Can we fix Homelessness in Scotland? Aye. we can. Scottish Homelessness Involvement & Empowerment Network SHIEN

Transcription

1 Can w fix Homlssnss in Scotland? Ay w can w o h r a h s c n i r p x r 2017 t c b m r i c d D h t i w l p o.p.. SHIEN Scottish Homlssnss Involvmnt & Empowrmnt Ntwork

2 Glasgow Homlssnss Ntwork Unit 16a, Adlphi Cntr 12 Commrcial Road Glasgow G5 0PQ Tl: Glasgow Homlssnss Ntwork ( GHN ) is a charity rgistrd in Scotland (SC ) and company limitd by guarant (SC112361).

3 Hllo Th Scottish Govrnmnt st up an Action Group to mak rcommndations to Ministrs about how to tackl homlssnss and rough slping ovr th nxt 5 yars. This will b backd by a nw 50m Ending Homlssnss Togthr Fund ovr th sam priod. Th Action Group wants to collaborat with popl who hav first-hand xprinc of homlssnss in Scotland. Th Action Group undrstood that popl may want involvd in diffrnt ways, for diffrnt rasons as xprts, advisors, critics, commntators, rality-chckrs and problm-solvrs. Th Action Group also rcognisd that many popl will not want involvd at all. 5 local consultation vnts wr hld during Dcmbr 2017 which hostd 122 popl to hlp shap this national discussion from th vry bginning. Th vnts wr hld in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Abrdn, Prth and Dumfris and run by th participation ntwork SHIEN at Glasgow Homlssnss Ntwork, on bhalf of th Action Group. This rport shars th mssags that popl want dlivrd to th Action Group and to Scottish Govrnmnt. But it dosn t stop hr almost all th popl that got involvd said thy wantd to stay involvd. And thr will b lots of ways to participat during 2018 for popl that want to. Stay in touch! Connct with us Intrnt? Wbsit: Twittr: Facbook: Glasgow Homlssnss Ntwork aywcan@ghn.org.uk Contact Us No Intrnt? Phon: Txt: Prson: Com visit us any Tusday aftrnoon or Friday morning. Unit 16a, Adlphi Cntr, 12 Commrcial Roadd Glasgow G5 0PQ 15 DEC ABERDEEN Th Citadl 28 Castl St AB11 5BG 13 DEC EDINBURGH Th Mlting Pot 5 Ros St EH2 2PR 14 DEC PERTH PKVAS, North Mthvn St PH1 5PP 4 DEC GLASGOW 16a, Adlphi Cntr 12 Commrcial Rd G5 0PQ 6 DEC DUMFRIES TPS, Nwall Hous, 22 Nwall Trrac Dumfris DG1 1LW

4 Who cam along? 122 popl with livd xprinc of homlssnss attndd th 5 discussion vnts. Of th 122 popl who got involvd, 104 rturnd a form which told us that: Most wr mn, whil 36 wr womn Th most common ag group was 35-44, but 17 participants wr undr 25 Th majority wr Whit Scottish 39 popl rportd having a disability Popl told us whr thy ar staying: 35 popl in thir own tnancis aftr a priod of homlssnss 24 popl in tmporary flats, hostls or B&B 23 popl in supportd accommodation 6 popl wr in thir own tnancis but at risk of homlssnss 4 popl in rhab 4 popl slping rough or using a night shltr 3 popl ar sofa surfing (+ 5 othr placs) Popl told us whn thir most rcnt xprinc of homlssnss was: Just ovr half ar currntly homlss or hav bn within th last 12 months Around a quartr of popl wr homlss mor than on yar but lss than 5 yars ago Around a quartr of popl wr homlss ovr 5 yars ago Nothing about us, without us, is for us. Haring homlss voics. Grat vnt in Edinburgh today listning to thos with living and livd xprinc of homlssnss. #aywcan

5 What w discussd At ach vnt, th point was raisd that th Action Group and Scottish Govrnmnt must mak sur that th nw 50m budgt (ovr 5 yars) to tackl homlssnss is spnt in a vry opn and honst way. Popl want to s a plan for this budgt, and also want fdback on how thir advic and viws ar bing takn forward. 1 Rough Slping Popl dscribd rsponss to rough slping that ar not urgnt nough and don t tak account of how vulnrabl popl ar. It is common for thr to b ithr no accommodation availabl in mrgncy situations or for thr to b too many barrirs to accssing it immdiatly. And if you do accss mrgncy accommodation it oftn fls unsaf for vulnrabl popl with othr rsidnts oftn undr th influnc of alcohol/drugs, has too many ruls to comply with, and dos not always provid a supportd nvironmnt that rcogniss and rsponds to trauma. Across th fiv vnts popl with livd xprinc told us that to nd rough slping in Scotland w nd to: Prvnt it: Srvics should gt involvd arlir to avoid popl losing/laving thir hom; Dlivr bttr support and advic whn laving placs and mor info about that support. Espcially whn laving, hospital, prison, armd forcs or car; Rspond to multipl nds from tams of staff who can provid support for all ths nds and can act quickly; Public (council and NHS) and charity sctor should work togthr bttr and gt involvd arlir to support popl to avoid a crisis. Rspond bttr/mor urgntly: Provid a prmannt hom with full, flxibl support as quickly as possibl and for as long as popl want; Hav high quality strt outrach srvics to work with popl slping rough, who gt activly involvd in improving popl s livs; Mak sur thr is nough accommodation availabl that can b accssd immdiatly in mrgncy situations. Thr should b lss barrirs to accssing this accommodation; Mak sur that staff in hostls/homlss accommodation ar fully traind to work with popl who hav multipl nds including addictions, mntal ill halth and trauma to provid a strong, positiv basis for rcovry; Considr accommodation options for popl with pts, or rviw any currnt ruls that don t allow pts; Considr accommodation options for coupls, or rviw any currnt ruls that don t allow coupls; Mak th homlssnss systm asir to navigat so that popl can gt th hlp thy nd whn thy nd it rathr than approaching th wrong srvics and gtting lost in th systm.

6 2 Tmporary Accommodation Popl dscribd bing in tmporary accommodation for too long, oftn in a shard building that groups popl togthr and isolats thm from thir own social ntworks and communitis. Although whn working wll, this typ of accommodation was thought to provid th safty of 24 - hour staffing, th support was dscribd as limitd and variabl in quality and rarly focusd on multipl nds. Whil som popl flt th quality of thir tmporary accommodation was good (particularly in modrn buildings) othrs flt that th quality was poor and was difficult to gt rpairs carrid out. Ruls in shard accommodation and B&B wr flt to b too inflxibl, causing worry about losing your plac if you stayd out ovrnight or if ruls wr brokn. Across th fiv vnts popl with livd xprinc told us that to transform tmporary accommodation in Scotland w nd to: Rthink Bd and Brakfast accommodation, which was rgardd as univrsally unsuitabl; a particular priority at th Edinburgh vnt; Provid prmannt homs (with support) as quickly as possibl, rducing th amount of tim spnt in tmporary accommodation; If tmporary accommodation is ndd, focus on indpndnt housing in community sttings as far as possibl, providing accss to cooking/washing/intrnt facilitis; Whr using shard accommodation nsur that ruls around curfws and visitors ar flxibl and a night spnt away dos not lad to a risk of losing accommodation; If using supportd accommodation nsur that tim spnt is dictatd by th support popl nd rathr than whn mov-on housing is availabl; Ensur staff ar wll traind in rsponding to trauma, addictions and mntal ill halth. Fantastic day in Prth #AyWCan so good to hav prspctivs from both young popl, oldr popl and th rural community alik.

7 3 Ending Homlssnss in Scotland Popl told us that th ida of nding homlssnss in Scotland fls distant, with popl in all aras rporting how long it taks to xit th homlssnss systm. For many, th prospct of losing thir tmporary accommodation and going back to th start fls much mor likly than gtting thir own mainstram tnancy. Popl shard that gtting support much arlir is th most important thing. Many linkd thir first or currnt xprinc of homlssnss to ngativ xprincs thy had as a child or as a young adult. Whn homlssnss dos happn, th systm and all th organisations must b simpl and flxibl nough to avoid trapping popl in it. Across th fiv vnts popl with livd xprinc told us that to nd homlssnss in Scotland w nd to: Mak sur that a saf, scur hom with support is providd as quickly as possibl; Mak sur all support is flxibl, rsponds to trauma and focuss on popl s own ambitions, skills and assts; Undrstand that positiv, trusting rlationships should b at th hart of what w do. This can oftn b achivd through high quality pr support; Mak sur thr is nough affordabl housing for vryon that nds it and th privat rntd sctor is as saf and scur as possibl; Bttr support vulnrabl childrn and young popl to avoid thm xprincing homlssnss as an adult; Focus on transition priods in popl s livs (.g. laving car, laving prison, hospital) as thy oftn triggr xprincs of homlssnss which can b prvntd; Work with popl to build confidnc, slf-stm and positiv rlationships to prvnt homlssnss and rpat homlssnss; Ensur that all staff working in homlssnss ar highly skilld, rcognis th impact of trauma, ar always undrstanding and rspctful.

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