Issue details

In February 2016 the Council agreed the Housing Related Support Commissioning Strategy and Budget Plan for 2016 to 2020.

The Strategy recognised the need for gaps in service for homeless people with severe and multiple needs and set out how the Council would test and develop new and enhanced models of support to test these needs. One of the services it considered as desirable to test out was based on the ‘Housing First’ approach that has proven to be a success in the US and Canada and was having some success in Europe including the UK. However, the longevity of this success was still to be proven and the report recommended it be tested in Sheffield on a small scale before any long term larger commissioning of this approach was considered.

Further work has been done to understand the approach and to work with local partners to design a service to test out its success over the next three years.

The report sets out how the Council will develop a new model of housing related support provision in Sheffield based on the ‘Housing First’ approach, to improve the tenancy sustainment and health and wellbeing outcomes for long term homeless single people with complex and multiple needs.

The outcomes we expect to see include:

·         Reducing the number of the target population living on the streets

·         Improved health and wellbeing

·         Reduction of unplanned and regular use of emergency and crisis services, such as the A and E and the Police

·         Valuable learning about how new approaches to supporting homeless people can be implemented in Sheffield and the benefits they deliver.