Social services and homelessness

Good links between social services and housing departments are crucial when developing a strategic approach to tackling homelessness at a local level. This page looks at some common objectives of the two departments, and at some of the successful joint working arrangements adopted by Camden London Borough Council (LBC).

By Fran Mason, Strategy and Commissioning Manager, London Borough of Camden.

Common objectives

Camden LBC is a unitary authority but we believe that lessons we have learnt can be of value to two-tier authorities.

Social services and housing departments share common objectives, along with other departments and local agencies. In Camden, social services have been fully involved in the development, implementation and monitoring of our homelessness strategy.

Targets

At a strategic level social services and housing are likely to be working in partnership to achieve local and national targets, including those concerning:

• crime reduction
• community safety
• child protection
• corporate parenting
• lone teenage parents
• rough sleeping.

In addition both departments are involved in initiatives on:

• regeneration
• neighbourhood renewal
• health improvement
• drug action programmes
• shadow Supporting People strategy
• Connexions strategies.

Communication

Good communication between housing and social services is a vital prerequisite to successful joint working.

Barriers to effective joint work often stem from misconceptions about particular roles. Frontline staff need to understand each other's roles and responsibilities and their limitations, for example:

• when someone can be detained under mental health legislation, or
• why an eviction order is served on a family with young children.

We have found valuable ways to build levels of understanding and communication through:

• joint training
• joint induction sessions
• staff secondments
• temporary job swaps
• job shadowing.

Corporate responsibility

It is essential to break down perceived barriers to joint work in the organisational structure and decision-making process. Local authorities need to move towards a model of corporate responsibility and ownership and away from the more traditional departmental model.

Good practice

There are a number of ways to promote joint working which we have adopted in Camden.

Integrated teams

Camden Council's tenancy support teams, though funded by the housing department, work on a daily basis as part of the local Community Mental Health Team service.

The promoting independence group was created in 2002 to improve the quality of life and services for older people in the borough. The group comprises employees from both social services and housing departments with lines of accountability to both housing and public health.

Joint commissioning of services

The housing department is an equal partner in the community care commissioning process. There is a dedicated officer within housing who is a joint commissioner of services with social services, the Primary Care Trust, and probation.

Joint reviews of service areas

Social services have been a member of our multi-agency steering group working on the homelessness review.

In addition a number of other cross-departmental reviews have taken place including a review of:

• older peoples services
• corporate parenting
• tenancy support services.

These reviews have resulted in the development of joint action plans between housing, social services, and other departments.

Multi-disciplinary panels

A joint housing, social services, and health 'vulnerability panel' makes joint decisions on the housing, care, and support of:

• adults with poor mental health
• care leavers
• intentionally homeless families with young children
• vulnerable households at risk of eviction.

Joint work and joint training initiatives

Multi-agency protocols have been developed on child protection and a programme of multi-agency training is in place. Representatives from housing, social services and the local Mental Health Trust meet regularly with probation and the police to discuss the assessment and management of potentially dangerous offenders in the borough.

Building relations

It is important to build relations between services that may not traditionally have worked together.

Stronger links

A useful homelessness strategy relies on the creation of stronger links between services aimed at preventing homelessness and those that tackle the root causes of homelessness, such as:

• health
• education
• services for ex-offenders
• employment services.

The incidence of homelessness amongst ex-offenders is high and homelessness has been clearly identified as a risk factor when offending behaviour is examined. Multi-agency arrangements in this area have not always been strong in the past, but improved joint working could have a significant impact.

Housing advice and resettlement services need to work in partnership with social services, health services, probation, education, employment, substance misuse services and prison services to reduce rates of homelessness amongst ex-prisoners.

Tying in core aims and objectives

One of the ways to engender strong joint working is to emphasise the contribution the work of one department can make towards meeting the particular targets and duties of another.

As highlighted above housing and social services departments share corporate targets along with other local strategic partners, for example, community plans, and health and regeneration plans.

Homelessness strategies should identify areas of joint responsibility and common objectives for action. Some areas for consideration are:

• delayed hospital discharge
• duties to protect children
• community safety and the management of risk
• prevention from eviction and tenancy sustainment
• consulting with service users
• modernising the way services are delivered.

Housing has a key role to play in a range of strategies, just as other agencies have a role in the prevention of homelessness.