A full time worker has been allocated to East Cambridgeshire to provide support for homeless people. East Cambridgeshire District Council will be working in partnership with Cambridgeshire County Council to jointly-fund a full time Housing First project worker.
The role is to provide one to one support for homeless people with multiple needs.
Angela Parmenter, Housing and Community Advice Manager at the council, said: “Homelessness is a complicated, sensitive, and highly individual issue.
“Here at the council, we do our utmost to ensure that no-one has to live on the streets. Our officers work quite literally around the clock to make sure people have access to emergency hostels, with a view to securing long-term rented accommodation.
“We also offer support to help address their physical and mental health care needs, apply for benefits, and seek employment opportunities.
“Sadly, in some cases where people have high dependency needs and struggle to integrate with society, this is just not enough, and people are still choosing to live on the streets rather than access the support the council can provide.
“This is where Housing First comes in.”
Housing First is the most internationally important innovation in tackling homelessness. It is proven to end homelessness for around 80 per cent of people with high support needs.
The Housing First model, which has been successfully trialled elsewhere in Cambridgeshire, prioritises getting people into stable homes.
From this point, any other support needs they might have – such as alcohol and drug dependency, physical and/or mental health problems – are addressed through coordinated and intensive support.
Angela added: “If Housing First is not the best option for the individual, we will work with other support services, such as our partners P3 street outreach, to find the right solution.
“No one in our district needs to be homeless. We have the resource and commitment in place to help anyone out of any situation. Ultimately, it comes down to the choice of the individual and whether they want to accept help from us.”
You can read more about Housing First – the plan to end homelessness on the homeless charity website https://www.crisis.org.uk/
