Posted 26.08.19
Scottish Women's Aid Scotland: Further reading
Domestic abuse is the number one cause of women and children's homelessness in Scotland, and new guidance has been launched for all social landlords and local authority housing providers to help them offer a safer and more consistent approach to this issue.
Scottish Women's Aid has partnered with the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers, the Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland, the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and Shelter Scotland to produce a good practice guide on domestic abuse for social landlords to help them prevent women and children's homelessness and provide a service that is sensitive to their needs.
The guidance includes good practice examples, checklists for best practice in responding to domestic abuse and templates for domestic abuse policies.
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Posted 22.08.19
Children's Commissioner: Further reading
Anne Longfield, the Children's Commissioner for England, has published new research which shines a light on the thousands of children growing up in homeless families.
The report, "Bleak houses: Tackling the crisis of family homelessness in England", reveals the terrible reality of how some children are living in converted shipping containers and office blocks, and B&Bs, in cramped conditions, often miles away from their schools.
The report shows that while official statistics show 124,000 children in England living in temporary accommodation, this does not include the hidden homeless who are 'sofa-surfing', often in very cramped conditions.
New analysis conducted for the Children's Commissioner for England estimates that in 2016/17 there were 92,000 children living in sofa-surfing families.
The above link gives access to the full report.
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Posted 15.08.19
Museum of Homelessness: Further reading
The Museum of Homelessnes has found that at least 235 people affected by homelessness have died over the last six months - an average of one every 19 hours - despite the passage of the Homelessness Reduction Act in 2017.
The people who have died range from 16 to 104 years old.
The organisation has been documenting death's since April 2019, having taken on the work from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism - which found in 2017 that deaths were not being recorded and launched the Dying Homeless Project in response.
Of the data held - that documents people's situation when they died - more than 30% of fatalities since 2017 have occurred where people were in emergency or temporary accommodation.
These figures - and their accompanying stories - provide a stark illustration of how the services provided to the UK's most vulnerable people regularly fail to meet an acceptable standard.
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Posted 09.08.19
Mayor of London: Further reading
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has confirmed plans for up to 200 homes - the first of which will be available this autumn - to help former rough sleepers and victims of domestic abuse leave hostels and refuges and move on with their lives.
The 'move-on' homes programme will build on City Hall's wider work to help rough sleepers and to support victims of violence against women and girls.
People will typically move from hostels and refuges into the new homes, where they will be supported as they start to live more independently, ahead of moving into permanent private rented or social housing.
The first two contracts have now been awarded to providers One Housing Group and Resonance Real Lettings Property Fund, who will deliver 115 homes and up to 75 homes respectively.
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Updated 08.08.19
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