Key Outcome 1: Spend as little time as possible without immediate accommodation

Weighting:

11%

Please set out clearly how you would attempt to ensure customers spend as little time as possible without immediate accommodation. Your response should consider how you will quickly reach people who are sleeping rough.

People in Crisis Who Have No Immediate Accommodation

Purpose of the service

The service will work with people in crisis who have no immediate accommodation in order to resolve their accommodation problem and to address the underlying cause(s) of their crisis. Furthermore, the service will work intensively with those people, who because of their multiple needs, experience long and/or frequent periods without accommodation so as to resolve their crisis and reach and maintain stability in their lives.

Streetwork will ensure that customers spend as little time as possible in housing crisis. We will do this by offering them immediate crisis support and an inspiring route off the streets, off alcohol and drugs, and into sustainable community-based housing, training, volunteering and real jobs.

100% of people without immediate accommodation will be reached within five days. By 2012 we will have reduced that time to 24hrs.

Working with homeless people with multiple needs is what we do best. Streetwork has 16 years experience on the streets and we can also draw on 75 years of Ark experience of building-based housing support, clinical health services, legal advice and catering for homeless people with multiple needs. We will ensure that customers receive a high quality of expert housing crisis support when they need it most.

Street Outreach

We will go out every day and night to relentlessly search for and engage with people in crisis. We will go to where they are and initiate purposeful interventions to resolve their accommodation needs immediately.

Temporary Overnight Facility

40 customers a night currently rely on the Cowgate Centre overnight. The service model we are proposing would remove the need for this service but we recognise the need for a transitional period for service users. Streetwork will provide a Temporary Overnight Facility for those without access to accommodation for six months, after which we propose to replace the service. During this period, we will work with the Council and housing providers to identify enough overnight bed spaces to accommodate customers appropriately so that they no longer have to sleep on chairs. We also believe that some customers use an overnight facility simply because it is there and we expect the demand for it to fall by at least 30% after closure.

Emergency Reception Centre

As an alternative to the temporary overnight facility, Streetwork will provide an out-of-hours reception and assessment centre that seeks to give everyone who is roofless an emergency bed space that meets with Care Commission and Council Code of Guidance standards. The ERC will be open every day from 8am - 11pm (all assessments completed by 11pm). Customers can simply drop-in to access crisis accommodation options, housing advice, advocacy and support. They can also access facilities to eat, wash and keep warm on a temporary basis whilst they resolve their crisis.

Free Phone Advice Helpline

We will set up an 24/7 emergency helpline where customers can phone for immediate assistance, advice or referral. This will ensure that the customers have access to housing advice, crisis assistance and fast referral routes. Effective communications will ensure that workers have the most up to date information on customers' current needs and issues.

Improving Our Reach

Streetwork has in place, a communications protocol with L&B Police Missing Persons Unit to alert us to any potential customers that require immediate assistance. We will produce leaflets and posters and circulate as widely as possible to advertise the service both to vulnerable potential customers and to attract referrals from agencies, police, social services, GPs and the public. They will be displayed at GP surgeries, train/bus stations, bus shelters, on buses, in prison and other appropriate settings.

`Out of The Cold' Older Persons Outreach

Streetwork will add £350,000 value to the service, courtesy of The Big Lottery, in the form of outreach support for older people. Ensuring that those who are vulnerable to the elements, experience mental and physical health issues, have alcohol addiction or challenging behaviours have support to gain and maintain accommodation. Working to bring older homeless people `out of the cold' and into accommodation and more stable safer lifestyles.

100% of people without immediate accommodation will be accommodated within 28 days. By 2012 no one will have to sleep outdoors for want of a bed. We are offering a service where at every point customers are encouraged, supported and rewarded to make positive choices to end their homelessness themselves and move quickly towards sustainable independent living.

Housing Support & Training Centre

Open from 8am - 7pm daily, the Centre will provide customers with expert assistance to resolve their housing crisis as quickly as possible. We will follow up with support to explore/address underlying causes and plan a sustainable route out of crisis. Specialist complex needs staff will also provide intensive support to those who experience long and/or frequent periods without accommodation, so that they too can reach and maintain stability in their lives. We will provide a welcoming, safe place access to health care, treatment, healthy eating, financial inclusion and other education classes. Wash/shower facilities will be available (although we encourage use of mainstream leisure centres).

Women's Support

As the only provider in Edinburgh with dedicated outreach and drop-in support for homeless women, Streetwork will add significant value to the service by offering vulnerable women a safe alternative space to receive assistance to resolve their accommodation crisis. Women's Support operates from 4 Bellevue Street and provides a safe space for women experiencing or at risk of homelessness and domestic abuse, to access educational and therapeutic group work, one to one and visiting tenancy support.

Young People

Homelessness centres are unsuitable environments for vulnerable young people and this is why our proposal includes a diversionary scheme that will be delivered by our partners at the Rock Trust. They will provide a more appropriate alternative service based at 55 Albany Street for young people aged 16 - 24 that understands their issues as different to older customers and better meets their needs.

Key Outcome 2: Feel safe whilst resolving an accommodation crisis

Weighting:

11%

Please set out clearly how you would attempt to ensure the safety of customers without immediate accommodation whilst they resolve their crisis

Response:

Streetwork recognises the need for vulnerable customers to feel safe whilst they resolve their crisis and ensuring their safety at all points of the service will be a high priority.

100% of our customers will report feeling safe whilst accessing crisis support

We have well developed risk management systems and protocols in place and will ensure that customer safety is ensured at all points of the service. Our approach will always prioritise the care and support of the most vulnerable first.

Calm And Well Managed Facilities

The trouble with a tightly controlled door policy is that some customers get banned. And, the trouble with an open door policy is that things can descend into chaos and problems like drug dealing and bullying can flourish. Our proposal addresses all these issues professionally without making any concessions on safety. Every customer will feel safe whilst using our service. We will provide calm and well-managed facilities and an outreach service where the most vulnerable feel completely safe at every stage. Our approach will always prioritise the care and support of the most vulnerable and we will build our responses to each situation from their perspective first.

Controlled Access

The Centre will have strictly controlled door entry systems and will be monitored internally and externally with CCTV. Every customer will be required to sign a Code of Conduct that spells out clearly the boundaries of acceptable behaviour when using the service. The code will be posted in a prominent place in each building to reassure customers about our commitment to their safety. Bullying, abuse, racism, sexism and aggression will be pro-actively managed and incidents tackled immediately.

Drugs

Zero tolerance in and around the Centre and all staff trained to intervene and remove potential misuse problems immediately. We will work closely with the Police to monitor and eliminate illicit use inside the facility and surrounding community area.

Membership Cards

Customers will be invited to join our membership scheme offering tiered and incentivised packages and can be used to award or withdraw incentives and privileges for appropriate periods of time. Our Ready2Help volunteer members will also be trained to play an active role in maintaining security of the Centre and the surrounding community area.

100% of our customers will get a service.

The job involves working with people who have multiple needs, it makes no sense to exclude or hand out summary bans. Those who cannot be worked with indoors as a result of an incident will be asked to leave and worked with elsewhere until the issue has been completely resolved. Re-entry to the facility will be conditional on their full co-operation, incident resolution - including working to reassure affected service users - and re-signing the Code of conduct.

Safe Spaces

Overnight facilities where people sleep on chairs are unsafe. In close proximity, personal safety and protecting possessions is difficult. There is also an impact on health, especially the young, elderly and those who live with health impairments. The weak are routinely at risk from bullying, sleep deprivation, exposure to infestations and aches and pains from unhealthy sleeping posture. Our proposal replaces this with a healthy, positive alternative

Women

Many female customers are fleeing or have experience of domestic violence, physical or sexual abuse due to this they lead damaging lifestyles. Many avoid homeless centres because there are particular men to avoid this is the reason a women-only space is absolutely essential. Also, trafficking is of increasing concern, as is the need to provide appropriate support. Streetwork are signed up to the Human Trafficking Protocol and work closely with the police, Council and partner agencies so that women are directed to services and support in line with Home Office Guidance.

Young People

Again, homelessness centres are unsuitable for young people. Mixing with longer term homeless, including Schedule A offenders and injecting drug users is extremely high risk and unacceptable. Again, this is why we are offering a solution that diverts young people into more appropriate provision that understands their issues as different to older customers and better meets their needs.

On The Street

Church graveyards, Old Town closes, Princes Street, Rose Street and skippering pitches are risky for customers and workers. Some clients have committed violent offences, including Schedule A offenders. Incidents involving violence and knives are common and workers must be protected in order to both carry out their duties and to ensure the safety of customers while working in these settings. Streetwork has industry leading risk management protocols to ensure safety is observed at all times. Streetwork staff carry safety devices with GPS tracking and emergency alert systems that connect to the police.

Skilled Trained Staff

Building trusting relationships is vital for successful engagement. While on their own territory and hidden from the gaze of others, customers often feel able to open up and talk about their personal lives with a worker they trust, many disclose abuse, self-harm, suicide attempts and talk candidly about their drug taking and relationships. Some misinterpret the interest and support on offer. At this point they are vulnerable and professionally managed boundaries and protocols are essential. Inadequately trained, unskilled and unsupervised work practice can cause irreparable damage. Workers must observe clear professional boundaries at all times and are never tempted to allow their personal relationships, beliefs, habits and other issues to distort their practice.

All staff are qualified and trained in boundary management, Child Protection and needle exchange to provide outreach work to the highest standards. Lone worker streetwork is strictly forbidden. Staff carry authorised ID, wear highly visible jackets and carry branded resource bags because customers and the public have a right to know from a distance that the service is professional and meets care commission and other standards. We have well developed procedures and have recently published practice and safety guidelines for the Scottish Government.

Key Outcome 3: Move into emergency accommodation as quickly as possible

Weighting:

11%

Please set out clearly how you would attempt to ensure customers without no immediate accommodation obtain accommodation as quickly as possible.

Response:

Streetwork has 16 years experience (10 as part of RSI) providing out of hours outreach, advice and referral to individuals in housing crisis who often have multiple needs.

100% Of Customers Receive 1:1 Assistance To Resolve Their Housing Crisis Within 12hrs of First Contact.

Emergency Reception Centre

Customers presenting at the ERC will be supported to move into appropriate emergency accommodation as quickly as possible. Staff will conduct initial assessments, liaise with The Access Point, arrange for emergency hostel or other accommodation and ensure they have support alongside accommodation. Phones and internet access will also be available to find permanent accommodation options and bid on the Key To Choice system. A support worker will also accompany each customer to The Access Point to conduct a homelessness assessment.

Street Outreach

Streetwork will provide two outreach sessions each day, 365 days a year. The street outreach sessions will reach customers who are reluctant to use building-based services and ensure that their accommodation and support needs are met.

Morning outreach 8am - 11am

This will enable us to find customers who have slept outdoors and need assistance. This time will also be used to pick up customers who were placed overnight in emergency accommodation and accompany them to The Access Point and to arrange follow-up support.

Evening Outreach 8pm - 11pm

This will target individuals on the street; begging, drinking or sleeping rough to ensure that they are able to access emergency accommodation. We will assess their needs, find suitable temporary accommodation and accompany them to the accommodation after providing them with food and dry clothes. We recognise that accommodation alone will not solve homelessness and will ensure that customers needs are met by providing follow up support.

Underground Solution

The Rock Trust will work with young people at the Underground, during the day or the morning after they have presented to the ERC, to assess their individual situation. They will facilitate and support re-connection to families, offer shower and laundry facilities, access the internet to ensure that connections are maintained with their peer social networks. They will secure a safe place to sleep for the night, provide support with accommodation, training or employment applications, undertake an immediate financial assessment and make referrals to appropriate temporary accommodation or visiting support.

100% of people without immediate accommodation will move into accommodation within five days of their first contact with the service by 2012.

Follow up support

Streetwork will provide follow up support to every customer accessing our service. This will enable our skilled staff team to make referrals and accompany our customers to access the services they need that address the underlying causes of their housing crisis. Working with these services we will ensure that customers are supported to gain, maintain and move on from emergency accommodation.

Nightstop Service

The Rock Trust will develop an alternative, diversionary Nightstop service for young people. Nightstop has been running for over 25 years and is a tried, tested and externally verified service using trained and supported volunteers to host young people for a few nights within a family setting. The beauty of Nightstop is its ability give a breathing space or cooling off period for young people and their families without entering the mainstream homeless services at a time of crisis.

100% of people without immediate accommodation will move into accommodation within 28 days of their first contact. The primary purpose of the Emergency Reception Centre, street outreach and follow up support service will be to make sure this happens.

Improved Assessments

Streetwork recognises that people with low support needs, presenting as homeless for the first time, are sometimes placed in hostels where support is available. Whereas, others with more complex needs often end up in B&B accommodation because of a lack of available bed spaces, a situation that often breaks down very quickly. A more consistent out-of-hours assessment process would improve the quality of hostel referrals, reduce accommodation breakdown and assist TAP staff completing full homelessness assessments the following day.

We are suggesting, therefore, that the proposed Emergency Reception Centre could be used as the main out-of-hours homelessness assessment centre processing referrals to hostels. When TAP is closed for the day, our ERC team could assess and refer customers to hostel accommodation if they require support, and, B&Bs/ temporary flats if they don't require overnight support. This model would ensure that people with low support needs presenting for the first time are less likely to become involved in the cycle of homelessness or see homelessness as a lifestyle choice.

Overnight Emergency Bed Spaces

We are confident that a supply of overnight emergency bed spaces can be sourced to replace the need for up to 40 people a night sleeping on chairs. Detailed talks with Glasgow YMCA, Rock Trust, SAMH and private sector providers have confirmed the feasibility of this as an alternative. Streetwork will therefore support a bid in the next round of accommodation provision to create an volume of emergency bed spaces that will not only meet the current demand but also be easily adapted to meet any decrease or increase in the numbers of people experiencing accommodation crisis.

Meeting The 2012 Challenge

Together with the Council and accommodation providers, we can identify and secure an adequate range of bed spaces, it will allow us to make a huge step forward towards meeting the 2012 objective of ending the need to sleep rough, and to phase out the current overnight café provision. A flexible pool of emergency options that can increase or decrease to meet changing demands will also be a distinct advantage should the wider economic conditions change, for better or for worse.

Key Outcome 4: Spend as little time as possible using temporary facilities

Weighting:

11%

Please set out clearly how you would attempt to ensure that customers spend as little time as possible using temporary facilities. Your response should consider how the underlying causes of customers' crises will be identified and addressed.

Response:

Streetwork will provide a comprehensive service to all our customers to ensure that they spend as little time as possible using temporary facilities.

100% of people using temporary facilities will do so for no more than 28 days

Customers who use the Emergency Reception Centre will receive 1:1 intensive support to resolve their homelessness crisis and to move into temporary accommodation quickly. The ERC is not a place where people can simply get out of the rain to sit around in chairs drinking tea, watching TV, catnapping or playing pool. Instead, we are offering an attractive and supportive opportunity for people to get busy sorting their crisis and planning their move into a home of their own. We will encourage each customer to move quickly from emergency services and make the next step towards a settled home of their own.

Housing Support & Training Centre

Customers choosing to do something positive about their situation can make fuller use of the Centre by applying for membership. Open from 8am - 7pm daily, the Centre will not only provide customers with expert housing assistance but also access to an inspiring and rewarding route off the streets and into settled housing, health and training.

Steps Towards Own Home

The Centre programme, volunteering and job training scheme will be managed using a tiered membership card scheme. At the simplest level, all we require from even the least interested and hardest to engage customer, is to sign up for 3 different types of support. This will give them access to subsidised meals, wash/shower facilities, health care, treatment, financial inclusion and education classes.

The stepped programme is designed to suit the abilities and motivation of each customer, to help them make visible progress towards accommodation. At each incentivised step, the customer proves they are ready to move to the next level. The scheme is designed to encourage and support customers to re-engage with society and to re-invest in their own future and sense of self-worth towards securing and sustaining their own home and is adapted from well-established and highly successful schemes in the USA (see www.doe.org).

100% of our customers will be supported to identify the underlying causes of their crisis and help to move towards settled accommodation.

We will refer, accompany and encourage use of all appropriate services to ensure support needs are addressed. The customer will also be fully supported through the EdIndex bidding process, through the waiting and allocation process and they will also be referred to Tenancy Support where appropriate.

100% of members will have full health checks

Homeless people suffer far more than the general population. They are exposed to many conditions, often exacerbated by long-term alcohol/substance use, such as liver failure and ischemic toes, sores and abscesses, TB, Hep B & C, trauma injuries, painful joints from sleeping out in the freezing cold, and so on. For this reason we see Edinburgh Homeless Practice as a key delivery partner and we will invite them to work with us in the Centre including providing clinical services and immunisation. We will also support customers to independently make and keep health appointments.

Mental Health

Many customers experience feelings of isolation, abandonment, resignation, depression, suicide, memories of physical and sexual abuse, bereavement, loss, emotional trauma and the need to self-harm. We will work with each individual to develop responses to both verbal and nonverbal signs of stress, anxiety and depression. We will work sensitively with people who are at risk and liaise with EHP and psychiatric services to co-ordinate joined-up care.

Alcohol

Those who are still drinking, but who want help to either reduce consumption, or stop altogether, will be fully supported. Whether actively engaging with the concept of change, or working towards it, we will support customers appropriately, at their own pace. Referral/ chum for reduction prescribing, managing use or motivational interviewing.

Substance Use

Three quarters of homeless people have experienced substance misuse. Successful treatment outcomes are key to stable housing outcomes. Streetwork recogonises that when treatment and housing services work together to support each other, there are many benefits for all stakeholders. We will work hand-in-hand with HRT, CDPS and local drug services to create an integrated housing and care pathway for substance-users.

Family

Where there is an opportunity, particularly for young people, we will always pursue family reconciliation and mediation as the preferred approach. Where this is not possible, we will explore connections with other potentially supportive family members. It must be remembered, however, that many young and older long-term homeless people cite irreconcilable family breakdown as the main contributing factor to becoming homeless in the first place. Sometimes, continuing abusive or neglectful relationships are triggers for housing crisis.

Offending

Stable, settled and suitable accommodation for offenders can reduce offending. 50% of customers experiencing homelessness are prison leavers. Streetwork will work in partnership with SACRO Community Links Centre to provide customers help with addressing offending issues, health, employment and training. And, to ensure a joined-up support planning process.

Supporting Women

Homeless women are outnumbered 4:1 on the streets by men. The complexities experienced by them make it impossible for some to access services such as Women's Aid and Rape Crisis. Streetwork has a track record of working successfully with women who sleep rough through our additional women's Service. We will ensure that all female customers are given the safest, quickest and most comprehensive support package enabling them to move quickly out of crisis accommodation.

Partnership Working

We will work closely with Visiting Tenancy Support (Lot 5) to ensure a consistent and joined up approach to resettlement, ensuring that there are good community links and support services in place for each customer. When people move into a new area we will provide them with information on local amenities, transport links and other services. We will link with Local Housing Teams and ensure good neighbourhood support for each customer, and so that they begin to access local services independently.

Key Outcome 5: Fewer people with multiple needs experience long or frequent periods of accommodation crisis

Weighting:

11%

Please set out clearly how you will reduce the number of customers with multiple needs experiencing long or frequent periods of accommodation crisis. Your response should consider how the underlying causes of customers' crises will be identified and addressed.

Response:

Streetwork has more than 16 years experience of successfully working on the city streets. We have always made it our business to work with people who have the most complex and ingrained needs; the ones that other providers find the most difficult to accommodate, and we get results. Our last two SP activity reports showed 83% success in the number of customers with multiple needs remaining housed after 6 months.

Streetwork are excited by the City of Edinburgh Council vision, set out in the Edinburgh Homelessness Strategy. Ending homelessness by 2012 would be a truly outstanding result and we believe the targets for this service should reflect that challenge.

Getting Outstanding Results means doing things differently

Many customers with multiple needs and long-term or frequent periods of homelessness have become resigned to a life on the streets, to alcohol and drugs, because they do not see an alternative. Treating multiple needs and their causes is only part of the answer, we must also give customers a sense of purpose, self-worth and engage their desire to turn their own lives around.

Soup kitchens and night shelters are no longer up to that task.

That is why we are proposing a radically different approach: at night, we must offer real beds and, during the day, we must offer the chance of a home, the chance to get off substances and the chance of real jobs. Streetwork will deliver:

100% reduction in the number of people with multiple needs experiencing long-term/frequent accommodation crisis by 2012

We will do this by creating a Centre where people get busy turning their lives around. Our tiered membership scheme includes incentivised steps towards accommodation, volunteering and employment training.

Getting Ready4Work

Ready2Help

We have an agreement with Access To Industry to provide access to support and accredited training opportunities for participants in our volunteer scheme. This will involve customers playing an active role in managing the safety and security standards of the facility. Volunteers will contribute 4 hours a day, including building security, repairs & maintenance, reviewing healthy workplace measures and keeping the surrounding community area free from litter.

Ready4Work

Our Job Training programme, delivered by A4E (prime New Deal contractor for Edinburgh & District), will help homeless individuals to become drug-free, settle into a home of their own and secure full-time employment. Criteria for acceptance onto the programme is that the applicant must have successfully completed at least one month on our Ready2Help volunteering scheme and be ready, willing and able, both physically and mentally, to work. There are two concurrent programmes, one for under 25 year olds and one for over 25's.

Upon entering the Ready4Work programme, trainees immediately give up any non-mainstream benefits and instead transfer on to Jobseekers Allowance. From their weekly JSA, trainees must put £10 every week into a personal savings account. In return, they receive a £15 per week stipend, free meals, free bus travel, free Council Leisure Access card, intensive support with tenancy and personal issues, access to social and recreational activities. Graduation from the programme requires trainees to have secured employment in the economic mainstream and moved into independent housing while remaining drug-free and sober. Graduates will also have access to our graduate support and community-based recreational activity scheme.

Creating socially enterprising jobs

The Centre will offer real job opportunities to our customers. We are happy to announce an exclusive deal with Moungrange, developers of the Caltongate site. They have offered to make it a condition that their sub-contractors create enough employment experience and real job opportunities for graduates of our Ready4Work programme, as part of their CSR commitment. We are also seeking funds for the following projects:

Street Improvement Project

Dressed in smart, bright blue uniforms with sponsor's logo on the arms and the Ready4Work logo on the back, trainees will work in crews with one Site Supervisor per crew. Their responsibilities include adding significant value to the existing Council Cleansing department, including sweeping streets, collecting and bagging refuse, removing graffiti, cleaning street furniture, steam cleaning pavements, removing chewing gum, shoveling snow, removing ice and distributing Community Improvement marketing materials to the general public.

Social Enterprise Café

A modern café will be located within the Centre that provides men and women with food handling and food preparation skills, as well as basic nutrition education. This project offers intensive, on the job training for those interested in working in the food services industry. Trainees in the café will prepare meals each day for the Training Centre service users and develop outside catering business opportunities with a view to increasing independent revenue streams. The café will also operate a Mealticket scheme whereby members of the public can purchase vouchers at selected retail outlets, churches and other networks and distribute to homeless people. Vulnerable homeless people can use the vouchers to purchase food.

Repairit

The Repairit project provides a painting, decorating, electrical testing, repairs and maintenance service for other newly housed people across the city. This will mean that trainees will decorate and repair homes alongside a formerly homeless peer, providing a powerful role model example. This social enterprise will also seek to increase independent revenue streams by winning contracts with private sector letting agencies, housing associations and other property management companies.

In Conclusion

Streetwork have a considerable amount of experience and expertise working successfully with people that have the most complex and challenging needs. We have more than enough organisational and operational capacity to deliver an outstanding job. We will constantly look for improvement. After completing every task, we will check to see if there was anything we could have done better, and then try and improve it next time. We believe our offer is very competitive, but the most valuable thing we can offer City of Edinburgh Council is to deliver the very best possible outcome success. We would welcome the challenge of working alongside the Council and other partners to finally end homelessness by 2012.