‘Many need care and support’: Helping rough sleepers stay off the streets
One of the most impressive actions as lockdown began was the effort to provide housing for the homeless, often in hotels.
The efforts have had a huge impact, effectively ending rough sleeping in some of the county’s towns. But they have also raised the question of what happens when the lockdown support is no longer there – will people be left with nowhere to go?
The answer is that both Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin Council have been trying to use the past few weeks to get people into housing in preparation for the post-lockdown world. One of the biggest issues faced by Shropshire Council has been the lack of property to house people in – particularly one-bedroom accommodation within Shrewsbury.
The authority said it was using a mixture of social housing and private rented accommodation to move people out of temporary homes, with some also able to return to family and friends.
A spokesman for the authority said: “Now ‘moving house’ is possible again we have started to move people on and we are slowly seeing some success stories.
“We will continue to provide support when people have moved into their own tenancies along with help from other agencies such as Shrewsbury Ark and Sustain as we are aware just providing a roof is not enough. The biggest stumbling block is a lack of one-bed properties in Shropshire as well as a shortage of properties in the most popular areas.”
Laura Fisher, housing services manager at Shropshire Council said that while there is an opportunity to cut down on the number of people sleeping rough, finding the right accommodation will be vital to make it happen.
She said: “The word unprecedented has been used a lot in relation to Covid-19 and the housing situation is no different.
“I believe we have an opportunity to ensure we reduce homeless and rough sleeping numbers in Shropshire long-term by continuing to work with those who have made progress and are ready for their own tenancies.
“Once hotels go back to ‘business as usual’ we need to be sure we can provide as many people as possible with somewhere to call home. We are already having conversations with our social housing providers but there is not enough social housing to meet our needs and we will need to rely on private landlords to help also.”
Telford & Wrekin Council is facing a similar situation as it tries to ensure that none of those housed during lockdown will have to go back to the streets. Its efforts during the pandemic have included setting up the specific ‘Rough Sleeping Covid-19 Task Force’.
The group is made up of the council and its partners ManInPlace, Kip@ManInPlace and Stay Telford.
They have met daily since the beginning of lockdown to identify, discuss, monitor and provide solutions to clients presenting as homeless that day.
Vital
David Wright, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for housing, said: “That meeting looks at who is known to be rough sleeping. Officers engage with them and offer them accommodation immediately through a number of B&Bs and hotels that we are working with or directly into their own tenancy.
“All the rough sleepers were contacted and offered accommodation. Ever since then we have continued with that offer of accommodation to everybody who is rough sleeping or is going to be rough sleeping if we don’t intervene. The Covid-19 Task Force meeting has happened every day since March, with the exception of weekends and Bank Holidays.
“At every meeting our officers go through every single client they have had contact with that day, or who they are aware has been rough sleeping through our outreach workers or through the public who report it to us.
“We offer them immediate accommodation through one of the B&Bs or hotels we are working with or through sourcing them accommodation. We then follow that up by working intensively with that person in trying to find them ‘move on’ accommodation so that they are not in emergency accommodation for long.”
Councillor Wright said they want to make sure that when hotels are no longer available for homeless accommodation there is a place for people to go.
Wendy Faulkner, manager at Shrewsbury Ark, which works to support those without homes, says surrounding support as well as accommodation is vital in making lasting change for rough sleepers.
She said: “Our clients don’t just need a roof over their head, many of them need ongoing care and support from multiple agencies to deal with issues such as their mental health, addiction or simply to be able to access the activities we provide supporting them.
“They will also need support to maintain their properties once they have moved on. Ideally many of them would wish to have accommodation in Shrewsbury, we have found in the past that if they are in accommodation a long way out from the town centre, individuals can struggle to cope which often leads to them returning to Shrewsbury’s streets.”
