Homelessness management overview
The vision for all forward-thinking housing authorities is to provide coordinated services in partnership with complementary agencies that will work towards preventing homelessness wherever possible, and to enable those who do become homeless to have access to sustainable housing that is appropriate for their needs, with the advice and support channels structured to minimise the incidents of recurring homelessness, as well as reducing its duration and impact on those affected. Homelessness is widely recognised as the most extreme form of housing need and is a distressing and tangible indicator of broader social problems, often emphasising the significant inequalities between the mental and physical health of homeless people compared to the general population. The effects of homelessness are far-reaching, often damaging people's drive and capabilities, eroding their general life skills, focus on employment, resilience to change and overall self-confidence. In preventing and reducing homelessness, a housing authority is therefore helping individuals not only to sustain stable accommodation but also in the longer term, restoration of their health and self-esteem. The drive to tackle homelessness, both socially and politically, is underpinned by legislation, where all local authorities are obliged to develop robust and future-proof homelessness strategies, securing better outcomes for the entire community. In developing a tailored strategy steered by the specific challenges of their local area, housing authorities need to ensure that all organisations, across all sectors, whose contributions can help to prevent homelessness, mitigate its effect, and meet the needs of homeless people - housing providers, social services, the probation service, health trusts, voluntary organisations, and the like - are fully engaged in its creation.
The Homelessness module within Civica Cx Housing enables an organisation to record, manage and maintain all information pertinent to each application or request for help in a dedicated case file. The framework of each case is derived from any number of custom categories - classified as Prevention and Relief or Homelessness - that are predefined by the end user, in line with government legislation and their own overarching strategy. The management and progression of all homelessness cases is then structured around logical tasks - which can be thought of as a series of inter-connected “to-do” lists for each contributing owner. Rather than linking all identified tasks directly to the case, these are first grouped together into coordinated activities, reflecting the lifecycle of a case, differentiated as Prevention and Relief, Assessment or Review. Each activity can comprise any number of tasks, either as discrete actions or as part of a workflow path. This inherent functionality not only keeps all responsible staff members aware of approaching deadlines, with warnings and reminders automatically triggered in accordance with configured service standards, but also these activity-driven task lists are applied consistently to all cases operating under the same custom category, therefore ensuring that every case is managed in the same way, irrespective of owner.
Separate help articles have been created for each key aspect of homelessness management, including: