Innovative approaches to housing vulnerable and socially excluded people

Housing Plus Academy

10am - 4.05pm

London

This is a policy workshop organised by the Housing Plus Academy at the London School of Economics on innovative thinking in housing vulnerable people and preventing homelessness.

Please contact Ellie Benton e.benton@lse.ac.uk to book a place. There is a small cost, depending on the size of your organisation. 

10:00 – 10:30 AM ARRIVAL & REFRESHMENTS

10:30 – 11:00 AM SESSION 1: INTRODUCTION BY THE CHAIR

• What we mean by vulnerable and socially excluded people in this workshop
• Why homelessness is common among people with complex needs
• Why we need to rethink housing for vulnerable people?
• What this workshop can do
• Q&A (15 minutes)

11:00 – 11:45 SESSION 2: RETHINKING HOMELESSNESS SERVICES

• How the shift to a more people-centred approach came about
• The problem of revolving door homelessness
• What we mean by Psychologically Informed Environments (PIE) and how it helps
• How supported accommodation can offer this approach
• What wider benefits will it bring?
• What are the costs and failures?
• Table discussion (20 minutes)

11:45 – 12:00 COFFEE BREAK

12:00 – 12:45 PM SESSION 3: NEW APPROACHES AMONG SOCIAL LANDLORDS

• Barriers and gaps in housing people with vulnerabilities and complex needs
• Challenges social landlords face in housing and supporting vulnerable people
• How social landlords can adopt a PIE and personalised approaches. What could be the challenges?
• Can social landlords benefit from this approach for their general needs housing?
• Table discussion (20 minutes)

12:45 – 1:30 PM LUNCH BREAK

1:30 – 2:15 PM SESSION 4: INNOVATIVE ACTIONS TO PREVENT HOMELESSNESS

• Homelessness Reduction Act (2016): can local authorities implement their Duty to Prevent homelessness for all?
• Taking the duty to prevent homelessness seriously
• Intervening at the right time to prevent homelessness, e.g. Critical Time Intervention (CTI)
• Table discussion (20 minutes)

2:15 – 3:00 PM SESSION 5: SERVICES FOR GROUPS NEEDING SPECIALIST HELP

• Young people, care leavers, women, ex-offenders, sex-workers, and victims of domestic abuse
• Why there is a need for a specialist approach in outreach, supported accommodation and floating support services
• Can specialist help be incorporated into general housing and homelessness services?
• Table discussion (20 minutes)

3:00 – 3:35 PM SESSION 6: WORKSHOP SESSION

• Brainstorm on what works and what doesn’t work
• How to fund new approaches to helping homeless people who may be vulnerable
• How to build on pilot projects and mainstream learning from case study examples
• How to train / upskill staff to adapt to new approaches / new services?

3:35-3:45 PM EVALUATION AND FEEDBACK

3:45 – 3:55 PM MESSAGES TO GOVERNMENT (TOP IDEAS)

3:55 – 4:05 PM ROUND UP BY CHAIR