Key Outcome 1: Avoid a first episode of homelessness

Weighting:

11%

Please set out clearly how you will attempt to ensure that people avoid a first episode of homelessness. Your response should include how you will reach out early to people in their local neighbourhoods.

Response:

The prevention of homelessness through the provision of quality advice is a key theme of Edinburgh's Homelessness Strategy. The Community Help & Advice Initiative (CHAI), Four Square (Scotland) and Granton Information Centre (GIC) form a strategic service delivery partnership - the Edinburgh Housing Advice Partnership (EHAP) - to successfully meet this specification and deliver the outcomes of the strategy.

EHAP take a holistic approach to the provision of advice and information to ensure that not only "presenting" problems are addressed but that underlying issues are identified and dealt with in a co-ordinated and effective manner, delivering positive, client focused outcomes.

EHAP will focus on :

The Young Persons Advisor will develop a tailored educational and information service to final year students in Edinburgh's 24 mainstream secondary schools and will develop peer mentoring by the recruitment and training of volunteer peer educators. The service will also be provided to those in residential childcare settings who are moving towards independent living, regarding housing options, choices and responsibilities - delivering a number of workshops per annum.

The preventative role of the Development Worker is one of the important posts. They will be able to specifically focus targeting and raising awareness of the service, making sure no one group is left out.  They will visit companies, the armed forces and hospitals to provide basic training and information to ensure that people are aware and able to refer appropriately. They will include care settings as well as hospital settings and specific groups, including the BME community, people with disabilities, schools and `hard to reach' client groups.

The development of awareness of the service within the banking, finance and housing communities will allow for the early referral of individuals who may default on a mortgage, increasingly important due to the potential increase in numbers of these cases in the current financial climate.

Key Outcome 2: Avoid a first episode of homelessness when leaving care, hospital, prison or armed services

Weighting:

11%

Please set out clearly how you will attempt to ensure that people entering or leaving institutional settings do not become homeless on leaving them. Your response should consider how you will attempt to ensure that people move directly to new accommodation, thus avoiding temporary accommodation, when a return to existing accommodation is not possible.

Response:

The EHAP partners have extensive experience of working with those leaving institutional settings - particularly those leaving prison. Fundamental to moving people directly into settled accommodation will be the joint working arrangements set in place between the different agencies involved and effective referral mechanisms.

EHAP will build on the established close links between Scottish Prison Service (SPS), Criminal Justice Social Work, Local Authority Housing Offices and hospitals. The Development Worker will build links to primary care and community health services, the armed services sector and Looked After and Accommodated Children Team.

Ensuring staff are aware of the support available through the service is a priority and as such EHAP will employ a Development Worker specialising in working with staff in key partner organisations to provide basic advice and/or literature and referrals to the service.

Four Square have established referral protocols in HMP Edinburgh, YOI Polmont and HMP YOI Cornton Vale. The Development Worker and Young Persons Worker will establish referral protocols with the hospital and armed services and the Looked After Children Team.

Prison & Youth Offender Institutions

Four Square currently provide a Prison Outreach Programme (POP) in HMP Edinburgh, HMP Cornton Vale and YOI Polmont. To deliver this element of Lot 1 Four Square will be sub-contracted to maintain and develop this extremely effective intervention. Four Square will have two POP workers and one Senior POP worker providing advice and information to individuals in these establishments.

POP workers will be involved in the induction of all new prisoners, ensuring that 100% of sentenced prisoners are seen on first entry and are aware of the available service.

POP workers previously worked in partnership with the SPS to develop accommodation questions on initial assessment forms - called `Core Screen'. This assessment is carried out by SPS officers within 72 hours of individuals being admitted into custody. The purpose of `Core Screen' is to identify needs as soon as possible in order to make the appropriate referrals to service providers, including accommodation issues.

Referred prisoners are interviewed by a POP worker based within the Community Links centre. The worker completes a Housing Needs Assessment with the prisoner and assesses for Physical/Mental Health issues to ascertain if there is need for housing on medical conditions. Assessment also addresses addiction issues, former rent arrears, rent payment plans, anti-social behaviour, tenancy abandonment and homeless status. On assessment, the member of staff will case manage that prisoner until their release date or until they are no longer within that establishment.

Case management will involve referring to CEC Housing Options Team (HOT) who hold twice weekly surgeries in the Links Centre. Currently we are working with HOT to introduce a proforma to improve referral processes. Once in place this document will allow POP workers to refer to CEC as soon as housing need is identified, maximising the chances of sourcing appropriate permanent accommodation and avoiding the use of temporary accommodation.

Four Square has developed informal reciprocal arrangements with several other custodial institutions in Scotland. Therefore, those from Edinburgh seeking to return to Edinburgh on their release have access to housing support and on their return to the City will be referred to POP for further support and advice. Currently less than 30 individuals from Edinburgh are incarcerated in prisons in Scotland other than those covered by POP.

Armed Services

EHAP will employ a Development Worker to develop positive links with Joint Services Housing Advice Office, established by the Ministry of Defence to provide advice and guidance to service personnel moving into civilian housing options.

The Development Worker will regularly meet with local SSAFA (Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen & Families Association) representatives to maximise awareness of the services that can be provided by EHAP. Joint working arrangements will be established to provide effective referral into the service in a timely manner.

This will ensure a direct referral link into EHAP for service personnel who may be settling in Edinburgh, as well as enabling a reciprocal link between EHAP and SSAFA around the range of welfare and support services for ex-services personnel and their families. CHAI already has links into the armed services welfare and support pillar through membership of Poppy Scotland's Charitable Services Committee - which also considers issues concerning homelessness among ex-services personnel.

Leaving Hospital

EHAP will develop the existing links that CHAI and GIC have with NHS Lothian Hospitals, particularly Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, through their involvement in the Acute Sector Welfare Rights Service, in order to publicise and deliver EHAPs to individuals who may have housing advice needs on discharge from hospital.

The EHAP Development Worker will work with NHS staff and hospital Social Workers to market the options provided by EHAP and ensure that the service is widely recognised staff and hospital volunteers.

EHAP will work with staff, and with the Housing Options Team, to develop a housing advice element to discharge Care Plans, and joint working protocols as key to achieving this outcome, and the hospitals `bed blocking' targets will be early referrals to the service.

Neighbourhood Advice Workers will visit patients pre-discharge as required in order to facilitate their return to the community. They will work with the patient to examine their needs on discharge, such as

NAWs will liaise with the relevant agency, either with or, on behalf of the patient to make sure that the relevant support is available to them on discharge from hospital.

Leaving Care

The EHAP Young Persons Worker will work with schools, residential child care units and Children and Families Social Work Services to develop targeted housing advice and information to young people who are about to make the transition into independent living.

Educational materials will be developed and volunteer peer educators will assist in the delivery of briefing sessions for school students in their final year at school.

Key Outcome 3: Hold onto existing accommodation on entering prison or hospital so as to avoid becoming homeless on liberation/leaving hospital

Weighting:

11%

Please set out clearly how you will ensure that people entering prison or hospital do not lose their existing accommodation.

Response:

Enabling someone to maintain existing accommodation when they enter prison or hospital is vital as a preventative measure to further, more intensive support, which would be required if accommodation is lost. EHAP see this as a crucial service element and, through the partner groups, have been successful in achieving this intervention. Four Square, through the POP service, has been highly successful in enabling people to maintain their accommodation whilst in prison.

Awareness of EHAP, particularly among Health Sector staff, is vital to allow for prompt referrals. The Development Worker will be key in enabling EHAP to support people in this way.

EHAP will focus on raising awareness of the service, especially to those whose referrals may facilitate effective early interventions. They will visit hospitals, GPs, Community Health Partnerships and local Community Planning Health Inequalities Groups to provide basic training and information to ensure that key staff are able to refer appropriately.

EHAP will develop the established close links with Scottish Prison Service, Criminal Justice Social Work, Local Authority Housing Offices and hospitals; additionally they will continue to develop links with GP Surgeries - CHAI and GIC already have working links with Surgeries in various locations. The Development Worker will also build links to primary care and community health services.

Prison and Youth Offending Institutions

POP has high success rates in enabling individuals to maintain accommodation while in Prison and has been working in HMP Edinburgh, HMP Cornton Vale and YOI Polmont for many years. The service is based in the Link Centres at Prisons and POP staff have extremely good working relationships with Prison staff and have developed protocols to maximise individuals ability to maintain accommodation whilst in Prison.

Within 72 hours of entering prison individuals are seen by a prison officer who completes a `Core Screen'. Four Square has worked with SPS to develop this onto the Prisoner Record System (PR2) to show any Need for Tenancy Closure. All referrals entered onto the integrated Case Management screen of the PR2 are extracted by the POP worker, and this highlights where that person in custody has a current tenancy.

The POP worker meets with the prisoner within five working days to proceed with a Housing Needs Assessment and works with them to sustain their current tenancy or, where appropriate, terminate that tenancy.

100% of referred offenders will be offered advice and support.

In working with individuals to sustain their tenancy POP workers will

Particular difficulties arise when an offender is detained for more than the 13 week period for which s/he is entitled to housing benefit while detained. In these cases POP workers work with offenders to make arrangements with local authority and housing associations to prevent the offender from getting into debt and allowing the offender to return to existing accommodation.

Hospitals

The reassurance that an individual will feel if they know they are able to return to their own home may, in many cases, actually speed up their recovery time releasing valuable bed spaces to others and reducing the likelihood of more intensive and costly care.

The Development Worker will work with members of staff and volunteers in the three main local hospitals to maximise awareness of the service and to encourage staff to refer individuals immediately if they feel that they may be at risk of losing their home during hospitalisation. To allow all hospital staff to be able to refer, regardless of the time of day or night, there will be a web-based referral form and an answerphone on the central telephone line.

However, EHAP will develop a service which intervenes at an earlier stage than simply one that responds to those already in hospital. Therefore, the Development Worker and the NAWs will work to promote the service to other health care professionals - such as GPs, CPNs and Social Care staff as well as to social clubs and local networks to encourage referrals prior to someone being hospitalised, or immediately they are admitted.

The referral form will capture relevant information such as

Once in receipt of a referral, from a health care professional or a self referral, the local NAW will visit within two working days to undertake full assessment of the individuals needs. This will involve assessing:

Cases where additional support, or adaptations are required to allow someone to return home will be regarded as priority for the NAWs, to prevent people being kept inappropriately in hospital.

Key Outcome 4: Avoid homelessness as a result of eviction and repossession due to rent arrears or mortgage default.

Weighting:

11%

Please set out clearly how you will attempt to ensure people do not lose their home because of mortgage default or rent arrears. Your response should consider how you will work with people at the stage of Court proceedings.

Response:

EHAP will provide a lay court representation service staffed, on a rota basis, by the 5 Neighbourhood Housing Advice Workers (NAWs) to assist those facing court actions for repossession of their homes through rent arrears or mortgage defaults. This service will be available to all Edinburgh tenants, whether local authority, housing association or private sector, as well as home owners.

The main focus of EHAP activity will be around the provision of education, advice, information and support to avoid the threat of homelessness arising, and to this end we will create, publish and market a range of publicity materials to Council office and staff, to RSL's, Private Landlords, and Letting Agencies. We will also seek to establish positive working relationships with landlords in order to develop an `Early Intervention' approach to addressing the issue of housing debt in the early stages of its development. CHAI has had previous experience of working in partnership with a local RSL and local CEC Neighbourhood Office on the specific issue of early intervention in rent arrears cases. Indeed, the pilot `Combating Arrears Together' project was highlighted as a model of good local partnership working by the, then, Scottish Executive. EHAP would seek to draw on the positive aspects of that pilot to develop new models of early intervention work.

However, despite this focus, it is the long experience of EHAP partner providers that it is inevitable that some people will only ever seek advice and support in the latter stages of legal recovery actions. EHAP partners have many years of experience in dealing effectively in these cases.

This service will operate as follows:

Court representation: Prepared cases (tenants who seek advice prior to the Calling of the Court case)

The 5 Neighbourhood Housing Advice Workers (NAW) will act as lay representatives, appearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court's Heritable Court currently Fridays, on behalf of tenants facing legal actions for the recovery of tenancies on the grounds of rent arrears. These are mainly CEC tenancies, but RSL and private tenants can also be represented.

EHAP will provide 2 NAWs to represent all tenants referred for assistance through the various EHAP and EHAN access points prior to the court calling date. NAWs will prepare their own cases and pass them to colleagues for representation at court. The service will be organised on a rota basis to ensure that all NAWs gain and retain court skills necessary, avoiding potential problems due to staff illness or other unplanned absences. After the hearing, cases will be passed back to the originating adviser to work with the tenant to resolve the underlying issues, and provide continuity of case management. Further assistance will be provided to the tenant at any future court callings of the case.

Court representation: Emergency assistance

EHAP will provide an additional NAW to assist tenants who arrive at court without prior advice. Their task will be to give guidance to those tenants on presenting their cases to the Sheriff, so the cases may be referred to a future court calling, thus allowing time to seek further advice and assistance. Appointments will be made for them at the nearest EHAP advice point in their neighbourhoods.

In the case of mortgage debt, EHAP will develop working links with banks and other lenders (via the Development Worker), to encourage early referral and interventions to assist those developing mortgage arrears. NAWs will be able to give general advice in respect of the application of the Mortgage Rights (Scotland) Act 2001 and the Mortgage to Rent Scheme. As access to the Mortgage to Rent Scheme requires referral via a Money Adviser, EHAP will also work closely with specialist money advice services in the city to ensure the client receives the help appropriate to their situation.

In most mortgage debt cases involving multiple debt issues, the ability to access protective legal remedies will be essential. CHAI's and GIC's membership of the Edinburgh Debt Advice Partnership and in house Money Advice services provides a sound knowledge base for this area of work - adding considerable value to the effectiveness of EHAP in the field of housing advice.

CHAI Money Advice Staff have held formal `Approved' status under the statutory Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS) which is regulated by the Accountant in Bankruptcy Office. This is currently being renewed and will enable EHAP to offer access to DAS as an additional tool in the wider resolution of mortgage and associated debt issues. In fact, the only DAS cases in Edinburgh, since the introduction of the Scheme in 2004, were handled by an Approved Adviser based in CHAI's South Edinburgh Office. She is currently the only Edinburgh based DAS Approved Adviser.

EHAP partners currently deal with a combined total of more than 1000 people per year presenting at various stages of action for repossession of tenancies. We currently represent 10 to 15 cases each week at Court. On this basis we know that the model (above) for dealing with this aspect of the work - having 2 NAWs on duty to provide representation each Friday, with all those cases requiring representation being channelled to them, and with a further NAW on duty to provide advice to those arriving without representation - is practical and workable.

Existing statistics demonstrate that these interventions are extremely effective in avoiding the threat of eviction. A Decree for Eviction was granted by the Sheriff in less than 2% of cases handled by Partner organisations in 2007/08. The additional benefit of this intervention is that the debt to landlords is reduced through the application of appropriate Housing Benefit claims and the establishment of affordable and sustainable repayment programmes.

The service specification target for this outcome is 50 new households per month. We anticipate assisting 70-75 new households per month given the extended capacity of EHAP and an enhanced focus on mortgage debt issues.

Key Outcome 5: If required, move into appropriate settled accommodation

Weighting:

11%

Please set out clearly how you will attempt to ensure people in housing crisis move into appropriate settled accommodation. Your response should consider how you will maximise the number of people accessing accommodation outside the social rented sector.

Response:

EHAP recognises that despite the range of support and interventions it, and other agencies, provide some people will still find themselves in housing crisis. We will provide those customers with advice on a range of housing options, including promoting access to private sector housing. Increasing and sustaining access to the private rented sector can also reduce the number of people who experience homelessness and require assistance under homelessness legislation, and will therefore have a positive impact on the number or households placed in temporary accommodation.

We will work closely with the successful applicant to `Lot 3: People in Crisis who have no Immediate Accommodation' to identify both short-term and more sustainable longer-term solutions for individuals in need.

Shared housing can be an effective option for people using resettlement and move on services, especially young people. Rents are often lower than single occupancy accommodation and living with others can help overcome the isolation many people feel when leaving hostels or the family home. Appropriate support is crucial to the success of shared accommodation, alongside robust housing management. EHAP believe that people at risk of homelessness should be given advice on a broad range of options to enable them to make decisions based on realistic expectations of the housing solutions available to them. In order to do this EHAP will:

Dispute resolution

EHAP will link into Edinburgh Community Mediation Service (neighbour disputes, anti social behaviour etc); The Advice and Conciliation Service of the Children & Families Department (Helpline giving advice on child issues); Amber Mediation service (offering help for young people, 14-21, at odds with their families - with a specific aim to reduce youth homelessness; and the element of Letwise which aims to resolve disputes between private sector tenants and landlords by encouraging joint responsible behaviour.