Identifying and Addressing Rough Sleeping and Hidden Homelessness in North Lanarkshire

1. There are people experiencing rough sleeping in North Lanarkshire as part of a cycle of homelessness. They often have very high support needs.

2. Although important developments are being made, the statutory provision in place currently cannot always provide the level of support or specialist skills that may be required to assist people with such complex needs access accommodation within the framework that exists. The key gaps in provision are outlined below.

3. Joint working between specialist services working with these services users, and the statutory services that exist, can operate together to begin to 'plug' this 'gap' in provision.

4. This research has found that people with these high support needs often need:

1. Immediate access to support in a crisis;
2. Consistent access to practical resources such as food;
3. More accommodation/service options, including those for people who have high support needs, and may not feel ready for an independent tenancy;
4. Long-term support is also required if stability is to be maintained and the cycle of homelessness is not repeated.

Key problems with service provision identified

1. Problems accessing and engaging with services due to:

• Chaotic lives and complex needs of the service users.
• Previous negative experiences and lack of confidence in services.
• Confusion over the process of accessing housing and a lack of knowledge about services available.

2. Lack of suitable accommodation and housing being available.

3. Support services unable to offer the intense level of support some people require.

4. Lack of practical resources and support for people, and for places they can access during the day to obtain practical support and find meaningful occupation of time.

5. Presenting at police stations 'out of hours' has previously been a barrier to accessing housing for some service users and there may be a lack of awareness about the new 'out of hours' provision in place.

6. Whilst there is a draft protocol being developed for people leaving prison, it currently appears that some service users are unsure of the pathway in place at this time, and the implementation of protocols being developed (such as for prison/hospital leavers) may be crucial

• The resources provided by drop in facilities in North Lanarkshire were widely used by the services users researched here. Wider access to these practical resources through the community services that already exist may be useful and could be developed to provide some meaningful occupation of time, and a place for people to go throughout the day.
• Increased training and awareness on and about complex needs – linking into the 'culture change' recommended by the Homelessness Task Force.
• Ensuring there is provision of independent advocacy, advice, and clear information for service users.
• Consistency in service provision.
• More availability or wider access to detox facilities.
• Protocols for joint working between statutory and voluntary sector services being developed and implemented consistently.
• Implement consistently protocols currently being developed to provide accommodation for people when they leave institutions such as hospital.
• Ensure that recent changes to the procedure for accessing the out of hours standby service (which had operated by presenting to the local police station previously) is consistently applied and service users made aware of the new out of hours procedures.
• Temporary accommodation must always be available to people when they require housing and as the case studies show, has not always been previously.
• Different types of accommodation in different locations are required to meet with people's individual needs. If people are only offered accommodation in areas they may feel 'at risk' for example they may not settle in that accommodation and will continue to be homeless.
• Development of community resources to assist people with complex needs to access mainstream services and communicate what they require – for example through Confidence Building and Communication courses.
• More intensive, one-to-one, specialist support for people with complex needs is required to advise and support them through the housing process, assist them to link into mainstream services and provide an ongoing and consistent base of support for them whether they sustain accommodation or not.

There is a clear need for an outreach service to exist in North Lanarkshire. In particular this is useful to:

• Identify and engage with people with complex needs.
• Provide specialist working for people with complex needs.
• 'Signpost' people who are homeless through services to resolve their homelessness.
• Promote joint working between agencies.
• Provide independent advocacy and support for service users to access agencies and accommodation that they may not otherwise link into or be aware of.
• Offer crisis intervention that may prevent rough sleeping or repeat homelessness.
• Provide consistency, a point of contact, and independent advice and support which can be accessed via the freephone number.

Rough sleeping, hidden homelessness, and the complex set of support needs that often accompany such forms of homelessness is a challenging problem to address in North Lanarkshire. That there is an ongoing provision such as that provided by the outreach service in North Lanarkshire is important.

Resources to provide more one-on-one intensive, specialist support, perhaps in the form of a separate housing support service for people with complex needs, could be developed.

More direct access to temporary, permanent and specialised accommodation for people with complex needs should also be made available, if the cycle of homelessness that currently exists is to be broken.

The number of people experiencing this cycle of homelessness and rough sleeping may be small but is significant. Small scale but significant developments in the provision of services to these people could begin to address their needs, break this cycle and continue towards meeting North Lanarkshire Council's commitment to alleviating and preventing homelessness.

The full report by the GSC is accessible using the "Download or Request by Post" box at the right-hand side of the screen.