Charity doubts day services’ quality

Many day services for homeless people have been developed on the
basis of questionable assumptions, according to a report.

The common assumption that homeless people are unable to hold
down a tenancy because of a lack of “life skills” is “open to
question”, the research by homelessness charity Crisis and the
Centre for Housing Policy concludes.

It says research since the 1980s has suggested that this view is
mistaken and the needs of homeless people are more
multi-faceted.

The report argues that a realistic set of aims for working with
those who stay in shelters at night but are ejected during the day
needs to be developed.

While the use of more training and education services for
homeless people by charities is to be welcomed, the report suggests
that funding bodies set unrealistic targets in relation to
outcomes. Service providers could end up selecting the most
employment-ready people as a result, the authors warn.

The report says Supporting People has created a stable funding
source for support services but the focus on housing-related
services means day centres and training services still lack a
secure funding base.

• Daytime Homelessness available from www.crisis.org.uk