The White Paper identified that many homeless people cycle through services and have to tell their story again and again. Mainstream and specialist homeless services need to work better together to end homelessness for their clients. This means that, for example, hospitals, schools and employment services need to work more closely with refuges and shelters to improve outcomes for people who are homeless.
Improving mainstream service delivery to homeless people
Centrelink
Centrelink is a key point of contact for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
In 2009 Centrelink established an expanded network of 90 Centrelink Community Engagement Officers (CEOs) who will deliver outreach services to more people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness who find it difficult to access mainstream Centrelink services. The CEOs are expected to have about 216,000 customer contacts a year (50 contacts a week per CEO). These officers will also work with local service providers to help prevent homelessness.
This year Centrelink has also developed and trialled a way of better identifying customers who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. This new 'flag' will be implemented more widely in January 2010 and will help identify people who need additional assistance including referral to appropriate agencies and access to Centrelink social workers.
Recognising that better connections to State and Territory housing services would help deliver better outcomes for people, Centrelink has this year trialled the co-location of State/Territory Housing Authorities in Centrelink Customer Service Centres. This will provide clients with better access to a range of support services in one place and assist them to find crisis accommodation as well as long term housing. An initial trial of an ACT Housing co-location within the Centrelink Tuggeranong Customer Service Centre is continuing until 31 December 2009. An assessment for further trials will be complete in late 2009 early 2010.
People who are homeless or at risk of homelessness often have difficulties managing a budget on their fortnightly income support payments. From 2010 Centrelink will offer their most vulnerable customers weekly payments of income support.
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Case Study - Centrelink, Reaching out to People who are Homeless
Brian* is a 40 year old man who had been living in an inner city park for over a year. Today, with the help of a Centrelink CEO and with the assistance of key services, Brian has a home.
On her twice weekly visits to the parks, in the early hours of the morning, CEO Chris* was able to build a relationship with Brian. Chris says 'Brian was quiet and private, but in his own environment over some months he became more comfortable about confiding in me. He explained his history of addiction to alcohol and drugs, and the fact that he had lost his job, assets, accommodation and all support.'
Through the CEO and their close work with a wide range of community agencies and services, Brian was able to secure boarding house accommodation. He says the help from Centrelink may not seem huge, but it played a key role in assisting him to 'move forward'.
The success of the initial CEOs has now seen this service expanded to reach more homeless people in a broader range of locations.
*not his/her real name
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Employment Services
The Australian Government has introduced a new approach to employment services to ensure better employment outcomes for all including people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Specific services to increase employment for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness have been established through:
- Jobs Fund with nine projects that will assist homeless Australians or those at risk of homelessness to maximise their job and training potential in local communities;
- Job Services Australia with five specialist providers across 39 sites delivering tailored services to homeless job seekers; and
- Innovation Fund with four providers in the first round of funding providing innovative, place-based solutions to help homeless job seekers to overcome employment barriers.
Case Study - Jobs Fund
The Jobs Fund is a one-off grants program that will support innovative projects which create jobs and employment opportunities in communities affected by the economic downturn. The injection of funds will focus directly on generating jobs for people in communities with high unemployment, a rise in unemployment, or vulnerability, such as homelessness. Through this program, which only started in July this year, a number of projects may benefit people who are homeless, or at risk of homelessness, so that they are able to maximise their job and training opportunities in local communities. The projects are:
Get Communities Working and Local Jobs stream
- The Uniting Church in Australia Property Trust (NSW) $881,000 for youth and welfare programs;
- STREAT Ltd (VIC) $1.1 million for expansion of the STREAT mobile cart fleet and the development of the Green canteen project;
- Boystown (NSW) $414,000 for Western Sydney Youth Homelessness Social Enterprise project;
Marist Youth Care Ltd (NSW) $1.7 million for the Affordable Housing for Life project for 'at risk' young people; and
- Australian Community Support Organisation Inc (VIC) $622,000 for the Scanners R Us project.
Temporary Financial Assistance grants
- Activate Australia (VIC) $60,000 to assist in the operation of Leadership Development Programs, which provide support and development training for disadvantaged youth;
- Whitelion Incorporated (VIC) $145,000 to maintain outreach, mentoring and vocational holistic employment programs to highly disadvantaged young people in Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia;
- Typo Station Limited trading as Evolve at Typo Station (VIC) $250,000 to continue its program tailored to 14 to 17 year old young men who are at risk of leaving school early, criminal behaviour, juvenile detention, homelessness, mental illness, long-term unemployment and community disengagement in the Goulburn-Ovens-Murray region; and
- St Vincent De Paul Society (NSW) $400,000 to refurbish the Kennedy House Homeless Men's Service shelter and continue education programs through the Clemente Program.
A full description of each project can be found at http://www.keepaustraliaworking.gov.au/jobsfund
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Job Services Australia
Job Services Australia (JSA) commenced on 1 July 2009.
Importantly JSA providers are required to work cooperatively with other Government and local community services, including those services working with people who are homeless, to get the best outcomes for clients.
Case study - Home Options and Pathways to Employment (HOPE) Project
The National Employment Services Associations (NESA) and Homelessness Australia (HA) work in partnership on the HOPE project. The Project will help employment services and accommodation service work together better at a local level.
The project will complete the Training Package and Service Level Agreement by February 2010 and implementation across employment services and specialist accommodation services will be completed by the end of April 2010.
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Innovation Fund
The Innovation Fund is designed to fund place-based solutions to address barriers to employment for the most disadvantaged job seekers. These groups include for example people in areas with entrenched disadvantage; people who are homeless and those at risk of homelessness, people with mental illness, Indigenous Australians, and job seekers in jobless families.
Out of the $41 million Innovation Fund $3.5 million was provided under round one to four projects that offer innovative, place-based solutions to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness to overcome barriers to employment. Under round two $6 million has been allocated to 14 job-generating projects which focus on helping up to 3,500 disadvantaged jobseekers. Examples of these projects are:
- Southern Youth and Family Services Australia will implement a pre-employment project targeting at risk, disadvantaged, homeless Wollongong/Illawarra people aged 15 to 24. Participants will receive early intervention support consisting of training, pre-employment support, and case management;
- NSW Technical and Further Education Commission - Promising Futures - Partners in Learning and Community Enterprise (PLACE) NSW;
- The Fifteen Foundation Australia will assist at least 16 disadvantaged jobseekers to undertake a program of welfare support, first year apprentice chef training and assistance to complete their apprenticeship with another employer; and
- The Desert People's Centre will train and mentor members of remote Eastern Central Desert Australian Indigenous communities in aged and disability care.
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Reforming Existing Services
Under the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness and the wider homelessness reform agenda, State and Territory Governments, as well as existing service providers, are using the directions of the White Paper to improve service delivery in a variety of ways.
Case Study - South Australia's Preferred Support Provider system
The Preferred Support Provider (PSP) system has been designed to provide quality assurance across the homelessness sector and to achieve a consistency of standards and service delivery that reinforces best approaches across the State. All services have been encouraged to apply for PSP status. The successful applicants have all been assessed as having:
- a commitment to quality support services;
- focus on clients and housing first outcomes;
- the willingness to adopt standardised, streamlined and integrated processes for case management; and
- regional networks.
It is expected that by February 2010 agencies that are identified as successful in this process will become Preferred Support Providers and will be eligible to tender for future homelessness services in South Australia.
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Case Study - New South Wales, Nepean Youth Homelessness Service
The Nepean Youth Homelessness Service (NYHS), led by the Department of Community Services has been expanded and draws together a range of government and non-government agencies to address the complex needs of homeless young people in the Nepean area. Flexible funding and brokerage funds is provided for case management for up to twelve months to young people in Housing NSW properties. These young people are typically rough sleeping and/or repeat users of crisis accommodation services. The service also provides early intervention support to young people at risk of homelessness. This early intervention component focuses on maintaining or reconnecting young people to family, education, training or employment.
The NYHS is based on the 'Housing First' model and involves three key strategies: coordination; brokerage and; joint assertive outreach.
Diagram 1 (below) illustrates the partnership model adopted. Homelessness support services, specialist services and mainstream services not only refer clients, but are directly involved in supporting clients through the multi-disciplinary coordinated case management model.
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Stephanie Brennan - Convenor, Nepean Campaign Against Homelessness
'The White Paper has created a radical change in how we approach homelessness in the Nepean... It's become everyone's campaign.'
Case Study - Victoria's Opening Doors
Opening Doors is building and extending across Victoria the previously smaller Homelessness Assessment and Referral Framework. The framework helps to better integrate services at a regional level. Services work in partnership to provide coordinated access to a streamlined service system.
For example, two families with children had moved around the homelessness service system for up to seven years. During the Opening Doors pilot, both families were prioritised for case management and transitional housing. One family has since secured long-term housing and the other family is receiving support and has been approved for long-term public housing.
Tools that support Opening Doors include: 20 new workers, a practice guide to prioritise clients for support and/or housing, training for workers, and an online resource register. In addition the state-wide free-call homelessness 1800 number opened in October 2009, and the state wide afterhours response service which prioritises access to services to those who need it most opened in November 2009.
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Case Study - in Western Australia, the Uniting Care West has adopted a 'no wrong doors' service
Uniting Care West, in consultation with the Department of Child Protection, recently reviewed their services in response to the directions of the White Paper.
As a result, Uniting Care West has adopted a 'no wrong door' service delivery approach to meet the complex needs of individuals and families accessing their homelessness services. This means that services to these clients will be better integrated and coordinated. Many will be delivered together and on site which will improve outcomes for clients.
Case Study - Regional Assertive Outreach - Ceduna, South Australia
The development of the Ceduna Assertive Regional Engagement (CARE) is an initiative designed to address the needs of Aboriginal people who are sleeping rough within the Ceduna local area and works in conjunction with outreach responses from South Australian Health staff.
Assertive outreach is a key aspect of CARE service delivery. CARE locates clients and provides ongoing assertive engagement with rough sleepers. CARE staff will work across a 7 day a week roster and targets areas frequented by rough sleepers. The CARE team's approach to service delivery will be provided wherever the client is located or feels comfortable. Outreach work is provided in the bush, cafés, or at other places, such as the client's residence once housed.
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Case Study -Tasmania piloting several new approaches
The Young People's Transitions Program pilot project in northern Tasmania helps young people leaving statutory care to access public housing. This project is a collaboration between Housing Tasmania and Disability, Child, Youth and Family Services.
On the North West Coast there is a pilot project integrating mental health services and public housing for people with significant mental health related problems whose treatment outcomes are jeopardised by lack of sustainable accommodation.
Narelle Clay, CEO Southern Youth and Family Services
'While it is still early days, on this anniversary ... we can now see some real steps that will lead to a reduction in homelessness.'
Clients of Southern Youth and Family Services (SYFS)