SHORE Women & Homelessness Event
30th January 2015, Brighton
Conference Report
1. Introduction
Women who are homeless are among the most marginalised people in society.
The average age of death of a homeless woman is just 43 years old, compared
to 47 for men and 77 for the general population (Crisis 2012). Sussex has high
proportions of homeless, rough sleeping and ‘street community’ women.
This event was arranged by the Sussex Homeless Outreach Reconnection &
Engagement (SHORE) partnership, comprising the 13 Sussex local authorities
with a housing function. The purpose of the event was to share information,
good practice and ideas for tackling homelessness in women across Sussex.
62 delegates from a diverse range of organisations participated in the event
and 30 more people would have attended if there had been a larger venue.
Feedback from evaluation forms completed at the event was extremely
positive, demonstrating the demand for an event of this kind to be held.
This report has been written to capture and share some the ideas generated
and discussed at the event.
2. Plenary Discussion
2.1 This event was chaired by Geraldine Hoban, chief executive of the
Brighton & Hove Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and member of the local
Health & Wellbeing Board (HWB).
2.2 The Chair of SHORE, Peter Gaimster, outlined why SHORE decided to
host this event, for example:
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Tackling rough sleeping and single homelessness in Sussex is SHORE’s
core objective, including meeting the needs of women
Many homeless women are in risky relationships with men and/or in
unsuitable accommodation such as sofa surfing
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Tackling homelessness in women also has a positive impact on their
children & families
2.3 Three organisations working with homeless women gave presentations at
the event, each describing different approaches. All three presentations listed
below can be accessed on the SHORE website using this link:
www.shorehomeless.wordpress.com/events-2/
1. Rebuilding Shattered Lives – Esther Sample, St Mungo’s Broadway
2. Inspire – Lisa Dando & Sophie Gibson, Brighton Women’s Centre
3. Fulfilling Lives – Jo Rogers & Sharon Nesbitt, Brighton Housing Trust
2.4 In the plenary discussion, delegates raised the following issues:
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Austerity in the economy and cuts to public services has led to higher
thresholds being imposed on women to access housing and services
We are managing rather than solving homelessness, there are multiple
benefits to building more subsidised accommodation
High numbers of homeless and rough sleeping women have children
removed but services focus on needs of children rather than women
High levels of mental health problems are found in homeless women but
not being addressed by mental health services
Some homeless women are excluded from accommodation due to lack of
savings, deposits, rent in advance, guarantors and landlord fees
More integrated commissioning and delivery of services for homeless
women is needed to tackle inequalities such as health and mental health
More complex needs are developing in young homeless women
Many offenders are in temporary accommodation before and after prison
Few homeless women are referred to Adult Social Care as the thresholds
for accessing support are too high.
Some ‘hidden’ homeless women will not access services due to fear of
sanctions being imposed, such as the removal of children
Some commissioners are aware of the need for women only homeless
services and are seeking to address this in future commissions
3. Workshop Reports
Three workshops were facilitated by the event speakers to share delegate
views on best practice, service gaps and ideas for the future. This is a
summary of the notes taken from the workshops:
Good Practice
Brighton & Hove provides several examples of services demonstrating good
practice. This includes services and commissioners working well together,
providing some hope around integrated commissioning.
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In Sussex, multi-agency forums for rough sleepers and the street community
are useful to get a wider social context for homelessness. However, good
practice is much easier in a unitary authority than two tiers.
To overcome barriers, good practice means having conversations, building
trust and relationships, listening, not accommodating out of area and finding
longer term rather than short term solutions.
Gaps
There are gaps in specialist counselling services and psychologically informed
environments (PIEs). Smaller specialist services and quality psychotherapy
services are too expensive to access.
Women only accommodation, gender specific services and places where
women can disclose support needs without fear of their children being taken
away.
Data sharing is very contentious and the lack of it is a big barrier to joint
working.
Future Priorities
Investment in increased collaboration, through co-location, co-design and coproduction of services. More integrated, flexible commissioning and delivery of
services. Involving business community more.
A choice of mixed and women-only services and accommodation, ‘Housing
First’ with wrap around support, key workers, outreach, complex needs,
refugees, staying with children, dealing with exploitative relationships, homely
environments.
Workforce development, including front line and middle manager training, both
trauma and gender informed. ‘No wrong door’ approach where there is wider
knowledge of services available, information sharing and signposting. Peer
support, buddy system to help navigate services.
Mapping resources and carrying out cost benefit analysis of services.
Detailed Reports on the three conference workshops are available
from SHORE upon request.
4. Next Steps
SHORE will be exploring the interest in hosting further networking events on
women and homelessness in Sussex. The issues to be explored will be
informed by this event and consultation with relevant service commissioners
and providers.
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Examples of issues to explore in future events based upon feedback from this
event:
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Integrated commissioning of holistic services that address
inequalities and barriers faced by homeless women. This could include
work with health, mental health, housing, adult social care, probation,
police and children’s services
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Integrated delivery of holistic services that address inequalities and
barriers faced by homeless women. This could include looking at
examples of co-location, co-design and co-delivery
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Gender specific services and choice. Some homeless women will
only access services that are gender specific while others may choose
a mixed environment. This could include looking at examples of where
gender specific services have achieved better outcomes and why
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Case studies and cost benefit analysis. There is strong evidence
that prevention and early intervention costs less than services that
homeless women need when they become more complex. This could
include case studies of clients, outcomes and the cost of interventions
5. Acknowledgements
Participants
Thank you to all the people who took part in this event, including the Chair,
Speakers, Delegates, Organisers, Volunteers and Venue staff.
SHORE
This event was hosted by the Sussex Homeless Outreach Reconnection &
Engagement (SHORE) partnership, comprising the 13 local authorities in
Sussex with a housing function. Presentations from the event and this report
are on the SHORE website at: www.shorehomeless.wordpress.com/events-2/
St Mungo’s Broadway (SMB)
SMB are working with growing numbers of homeless women and have come to
realise how much women’s needs differ from those of men. Their critically
acclaimed Rebuilding Shattered Lives report brought together different sectors
working with homeless women to share understanding on how to ensure
women get the right help at the right time.
http://rebuildingshatteredlives.org/read-the-report/
Brighton Women’s Centre (BWC)
The BWC led Inspire project works with women at all stages of involvement in
the Criminal Justice System from point of arrest, as an alternative to custody,
in custody and on release. It addresses homelessness as a key risk factor for
vulnerable women in a partnership involving the women’s voluntary sector in
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Brighton and Hove and partners across Sussex.
http://www.womenscentre.org.uk/index.php?What_We_Do:Inspire_Project
Brighton Housing Trust (BHT)
The BHT led Fulfilling Lives project supports people with multiple and complex
needs across East Sussex, as one of 12 projects funded by the Big Lottery
Fund nationally. Specialist workers for women in Brighton & Hove, Eastbourne
and Hastings will attempt to address the needs of chaotic women, including
homelessness and rough sleeping.
http://www.bht.org.uk/services/fulfilling-lives/
Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG)
This event was funded by a grant from DCLG to the SHORE partnership.
Olivia Martin from Brighton Women’s Centre transcribed the workshop notes
and helped with event arrangements on the day
Angie Bigsby from Eastbourne Borough Council organised the event reception
and helped with event arrangements on the day
John Routledge from SHORE compiled this report
John Routledge
SHORE Project Co-ordinator
Telephone 01323.415393
Mobile
07903.842782
john.routledge@eastbourne.gov.uk
shorehomeless@wordpress.com
Sussex Homeless Outreach Reconnection & Engagement
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Appendix
SHORE Women & Homelessness Seminar
Brighton, 30th January 2015
Delegate List
Chair
Geraldine Hoban
Brighton & Hove CCG
Speakers
Jo Rogers
Sharon Nesbitt
Lisa Dando
Sophie Gibson
Peter Gaimster
Esther Sample
BHT (Fulfilling Lives)
BHT (Fulfilling Lives)
Brighton Women’s Centre (BWC)
Brighton Women’s Centre (BWC)
SHORE
St Mungo’s Broadway
Organisers
Olivia Martin
Angie Bigsby
John Routledge
Brighton Women’s Centre
Eastbourne Borough Council
SHORE
Delegates
Sasha Hawkins
Brian Hamer
Cllr Bill Randall
Liam Sargent
Narinder Sundar
Jenny Knight
Laura Perkins
Veronica Stephens
Tracey Chandler
Zoe Burns
Kay Reynolds
Mel Potter
Graham Maunders
Samira Javadi
Nicky Richards
Nicola Bennett
David Pilkington
Richard Burr
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Arun District Council
Brighton & Hove CAB
BHCC (Chair of Housing Committee)
BHCC (ASC)
Private
BHCC (RS Services)
BHCC (Homeless Services)
BHT (First Base Volunteer)
BHT (Phase One Brighton)
BHT (Eastbourne Housing Access)
BHT (Hastings Housing Access)
Brighton Oasis Project
Consultant
CRI (Brighton)
CRI (South East)
East Sussex Credit Union
Emmaus B & H
ESCC (Drugs & Alcohol)
Daniel Parsonage
David Kemp
Beck James
Lucy Basterra
Debbie McEnery-Carter
Juliet Hough
Sarah Gorton
Gary Messenger
Kendra Barrington
Janet Miles
Tina Keating
Sarah Findlay
Tracy Williams
Dr Alison Gibb
Julie Budge
Jill Summer
Paul Easterbrook
Linda Etheridge
Ramune Murauskite
Pauline Peagram
Markie Barratt
Stephanie Lewis
Sarah Burfoot
Beate Weiberle
Fabia Bates
Mary Carruthers
Nicole Devenish
Lucie Marley
Lucy Edwards
Rachel Aumann
Steve Biglands
Paulina Dyrda
Sam Tearle
Ivan Western
Julia Harrison
ESCC (Substance Misuse/ASC)
East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service (ESFRS)
East Sussex Recovery Alliance (ESRA)
Fulfilling Lives (Brighton)
Fulfilling Lives (Eastbourne)
Fulfilling Lives (Evaluation)
Homeless Link
Homeless Link
Horsham District Council
Horsham District Council
Impact (Stopover)
Lewes District Council
Mid Sussex District Council
Morley St Homeless Health Centre
My Sisters’ House
National Probation Service (Housing)
Porchlight
RISE
RISE
Salvation Army (Eastbourne)
St John’s Ambulance
Sussex Outreach Service (SOS)
Sussex Outreach Service (SOS)
Southdown HA
Survivors’ Network
Sussex Community Foundation
Sussex Partnership Trust (Substance Misuse)
Sussex Partnership Trust (Psychiatric)
Sussex Pathways
Sussex Pathways (volunteer)
Sussex Police
WCHP
WSCC (Senior Commissioning Manager)
WSCC (SP)
YMCA (Sussex Central)
63 Delegates including Chair, Speakers and Organisers
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