Homelessness

London Councils Homelessness PLUS – Pan-London Umbrella Support for Homelessness Agencies.

LDAN is working with Homeless Link and Shelter to support frontline services that provide services to homeless people. Funded by London Councils and running from April 2013 to March 2015, the project aims to provide support, specialist advice, training, capacity building opportunities and a full-range of other infrastructure support to front-line agencies providing support to equalities groups around homelessness.

Homelessness PLUS consists of:

• Forums – focussing on recent policy changes, innovations in service delivery and to network with colleagues
• Good practice events – focussing on topics such as health, welfare reform, homeless women and young homeless people
• Training – face to face as well as webinars, podcasts and e-learning courses, for example homelessness law, allocations, funding and equalities
• A mentoring programme - including mentoring skills training and matching scheme
• Briefings - including homelessness policy, welfare reform and homelessness statistics
• A monthly ebulletin – including details of homelessness related events, news, funding and partnership working opportunities and agency news
• Bi-monthly LDAN News – looking at drug and alcohol issues in London in detail
• Information and support - around diversifying funding, partnership opportunities and improving services to protected equalities groups
• Information on trends – for example young homeless people and homeless migrants.

Homelessness PLUS is aiming to provide support and advice to over 200 agencies, and more personalised support to at least 2 agencies from every London borough.

If you would like to know more about Homelessness PLUS, please contact Paul Anders, DrugScope / LDAN Senior Policy Officer – paul.anders@drugscope.org.uk

About London Councils:

London Councils is committed to fighting for more resources for London and getting the best possible deal for London’s 33 councils. To read about London Councils’ grants funding and the work of some of the groups we support please visit www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/grants

Homelessness briefing

LDAN has produced a briefing (PDF) to support the work of the forum. Reviewing the major elements of Government of policy and recent trends over the last 12 months, the briefing is designed to support the needs of frontline staff, policy officers and anyone else working in the substance misuse and homelessness sectors.

Homelessness and Substance Misuse Network Events:

Latest events:

Services for women September 2012

LDAN held its Homelessness and Substance Misuse forum on the 26th September at Guildhall. Paul Anders, Senior Policy Officer at Drugscope, provide a brief policy round-up, before Marketa Swaby, Deputy Manager for St Mungo’s Complex Needs Team (North and East) and Rita Martin, a St Mungo’s Complex Needs Worker at the Mare Street Hostel, kicked off with presentations on the meeting’s theme of services for women. Amy Hall, a Clinical Nurse Specialist at the Three Boroughs Health Inclusion team, presented from a statutory perspective.

Rebuilding shattered lives: a service perspective. Marketa Swaby, Deputy Manager St Mungo's and Rita Martin, St Mungo’s Complex Needs Worker (2.3MB PPT)

Women Accessing Services: a statutory perspective. Amy Hall, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Health Inclusion Team (180 KB PPT)

Outreach work and the state of play in London June 2012

The June Homelessness Forum included presentations on outreach work in the capital, an overview of the London policy context following the re-election of Boris Johnson as Mayor of the city, and a look at the latest stats on service provision from the CHAIN database. Jack Edgecombe of Thamesreach and Paula Bennett of the No Second Night Out initiative combined to do the joint presentation on outreach services, while Sarah MacFadyen, a policy officer at Crisis, delivered the policy overview and Homeless Link’s research manager Rachel Coffey looked at the CHAIN findings.

Mayor of London presentation (1MB PPT)

SNAP12 presentation (265KB PPT)

NSNO presentation (5MB PPT)

Policy update presentation (635KB PPT)

Please click on any of the events below to get more information, presentations etc.

Residential treatment services and nursing in the community (March 2012)

New trends and psychologically informed environments (December 2011)

Legal Issues around Housing and Drugs (September 2011)

Dual Diagnosis (March 2011)

Homelessness, the Criminal Justice System, and Resettlement (December 2010)

Vulnerable Families (September 2010)

The Legal Highs Market and Knowing Drugs (June 2010)

Training and working with older homeless people with alcohol problems (March 2010)

Understanding Drugs and the Law (January 2010)

LDAN Homelessness Project Launch (October 2009)

Specialist articles

Room to live, Druglink, March/April 2010 (PDF) Article on an innovative supported housing project in Nottinghamshire that provides high quality self contained flats to homeless people with drug or alcohol problems.

Working in Isolation, Druglink, January/Febrauary 2010 (PDF) Article based on an interview with hostel workers, outlining current issues involved in working with drug and alcohol services.

Bill Puddicombe (CEO Equinox), Housing Crisis, Druglink, March/April 2011 (PDF)

Housing for recovery – Findings from a survey on access to housing for the recovery partnership, Druglink, September/October 2011 (PDF)

Details of homelessness organisations with drug and alcohol services/expertise (PDF)

Joint Action Group on Alcohol in London briefing on housing/homelessness and alcohol (PDF)