Preventing Homelessness

Preventing Homelessness

If you are facing homelessness or believe you may become homeless within the next 56 days, it is crucial to reach out to your local District, Borough, or City Council. They offer essential assistance that could help you retain your current home or find new accommodation.

Addressing Homelessness: A Shared Priority

Preventing homelessness remains a central focus both nationally and across Greater Essex. Our commitment lies in prioritising the needs of the most vulnerable, safeguarding individuals, communities, and local services from long-term costs. The multifaceted causes of homelessness extend beyond housing, encompassing health, mental well-being, family dynamics, employment, and training, among others.

Recognising the critical role of stable accommodation in combating social exclusion, we strive to modernise healthcare. To this end, a Ministerial Working Group was established to tackle homelessness. Their findings culminated in the Homelessness Reduction Prevention Act, which came into effect in April 2018. For further details, please refer to the relevant resources.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/homelessness-reduction-bill-policy-factsheets

What Are We Doing in Greater Essex?

 Essex Floating Support – Essex Floating Support Services, commissioned by Essex County Council in partnership with the District, Borough, and City councils, aims to prevent homelessness across Essex. This strategic initiative provides targeted support services within a range of accommodations for vulnerable individuals and families.

The service offers targeted floating support to those with complex needs, including Substance Misuse, Domestic Abuse, and Offending. Additionally, it provides early interventions for individuals and families with less complex issues, preventing further deterioration. The service is flexible, allowing for both stepping up and stepping down as needed. Key features of the service include:

• Supplying utilities to customers
• Understanding tenancy contracts
• Handling tenancy-related matters
• Conducting property inspections
• Addressing anti-social behaviour (ASB) and nuisances
• Ensuring health, safety, and building security for customers
• Managing communal repairs
• Assisting with assessment, letting, and settling in
• Promoting customer engagement, social inclusion, and signposting
• Efficiently managing voids in accommodations.

Contact Details: Tel: 0800 28 888 83

Email: efsco-ordinator@peabody.org.uk

 Homeless Referral Under Section 213.B of the Homelessness Reduction Act, councils are tasked with addressing referrals from public bodies and considering those from partner agencies regarding individuals facing homelessness or the threat thereof. Essex Housing Authorities have established specific email: accounts—dutytorefer@NAMEOFCOUNCIL.gov.uk to manage such referrals efficiently. For prompt action on a referral, it is crucial to provide complete and current information on the referral form. Upon receipt, the Council will promptly initiate contact with the household to advance their case as quickly as possible.

Rough Sleeping If you’re worried about someone over the age of 18 sleeping rough in England or Wales, visit the StreetLink website at streetlink.org.uk There, you can send an alert to the relevant local authority or outreach service in the area where you’ve seen the person. This helps them locate the individual and connect them to support. Remember that if you suspect the person is under 18, please contact the police instead.

Rough Sleeper Outreach Services Essex County Council, Braintree, Brentwood, Castle Point, Chelmsford, Epping Forest, Maldon, Rochford, Tendring and Uttlesford council have collaborated to commission a Rough Sleeper Outreach Service. This service directly engages with rough sleepers on the streets across the nine districts, aiming to encourage and support them during the challenging transition toward more stable accommodation.

• In Basildon, they ask that Streetlink be used for people to self-refer or make referrals on someone’s behalf.
• Basildon Emergency Night Shelter Locally, Basildon Emergency Night Shelter (BENS) has received national recognition for its excellent practice in supporting rough sleepers. However, the Night Shelter has stopped operating and it is still to be confirmed whether it will run again this Winter 2024.
• The shelter, which last winter opened for five nights each week in churches across the borough, has achieved the Housing Justice Quality Mark (HJQM) for Church and Community Night Shelters for Excellent Practice.
  The accreditation scheme assesses volunteer training, health and safety, referrals and links with other homelessness agencies, and data collection and sharing.
• In Southend, if you are sleeping rough or have seen someone else sleeping rough, you can make a referral via Street Link to the Rough Sleeper Outreach Team. An outreach worker will meet you and try and support you to access emergency housing and the help you need. The rough sleeper outreach team is a multi-agency team of people from Peabody, Southend Treatment and Recovery Services (STARS), Homeless Action Resource Project (HARP).
• The team who commissioned by the Council, have a full understanding of how to access various housing and support services locally. You can also approach them directly to ask for help. They wear navy tops with white writing which says, Southend Rough Sleeper Outreach. If you are rough sleeping or are in a hostel/night shelter in Southend after recently sleeping rough you are asked to ring the council on 01702 215002 to ask for help.
• If you do not have a phone with credit on it, you can call us for free using the telephones found on the ground floor of the Civic Centre, Victoria Avenue.
• The Housing Solutions team will undertake a detailed assessment of your situation and you will be given a Personal Housing Plan. This will confirm the steps you need to take to obtain suitable, affordable housing. You will also be provided with advice on how to access emergency night shelter housing. Clients will also be referred to support agencies to meet other needs identified e.g. health services or tenancy sustainment support.
• In Colchester, we secured funding from the government to set up a Rough Sleeper Team in 2018, within the Housing Options Team at Colchester Borough Homes. The role of the team is to provide outreach support to rough sleepers in Colchester and assist them to secure a more permanent housing solution. The funding also provided the opportunity for us to develop a successful housing led scheme with a supported housing provider, which is part of an accommodation pathway for people sleeping rough. Our approach has led to a culture change in the way that people that are rough sleeping, are supported and helped to secure accommodation. Colchester’s Homeless Action Panel (CHAP) provides a multi-agency partnership approach to working with clients identified as rough sleeping.
• In Harlow, if you are currently homeless and have nowhere to stay, it is important you contact us as soon as possible. You can contact us by phoning 01279 446655 to speak to the Council’s housing options team. Harlow District Council also employs a specialist Rough Sleeper Prevention Co-ordinator working in partnership with a number of other local support services to address rough sleeping in the district.
  • Local homelessness charity Streets 2 Homes offer a number of services to support people rough sleeping, their day centre can provide access to a shower, clean clothes and hot food as well as staff that can support with any paperwork or contact with the council. They also have a number of workshops that can improve living skills, employability and confidence. The day centre can be found at the following address 2A Wych Elm Harlow, Essex, CM20 1QP and is open from 9am Monday to Friday.
  • If you are concerned about somebody rough sleeping and want to connect them with local support services, you can do so using org.uk. This website will alert the local support teams to the individual that is rough sleeping and their whereabouts allowing the outreach team to visit and begin working towards addressing their homelessness.
• In Thurrock, we operate via Streetlink in the first instance and ask that referrals about rough sleepers or by rough sleeper are made through that in the first instance. Our Outreach Team and Rough Sleeper coordinator will then verify the rough sleeper and, through a network of local charities as well as action by Council officers, we will seek to identify their eligibility and needs, and find ways in which to provide for these.

• Next Step Accommodation Programme

Essex County Council, along with Braintree, Chelmsford, and Epping Forest Councils, has collaborated to offer 56 units of accommodation to rough sleepers across the districts. These units provide emergency accommodation, supporting citizens who are sleeping rough as they transition toward more sustainable housing.