Key Customer Outcomes

Measure

Target Year 1

Target Year 2

Target Year 3

Home furnished when customer moves into their home

% of households who move into their home with furniture

100%

100%

100%

Services available when customer moves into their home

% of households who move into their home with working utilities

100%

100%

100%

Home decorated within eight weeks of vulnerable customers moving into their home

Number of vulnerable households who have a decorated home within eight weeks of moving in

minimum of 100

minimum of 100

minimum of 100

Maintain accommodation (including an unbroken series of accommodation)

% of people moving from homelessness to their own accommodation who are still in their accommodation six months after moving in

minimum of 85%

minimum of 87%

minimum of 90%

% of people moving from homelessness to their own accommodation who are still in their accommodation 12 months after moving in

minimum of 80%

minimum of 82%

minimum of 85%

Feel part of the local community by having positive social networks

The Provider will propose measure(s) for this outcome

We have assumed that we will win ALL of the Visiting Support hours bid for. We will refine and define social networks in year 1 of the contract.

10%

+5% on baseline

+5% on baseline

Reporting

Frequency

Reporting Vehicle

Customer Outcomes Report

Quarterly

ECCO Monitoring System

Service Narrative Report

Quarterly

Electronic Document

Financial Statements

Quarterly

Electronic Document

Equalities Assessment

Annually

Electronic Document

Customer Outcomes

Annual targets to be set after six months of service delivery

Feel part of the local community by getting to know the local area

100% of people receiving support to maintain their home (i.e. peer support, befriending, housing support) reporting an improved knowledge of their local area six months after moving into their home

Improved self confidence

100% of people receiving support to maintain their home (i.e. peer support, befriending, housing support) reporting greater self confidence six months after moving into their home

Improved personal motivation (to gain and/or maintain independence)

100% of people receiving support to maintain their home (i.e. peer support, befriending, housing support) reporting greater personal motivation six months after moving into their home

Overcome isolation and loneliness

5% of people receiving support to maintain their home (i.e. peer support, befriending, housing support) reporting that they regularly feel isolated/lonely six months after moving into their home

Participate in leisure opportunities

100% of people receiving support to maintain their home (i.e. peer support, befriending, housing support) report participating in regular leisure opportunities six months after moving in

Customers achieve greater independence

100% of people receiving support to maintain their home (i.e. peer support, befriending, housing support) reporting greater independence on the Housing Support Outcomes Matrix

Housing support needs assessed

100% of people worked with who have had their housing support needs assessed

Need for other support assessed

100% of people worked with who have had their other support needs assessed

Housing support received within home when it is needed, whatever the tenure

100% of people worked with whose assessed needs are being addressed

100% of people receiving housing support to maintain their home reporting that they obtained housing support when they needed it

Other (non housing) support needs met through accessing appropriate help

100% of people worked with whose assessed needs are being addressed

Income maximised in order to avoid debt (e.g. rent or mortgage arrears)

100% of people receiving support to maintain their home (i.e. peer support, befriending, housing support) who have maximised their income

Fuel poverty avoided by improved energy efficiency of the home

100% of people receiving support to maintain their home (i.e. peer support, befriending, housing support) who have improved the energy efficiency of their homes

Get a job or take part in training, volunteering and education to eventually get a job

100% of people receiving support to maintain their home (i.e. peer support, befriending, housing support) who are accessing education, training and employment opportunities

Improved self confidence of peers and befrienders

100% of peers and befrienders reporting greater self confidence six months after commencing peer and befriending support

Peers and befrienders get a job or take part in training, volunteering and education to eventually get a job

100% of peers and befrienders who are accessing education, training and employment opportunities

Key Outcome 1: Home furnished when customer moves into their home

Weighting:

11%

Please set out clearly how you will attempt to ensure that customers' homes are fully furnished upon moving in. Your response should detail how you will overcome any practical challenges to meeting tight timeframes. Your response should also include details on sourcing and delivery of furniture.

Response:

Our consortium conducted a customer forum to gather feedback from customers who would have used this service had it been available in the past. This feedback has influenced how we will deliver this service.

The group said it wanted a single free phone number to call and wanted to be looked after by one person/organisation through the process of getting settled into a new home.

We will take self referrals through a 0800 number and by email from statutory and voluntary sector agencies. A pro-forma e-mail will be used to gather information about our customers to enable us to start our person centred service (Schedule 2 Appendix III). The referring agencies will complete the e-mail with all required information and send that to Bethany who will co-ordinate the Establishing a Home service.

If a customer calls directly, staff will complete the e-mail described above. Completed forms are then sent directly to our furniture warehouse for selection of our `Homepack'. This is something to cook with, something to sleep on and something to sit on and a choice of 3 Starter Packs all delivered within 3 days of a customer receiving their tenancy.

Our research has shown that 30% of people who present as homeless are families. We will provide families with a new table top cooker, single and couples households will be provided with a new microwave - this allows us to manage need for the outcome of providing a loan item in a person centred, cost effective way.

Homepack is based on donated beds, sofas and chairs. Currently, Bethany Homemaker project receives enough donated furniture to provide a service to 900 households. Winning this bid will ensure the consortium is the major furniture recycler in Edinburgh and as such will attract furniture previously donated to other service providers. Our robust infrastructure has the capacity to respond to the public and deliver the service. We have assumed that we will have the full co-operation of the Council to signpost members of the public to our organisation for donating furniture.

Evidence that support from the public will increase through promotion in CEC literature comes from the Autumn 2008 `Outlook' which featured Fresh Start and generated 25% of a typical years donations from the public in a fortnight.

We will capitalise on our partnership to attract goods from our network of suppliers. We have a track record in attracting and retaining a supporter base and these skills will be used to market the service to the wider public. In addition, the following established furniture donation links will minimise the risk of recessionary pressure:-

Bethany is members of Furniture Recycling Network Scotland which is an additional source of donated furniture.

To commence delivery from the start of the contract, we will stockpile sofas, chairs and beds from January 2009. Homepacks will be stored to a minimum stock level of 2 weeks, while Starter Packs will be held to a minimum stock level of 6 weeks.

Bethany's social enterprise REQUIPIT has strong links with major electrical suppliers enabling us to purchase appliances at competitive rates.

We have budgeted for the following process :-

Vans and staff to:

Collect donated furniture;

Quality control of donations in our warehouse;

Stock control system;

Storage; and

Delivery.

On receipt of the pro-forma e-mail we will pick the goods for our customers quickly and efficiently, plan and track delivery using our Mandata scheduling system and deliver Homepacks and Starter Packs within 3 days of customers receiving their keys.

Homemaker will complement the Homepack service by providing carpets, additional white goods, wardrobes and other small items - all things to make a house a home with the full shopping and choice experience. This highly regarded model will work as currently where our team will fundraise for additional goods. Our strong partnership with Capital Credit Union (using their agreement with DWP) allows our customers to immediately arrange credit for exclusive use in Homemaker.

We will provide 7,500 Starter Packs annually and customers will choose from:

Crockery/Cutlery

Pots & Pans

Cleaning Products

Bedding

Towels

Curtains

Small electrical appliances

Goods will come from existing sources: churches, universities, hotels, schools, businesses and the general public. The churches contribution is essential for providing the volume of donations and volunteers required for this scale of operation. Volunteers at the churches organise collections at their congregations before transporting them to Fresh Start where teams of volunteers produce the individual packs. All volunteers receive quality standards training to ensure that the packs are of a consistently high standard.

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In 2007/8, 86 member churches donated goods that allowed 64 volunteers to produce 6,146 packs and trainees to test 1,780 electrical appliances: this is typical of Fresh Start's performance history.

Involvement of Customers

Trainees and volunteers who have experienced homelessness will be involved in the delivery of our service.

At Fresh Start trainees test electrical goods, contribute to warehouse management and stock control while supported volunteering opportunities are created by the Starter Packs service. At Bethany, employment training, employment and supported volunteering opportunities are offered as porters and warehousing staff in the Hub and Homemaker, while REQUIPIT provides opportunities and apprenticeships in refurbishing white goods.

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Our bid demonstrates our ability to deliver this service quickly, while giving our customers quality and choice and supporting their involvement in service delivery.

Key Outcome 2: Services available when customer moves into their home

Weighting:

11%

Please set out clearly how you will attempt to ensure that customers move into their home with working utilities and other services. You response should consider how landlords will be worked with to ensure maintenance issues are quickly addressed.

Response:

The consortium held a customer consultation event in order to find out exactly what customers really needed when allocated a tenancy in order to feel that they were in a position to turn their house into a home. They responded that from the outset, they needed to be able to access support from a worker who would assist them to deal with the issues that they sometimes felt were a barrier to full resettlement. We will deal with the bureaucracy of setting up a tenancy, an area which proves difficult for customers to overcome and properly deal with.

Within this systematic process of sorting out utilities and benefits, there also lies the initial opportunity to build relationships with the customer to ensure that appropriate signposting to other parts of the service take place at this early assessment stage. This will ensure that the customer feels that they are fully included in the process, and will also ensure that there is someone in the process who can empower the customer to immediately build on the opportunity that the allocation of the tenancy provides.

Customers' key message was that there was a real need for assistance to be offered at this very vital initial stage, as the three barriers to resettlement, outlined in outcome 4, can very quickly become felt, if the support networks are not right from the outset. As such, it is worth reiterating that the consortium places great store upon ensuring that needs are assessed at this point.

The pro-forma is used by the “Visiting Support” teams to start the liaison process with landlords and utility companies to ensure that our customers have a home with all utilities switched on and any necessary repairs logged and tracked to ensure that they are completed. To ensure the tenancy is sustainable we will carry out an assessment of further need, including application for Community Care Grants and a referral to Bethany Homemaker service for up to 1,400 customers per year.

All customers will receive assistance with the following issues :-

The ECCO monitoring system will be opened with the customer's permission at this stage.

To enable utilities to be switched on in the customer's home, our support teams will work with the customer to either contact the provider of the utility directly or to help the customer to do it themselves. Working to ensure that utilities are in place can be time consuming and frustrating. Our highly skilled and trained workers have the negotiation and communication skills coupled with tenacity to work until all issues with utilities are resolved.

We will liaise with Housing Officers where the customer is moving into a CEC or RSL tenancy, for PSL's we will liaise with Orchard and Shipman. Where there is a rent deposit guarantee involved we will liaise with Smart Move and if it is a private tenancy then we will deal directly with the landlord and use Letwise and the accredited landlord scheme.

We will identify repairs with the landlord or his representative and the customer. We will then support the customer to develop self-advocacy skills by working with them and supporting them to follow up on agreed repairs plans with their landlord

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We recognise that particular skills are required to engage younger customers; The Rock Trust has the skills, reputation, track record and safe environment to effectively focus on the needs of these customers. Bethany will refer directly to the Rock Trust for an appointment with a member of staff, which will include the following aspects:-

For customers of all ages, the contact established at this point is of great significance. The consortium is sure it is best placed to build upon this initial assessment in order to fully signpost the customer to the full range of services contained within the Establishing a Home and other services in the city. Such other services will include but not be limited to Health and Social Care, Children and Families and Criminal Justice Social Work, GP's, Mental health services, Neighbourhood Management Teams, Housing Officers, L & B Police. Relationships are central to this process, as is the need to make the customer aware of all the services that can be accessed in order to establish and maintain the tenancy.

Key Outcome 3: Home decorated within eight weeks of vulnerable customers moving into their home

Weighting:

11%

Please set out clearly how you will attempt to ensure homes of vulnerable customers are decorated within eight weeks of moving in.

Response:

Drawing on nine years experience of managing volunteers to decorate vulnerable customers' homes Fresh Start will assume responsibility for the delivery of home decoration - this service is the `Hit Squads'.

Hit Squads volunteers work alongside customers to help decorate their homes, in the process the customer develops decorating skills. Promoting choice the customer decides which rooms to decorate and chooses materials. Through involving volunteers there is the added benefit of a positive social experience with peers and other members of the community.

Referrals

Referrals will come from `Visiting Support' who will be asked to:

Fresh Start's existing decorating service accepts referrals from agencies that provide visiting support. This system operates efficiently and effectively: in 2007/8, 90% of referrals had their homes decorated within an average of 6 weeks from the tenancy start date.

As we work with vulnerable tenants with chaotic lifestyles, the fact that 90% of our referrals participate in the process in this timescale is evidence of the skills of our staff and volunteers, an effective system and clear publicity and service information.

It is important that customers can make informed choices when accessing any service, as we rely on referral agents to make appropriate referrals we have invested a great deal of time ensuring that visiting support agencies understand how our current service works. Once new Visiting Support providers are commissioned we will undertake agency visits with new teams to ensure continuity.

The 10% that were not completed were customers who were not at home at the agreed time to decorate, or broke the “rights and responsibilities” agreement that the service is structured around. All customers will be given a second opportunity; if this is unsuccessful we will withdraw, explaining our reasons in writing, this is open to appeal.

Initial Interview and assessment

The initial interview between Fresh Start and the customer assesses whether there are any barriers that will affect how the customer will engage with the process or interact with volunteers e.g. mental and physical health, dependency issues, childcare arrangements, translation requirements, arrangements for women fleeing violence i.e. women in teams. We strive to be flexible and to overcome barriers where possible.

The service promotes customer choice; this encourages ownership of the tenancy and participation in the process. Following a home visit to assess the work, customers decide which rooms require decoration and they choose the colour of the paint, we have budgeted to provide paint and lining paper for two rooms.

Our “Rights and Responsibilities” document sets out what the customers can expect from the service, staff and volunteers. The salient points of the customers' `responsibilities' are that they are required to work alongside the volunteers; are not under the influence of alcohol or drugs and do not involve anyone else in the process without our consent.

Service Delivery

We intend to offer the service to 110 customers, Fresh Start's volunteers will work with 100 customers and Bethany Passing the Baton will provide volunteers so we can work with an additional 10.

A Hit Squad team comprises three volunteers. We will place a team in each customer's house for two days. Teams are selected so that they have a mix of practical and social skills, i.e. we are able to carry out the agreed tasks and involve the customers in the process too.

Prior to each Hit Squad, volunteers are briefed about the practical tasks as well as any relevant issues that will affect how the customer interacts, all volunteers are bound by our confidentiality policy. Staff liaise with the volunteers and customers at the start and ends of each day and are available by phone throughout the day. Fresh Start provides prepaid mobiles so that there are no communication difficulties.

Although the volunteers are not professional decorators we strive to ensure that the quality of our work remains high, and last year all customers that returned feedback forms, stated the quality of the volunteers work was excellent or good.

Volunteer management

To deliver this service consistently, requires robust and effective volunteer management practice. Fresh Start has a proven track record of recruiting and retaining volunteers to deliver resettlement services. We have a dedicated and experienced Volunteer Management team that was amongst the first in Edinburgh to receive the `Investors in Volunteers' award.

From experience, we believe up to 35 volunteers will be required to decorate 100 homes. 20 volunteers will come from our current “pool”, 15 will be recruited through tried and tested routes such as the volunteer centre, churches, recruitment fairs and students. We have successfully recruited volunteers who have experienced homelessness and will continue to do so through improved links with our consortium partners, we are particularly keen to increase involvement of young people via the Rock Trust. We will also offer opportunities via agencies such as Cyrenians, Move On and Streetwork.

The service will be managed by our Operations Manager and 1.5 Volunteer Managers will deliver the service. We intend to develop and improve our supported volunteering management so that volunteers who have experienced homelessness can access further training, additional support and employability schemes.

Prospective volunteers are given role descriptions, they complete application forms, provide references, undergo interview and disclosure. The training programme covers regulatory issues e.g. Health & Safety, POVA; housing & homelessness; boundaries & confidentiality; decorating training is carried out in bespoke booths in our premises.

Volunteers receive support and feedback on an individual and group basis; this also gives volunteers the opportunity to contribute to service development. We strive to ensure that volunteering is an enjoyable and rewarding experience, therefore organise additional training and social events.

Corporate Involvement

Through links the consortium has with Business in the Community we will explore whether there is scope to create team challenge days for businesses that will increase the number of homes decorated.

Key Outcome 4: Maintain accommodation (including an unbroken series of accommodation)

Weighting:

11%

Please set out clearly how your service be delivered to enable customers to maintain their accommodation in the long term.

Response:

The Scottish Executive's Homelessness Task force (2001) established three main barriers to resettlement:-

The aim of Establishing a Home is to address each of these three main areas of concern, in order to ensure that any potential for a cycle of homelessness to emerge is nullified.

The initial and most immediately pressing area that we can satisfy is the provision of a basic furniture package, namely Homepack where the consortium will deliver to 2,500 households per year, along with three starter packs from a choice of seven to each household.

Feedback received about the Starter Packs:-

Up to 1,400 households will be referred to Bethany's Homemaker. The Homemaker team will help customer to make applications for further funding for other items of furniture and white goods to turn the house into a home. Customers will also be able to spend their community care grant (should they have one) for goods in Homemaker. This significant portion of added value is one of the major reasons that this Establishing a Home tender bid is so financially attractive to the purchaser.

Employment, education and training opportunities will be accessed via a number of routes. Employability and education are two key themes of Bethany's Community Education Service, a Learndirect accredited service which offers a full and varied range of classes and other learning opportunities which will seek to fully engage the customer and afford new opportunities for training and learning.

Fresh Start offers volunteering opportunities that will allow people who have been homeless to develop skills and experience that are valuable when accessing further training and employment.

Fresh Start provides dedicated staff time for developing volunteer management practice to improve the opportunities that are available for people who have been homeless. At least 20 places will be created for volunteers who have been homeless. Fresh Start will have a dedicated worker for use by the consortium who will establish a model of good practice for this. We will set goals with individual volunteers, offer more regular support and access further training through employment agencies including Bethany's accredited training arm, Access to Industry & Spectrum.

Combating loneliness and isolation is a key theme of Passing the Baton, a volunteer driven Community Integration project established by Bethany in 2006. The service seeks to link individuals with their community in order to help them feel part of it and to establish firm social networks. Passing the Baton is a key component within this tender bid. Customers who wish to benefit from this service will be referred to Passing the Baton in order to link up with a Community Representative, who will introduce the customer to the local area. They will also work with the customer to establish links with groups and other activities in the area. In addition Passing the Baton runs a number of initiatives of its own which encourage and foster a feeling of belonging for the customer. These include

Passing the Baton has experienced a 97% success rate in tenancy sustainment since its inception. This is a remarkable achievement and highlights its effectiveness in linking customers with their communities, and helping to bridge the gap between involvement with professional workers and community volunteers.

Fresh start's Befriending services provides regular contact that addresses the isolation that many of our customers experience. The service is particularly valuable as contact is often made in the evening when support workers are not available.

The area of maintaining a tenancy for young people is one which has proved difficult to manage. The Rock Trust has a proven track record in working effectively with young people in Edinburgh and the Lothians over many years. As with landlord liaison (see Outcome 2) we will refer all young people internally to the Rock Trust so that customers can benefit from their particular way of working in the area of tenancy sustainment. The Rock Trust will address :-

Customers volunteer across the project including in the café kitchen, producing PR,

Landscape gardening and teaching DJing as a career path.

Volunteers are researching the possibility of a Rock Trust crèche.

Female customers who have been involved in the Active Futures programme have the opportunity to volunteer as mentors to support other young women entering the programme.

Customers can volunteer as group workers and befrienders supporting other customers to increase their social networks with a 100% success rate.

Key Outcome 5: Feel part of the local community by developing positive social networks

Weighting:

11%

Please set out clearly how you will attempt to ensure customers establish the positive social networks that will make them feel part of their local community. Your response should propose measure(s) for this outcome.

Response:

The three consortium partners possess established and recognised services providing effective and positive responses to the issue of providing positive social networks. In this outcome we show how we combine to establish positive social networks for our customers.

Fresh Start

The Homeless Task Force recognised that in order to fully resettle into the community, people who have been homeless need support and encouragement to re-establish positive relationships. One of the ways of achieving this is through involving volunteers.

The involvement of volunteers creates opportunities for `positive' contact while helping customers build up trust in others. It creates opportunities to meet people out with existing circles of relationship, which particularly benefits people who are vulnerable or have dependency issues.

Outcome measurement is gathered through customer and volunteer feedback.

Hit Squads - Customers are encouraged to work alongside volunteers as part of a team; this creates an opportunity to interact with ordinary members of the community.

Hit Squads volunteers provide this positive social experience; they chat to, listen and work alongside our customers. Our customers tell us that the volunteers help them regain trust in others; which in turn helps them regain social skills that they can build on.

Befriending - The Rock Trust and Fresh Start are the only agencies in Edinburgh that provide a Befriending service aimed primarily at homeless people.

An ongoing working relationship began in 1999 when the Rock Trust seconded a worker to Fresh Start to establish their Befriending service.

Befriending is a one-to-one managed relationship that provides regular support. Activities vary from going for a coffee, physical exercise, going to the cinema. The choice is customer led and often depends on weekly budget.

Befriending addresses isolation, and allows customers to widen their social networks and experiences. Outcomes of Befriending include increased self-confidence, uptake of leisure and physical activities, progression to volunteering, training and employment opportunities and high rates of tenancy sustainment.

Volunteer involvement introduces an added response that paid workers do not achieve. Customers respect the fact that volunteers give their time freely, and as a consequence are less likely to cancel appointments with a volunteer.

Fresh Start will support up to 16 Befriendees at any one time. We currently have a pool of eleven volunteers and will build that number. All volunteers receive full training and induction. Fresh Start possesses the Investors in Volunteers Award as does the Rock Trust. (Bethany is working towards this standard). Fresh Start's Befriending service is registered as a Visiting Housing Support service and meets with Care Commission requirements.

Bethany Passing the Baton Service

Establishing a Home service will offer the Passing the Baton to its customers to help them form social networks.

Passing the Baton `communities' have formed in the same geographical boundaries as the Community Planning and Neighbourhood Partnership areas by design demonstrating strong links with the Council's strategy.

Passing the Baton works with the neighbourhood partnerships of councilors, statutory agencies, community representatives, Police, NHS Lothian and the voluntary sector to help customers and volunteers become part of the local community.

Passing the Baton provides a model where former customers can become volunteers. With training and support they continue to provide and benefit from effective social networks whilst supporting new customers in the service. What customers really value about Passing the Baton is the support and help they get from people who have been through a very similar experience to themselves - this gives a safe space to make mistakes and help to realise that its ok to `have a wobble'. Passing the Baton ensures all its customers have access to positive social networks within their local communities which helps people to integrate quickly.

We work in partnership with local Churches and Passing the Baton has formal working partnerships with Niddrie Community Church, Morningside Baptist Church and St Paul's & St George's Church who provide Volunteer Community Reps. To build on its success Passing the Baton has also built relationships with The Salvation Army (its services in Granton, Leith and Gorgie), Richmond Church, Craigmillar and Holy Trinity Church, Wester Hailes and St, Mungo's, Balerno who together deliver a drop-in café and a variety of social action events in Wester Hailes. All of these Churches have committed to getting involved in the social network process and to support Passing the Baton.

Passing the provides access to a strong supportive community for customers coming out of homelessness to be welcomed into, giving them not only a sense of belonging to that community, but the ability to contribute to further development of that community. This helps create sustainable communities that prevent homelessness and repeat homelessness.

Outcome measurement uses Relationship Diagrams. These illustrate the customer in the centre of a series of expanding circles. The model shows the customer moving away from having only professionals in their lives, in the furthest away circles, to having Anchors, people who choose to be in the closest circles of their lives.

The Rock Trust

Customers aged 16-25yrs who present as having limiting social networks will be referred onto the Networks project. The aim of the project is to provide practical and emotional support to young people, who are isolated, which will enable them to establish positive social networks and better cope with independent living.

We match volunteer befrienders with vulnerable young people and also offer small group activities where young people can practice social skills. It is also recognised that one to one support is required to explore past and present social networks to assist in the building of new relationships. These sessions are fundamental as they give a safe environment to explore how young people perceive their interactions with others and how they react to different situations. Most importantly these sessions give an opportunity to discuss situations customers find difficult and to think through strategies and actions to improve them. The groups and befriending relationships give an opportunity to try out new strategies and explore how effective they are. This is measured using case notes, support, action and outcome plans - all of which are person-centred tools.