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Charities demand better government guidance on coronavirus homelessness support as food, drug and alcohol challenges emerge

Housing providers and charities are calling on the government to provide clearer guidance for supporting homeless people during the coronavirus crisis as challenges emerge in providing support to individuals placed temporarily in hotels.

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“Like with everything, street homeless people are the last people who get included in thinking and policy making and it just feels like an afterthought.” @GlassDoorLondon #ukhousing

“The initial phase of accommodating people was difficult enough but obviously now we’ve got a potentially quite long period of trying to make sure that those people are supported in the hotel accommodation.” @homelesslink #ukhousing

Homelessness service providers have told Inside Housing that they are facing a number of difficulties in providing support to rough sleepers living in hotels during the pandemic, including providing food or supporting individuals with drug and alcohol dependency issues.

It comes as many in the sector await updated government guidance on how to provide services during the crisis.

Three weeks ago, the government took down its coronavirus guidance for hostels and day centres and is yet to publish advice on supporting those with drug and alcohol addictions.

Inside Housing understands that guidance on the latter is expected in the coming days, but this is already later than originally expected by the sector.

Lucy Abraham, chief operating officer at homelessness charity Glass Door, said that coronavirus guidance for the homelessness sector has been “too late” and “inadequate”.

She said: “I’ve got a lot of sympathy for the fact that these are challenging times for everyone. The government is juggling so much and obviously it’s a really, really difficult situation that everyone finds themselves in.

“It’s just felt like everything has been that little bit too late. Like with everything, street homeless people are the last people who get included in thinking and policy making – it just feels like an afterthought.”


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At the end of March, homelessness minister Luke Hall wrote to all local authorities in England telling them to find accommodation for all homeless people during the coronavirus outbreak.

Since then, local authorities across the country have been procuring hotels and similar accommodation to house thousands of rough sleepers. London alone has housed 1,000 rough sleepers since the country’s lockdown began three weeks ago.

Helen Mathie, head of policy and communications at Homeless Link, said: “The initial phase of accommodating people was difficult enough but obviously now we’ve got a potentially quite long period of trying to make sure that those people are supported in the hotel accommodation.”

Lee Buss, director of operations for care and support at Riverside, said guidance around supporting individuals with drug and alcohol addictions “will be very much welcome when it finally arrives”.

In the meantime, the organisation – which is supporting individuals in hotels, hostels and Housing First properties – is developing its own procedures, which include collecting multi-week methadone prescriptions for residents.

Mr Buss said Riverside is working on a procedure for individuals who are alcohol dependent and said it was open to the possibility of purchasing alcohol for those affected.

Matt Downie, director of policy and external affairs at Crisis, said: “People experiencing homelessness, particularly those rough sleeping or in hostels, are among the most exposed and at risk to the coronavirus.

“It’s crucial that councils receive clear guidance on how to support people, particularly as we know that many people who are homeless may also have a range of complex needs and require specialist support.”

He added that while providing emergency accommodation is a crucial first step, for some people it would not be enough and there needed to be wrap-around support also put in place once people are housed to enable them to stay there.

A Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: “The vast majority of rough sleepers known to local authorities have now been made offers of safe accommodation – backed by £1.6bn of government funding to help councils respond to coronavirus.

“The government continues to work closely with local authorities to ensure they have guidance on how best to further support vulnerable people.”

Update at 14:23 on 15/04/20: Hours after this article was published, the government released guidance for commissioners and providers of services for people who use drugs or alcohol. The guidance can be found here.

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