Positive resettlement moves for homeless people

10 May 2011

 St Mungo's has welcomed the publication of a new study into the resettlement experiences and outcomes of single homeless people.

The FOR-HOME study followed up 400 single homeless people who were moved from hostels and other temporary accommodation into independent housing in London, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire to determine the long-term outcomes. The study was conducted by Tony Warnes and Maureen Crane at the University of Sheffield in collaboration with St Mungo's and five other leading homelessness organisations: Broadway, Centrepoint, Framework, St Anne's and Thames Reach. 

George Miller, Move-on Manager for West and South Regions, said: "St Mungo's welcomes the findings of this report and we are adopting a number of practice recommendations in order to better support clients as they move on.  We are particularly enthusiastic about the development of high quality peer-led support as provided through our PAL (Peer Advice Link) service."

PAL is a first of its kind peer advice service where people who've experienced homelessness themselves volunteer to help others move on. PAL was set up a year ago and already around 300 people have benefited from its support. The service is also proving a route into work, with seven volunteers leaving for paid employment.

Mike McCall, St Mungo's Executive Director of Operations, said of the report: "This is a valuable body of work and we are pleased to have been part of this research. As well as resettlement, the study highlights the mental, physical and employment issues that people also face in recovering from homelessness.

"We very much agree with the final statement that it is imperative that central government, local authorities and service providers work together to ensure that the broadly successful and beneficial outcomes of resettlement during the last few years are maintained. With a worrying trend in rising rough sleeper numbers, and the pressure on affordable housing and rented accommodation generally, successful resettlement is likely to become even more of a challenge in the years ahead."

Notes

  • St Mungo's opens doors for homeless people. We provide emergency help and run over 100 projects that house and support homeless people's recovery and prevent rough sleeping. Every year we help thousands of people to make permanent life changes. St Mungo's works with homeless people on housing, health and work and learning opportunities.
  • The FOR-HOME Study was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. The 400 single homeless people in the study were resettled in London, Leeds, Nottinghamshire and Sheffield.
  • At any one time 15 PAL volunteers are only a phone call away to help newly-moved on people with advice and guidance. This can be from finding a new GP or dentist, to talking through new rent and utility bill arrangements, or going with someone for the first time to their local library. There is no time limit on how long people can be a PAL volunteer. They are simply asked to spend two days a week volunteering. In return they are paid travel and lunch expenses but most crucially, they receive accredited training throughout their period with PAL including St Mungo's staff training and NVQs.

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