Scottish Rough Sleepers To Be Given Homes And Support
At least 600 of Scotland’s most vulnerable rough sleepers are to be provided with homes and the continuing support they need to sustain their tenancies, says a report in The Guardian.
The Scottish social enterprise Social Bite will take a minimum of 600 people out of homelessness over the next 18 months, and provide fully funded wrap-around support for clinical issues, such as mental ill-health and addiction, and more practical concerns such as finding furniture and arranging refuse collection.
Following the death of a homeless man outside Parliament last week, Social Bite co-founder Joshua Littlejohn said it was inevitable that more rough sleepers would die if the status quo continued, adding that he hoped that the project might have “significant lessons for the rest of the UK”.
He commented: “The system at the moment doesn’t make sense in terms of compassion for individuals, like that man who died, in the most acute housing need. Nor does it make sense economically because the status quo is very expensive, and all the international evidence shows that we save money by getting these individuals into mainstream tenancies.”
Littlejohn credited the Scottish government with a “new sense of urgency” after it announced a £50m fund to tackle rough sleeping last September. Since then, he has been working to bring local councils and chief executives of the largest housing associations on board with the plan, which was welcomed by Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister.
A combined total of 500 properties have been offered in Edinburgh and Glasgow, whilst Dundee council has also pledged 100 homes. The first homes will become available this spring, with around 33 properties being added each month up to September 2019.
Mr. Littlejohn founded Social Bite in 2012, as a sandwich chain, which has formerly homeless people making up a quarter of its staff, Littlejohn has become a leading advocate for Housing First. This radical model places the most entrenched rough sleepers in permanent housing before they have dealt with their addiction, mental illness or other challenges. It works on the assumption that people make most progress when based in a stable home rather than a hostel or shared temporary accommodation.
Social Bite will invest £1.5m into funding these support costs over the first year of the project, and a further £1.5m over the second year alongside other funders. The intention is to collect sufficient evidence of positive outcomes – in terms of tenancy sustainment, mental health improvement, and cost savings – to convince the Scottish government and local authorities to mainstream the support funding after two years.
