Campbell Tickell reviews homelessness support work in Brent

Since 2019, the Berkeley Foundation has funded Crisis Skylight Brent to develop ‘work at work’ to help tackle homelessness in the area. As part of this funding, Campbell Tickell has been commissioned to assess the success of the work at the Brent site – as the partnership undertakes a particularly challenging launch of the new ‘Built for Zero’ initiative, using data to try to prevent homelessness. real time.

Place-based work is “a long-term approach to identifying, understanding and addressing social problems based on the experiences, expertise and relationships that exist in a recognized geographical area” (reference needed) Crisis Skylight Brent seeks to implement this methodology for two expected outcomes: increasing opportunities to end homelessness in the London Borough of Brent; and add to Crisis’ learning about how to end it locally.

To help with this, Campbell Tickell carried out an assessment of Crisis’ work in the area. As well as using in-depth semi-structured interviews with 22 stakeholders in senior and operational roles across the public and voluntary sectors, the researchers also gathered quantitative data through a questionnaire completed by 31 members of the Brent Homelessness Forum – a local initiative funded by the Foundation Berkeley, consisting of approximately 200 members, 40-50 of whom meet bimonthly – and two interviews with people with lived experience of homelessness.

Source: Campbell Tickell

These testimonies illustrated how systems change improved outcomes for individuals – but also highlighted new opportunities for Crisis plans. This is particularly important to the long-term delivery of Built for Zero – a data-driven solution to end homelessness in specific areas for different groups of people in Brent.

According to the study, Crisis’ role as a national charity has already proved essential in connecting national and international approaches to local work and helping to gain buy-in from partners. One public sector interviewee told Campbell Tickell that because Crisis has “a history of building relationships, including with the council”, it means the charity is known to cabinet and council members, “even if they don’t have a contact thing. “.

This helped launch the Built for Zero initiative in Brent – ​​which is the first place in the UK to trial the approach. As the new initiative aims to redesign the way systems and services work together in local communities so that it is possible to respond to needs in real time, preventing and ending homelessness quickly, Crisis has been able to secure buy-in with Brent council , building on the on-site work he has already done.

This includes a range of activities: from a rough sleeper working group, task and completion groups around migrant homelessness, mental health, youth homelessness, evictions and complex needs; at the establishment of the Brent Homelessness Forum. In particular, the Forum seems to have helped strengthen the reputation of the Crisis in Brent – ​​the 31 respondents in the group were mostly very positive about its impact on the sector. For example, 97% said involvement with the Forum was very or fairly significant, while 87% said it strengthened sector relationships to help end homelessness in the area – and 81% of respondents said that positively influenced their own ways of working.

recommendation

But that didn’t mean there weren’t room for improvement. Brent’s aim to end homelessness would be a major task for any local authority and will require time and resources to achieve. To this end, Campbell Tickell stated that “it is important to recognize and value small incremental changes, as they are often the foundation of larger change” – and that to ensure this, “partnerships must be cultivated to become good incorporated”. with smaller groups or agencies “kept involved and aware of the work at work and their contribution to it”.

To this end, Campbell Tickell has set out a number of key objectives for advancing the partnership between Crisis, Brent Council and the Berkeley Foundation. The researchers first suggested that there should be continued work with the Berkeley Foundation as a committed funder, noting that the benefits and impact of funding to date “are clearly shown by evaluation” but that place-based work requires , also “a long-term commitment”. This will be important when it comes to delivering on another recommendation; the report finds that the partnership must continue to build “leadership capacity in both the public sector and the voluntary one, which can support work in the workplace – including “funding key posts”.

Specific Crisis recommendations included developing “resource leadership in the sector” to avoid “reliance on a few key individuals who drive change”. To help with this process, the group must also develop its network by reaching out and representing “marginalized and underserved parts of the community” and by strengthening the role of people with lived experience of working in the workplace. And Crisis should also “continue to liaise between local work and national housing and homelessness policy and ensure that information flows in both directions so that one influences the other and vice versa”.

Finally, remembering to appreciate incremental progress, Campbell Tickell presented recommendations for the long-term implementation of the Brent Built for Zero approach. Noting that “it will take time for the concept to be understood and sustained” and to overcome “barriers to data sharing” – exacerbated by “external pressures, including the lack of affordable accommodation and the growing scale of people homeless’ – the researchers said the partnership needs to be ‘focused and realistic about what can be achieved through the initiative’. This is something that the previously stated objectives of regularly communicating progress, milestones and steps involved and promoting positive change will help with.

They concluded: “Working towards a good and shared understanding of Built for Zero across homelessness organisations, including frontline staff and volunteers, will help ensure new systems are used effectively across the homelessness system shelter. One way to achieve this, which is already working well, is for senior leaders to model their commitment to it.”