court (MFC) For all cases where there has been no contact, payment or agreement following the previous course of action, the Income Management Officer will apply to court for a possession order and at this stage the tenant will accrue court costs. A letter is sent to the tenant advising them of this action. For all cases at this stage, the officer will check Safety Net to see if there is any involvement from the Children and Families Service. If the case is open to the Children and Families Service, the information will be shared with the Social Worker/ Lead Professional about the current arrears situation. During the period when we are awaiting a court date, a Neighbourhood Officer from the Local Office will carry out a visit, following the visit, if the tenant has failed to engage and has made no effort to make an agreement or reduce the arrears, the Neighbourhood Officer will put an early help note on Ecaf whether the case is known to Children and Families Services or not. Officers will complete the section entitled Free from the negative impact of poverty with information that the risk of eviction has further increased and the tenant has now also incurred court costs and the family are at risk of homelessness. If the family meet any two of the Troubled Family Criteria see appendix C, Officers should tick the troubled families tick box on eCAF. The COG manager will then make a decision whether the case needs to be discussed at the next weekly COG meeting. The outcome of the court application is likely to be one of five things: 6 | P a g e A suspended possession order with terms – low to medium risk of eviction Adjourned with terms – low to medium risk of eviction Adjourned generally – low risk of eviction 14/28 day possession order – high risk of eviction An outright possession order (rarely granted at this stage especially when families are involved) – High risk of eviction Arrears Stage Post Court (EV3) For all cases where there has been an outright possession order, breach of a suspended possession order an eviction warning letter is sent to the tenant.