Principles
When formulating the actions in the delivery plan that support our key themes and priorities, we have ensured they impact on and support our 4 identified key underpinning principles which are referenced and linked back to the themes and priorities.
- Partnership
- Intelligence led
- Improving life chances and health outcomes
- Maximising opportunities
1. Partnership
We recognise that partnerships are the key to preventing and relieving homelessness and to supporting people who are either homeless or facing homelessness. The causes of homelessness are multiple and complex and require solutions which reflect this and therefore we will ensure:
- We continue to engage partners across our public, business, voluntary and faith sectors, recognising the importance of each to coordinate a comprehensive approach to homelessness prevention that delivers sustainable outcomes for residents.
- We work to strengthen our existing partnerships, both with other services in the Council and with external organisations, as well as building new working relationships.
- Ensure partnership working underpins what we do by ensuring we are working with our partners to pool our knowledge, skills, and resources, to improve prevention methods and provide effective support whilst addressing system wide issues that are a barrier to good outcomes.
- Through strong partnership working we will provide a strong safety net for people who do become homeless and make sure they have the support they need to move on to permanent and sustainable new homes.
- We will work across the city in transparent and shared spaces with partners to ensure plans for people and projects are designed together and the most effective they can be, saving time and money while creating long standing change in provision and frontline service for those we find rough sleeping.
2. Intelligence led
Our approach to tackling homelessness and rough sleeping will be intelligence-led, building on the work done through the homelessness needs assessment, with dashboards covering each of the priority areas, tracking trends and monitoring the impact of the implementation of the strategy. Focusing on the data we will ensure;
- We will assess any new and emerging issues and ensure we understand how the Coventry picture compares regionally and nationally, ensuring our approach remains focused on making a difference to our residents.
- Recognising that homelessness is not random, we will overlay this with wider factors to ensure that we have a holistic approach which enables us to direct our resources to provide support at the earliest stage possible.
- This will be supported by the experiences of people who have experienced homelessness, ensuring our approach is always shaped by their experiences and feedback around what works and what doesn’t.
3. Improving life chances and health outcomes
Recognising homelessness as part of a wider system of inequalities, we will seek to improve life chances and health outcomes, through our partnership approach to tackling homelessness and joining systems up. This will include;
- Raising awareness of the impact of homelessness on health and wellbeing outcomes, including how homelessness can exacerbate existing problems, issues and support needs, particularly in relation to mental health.
- Carry out specific initiatives around health and wellbeing for homeless households as well as ensuring our approach to preventing homelessness and supporting households in to settled, sustainable accommodation provides a basis upon which they can thrive.
- Working in partnership with all agencies and organisations responsible for health and care services when there is a risk of homelessness, or it is the presenting issue.
4. Maximising opportunities
Homelessness and rough sleeping services operate against a complex back drop of legislation and policy which is ever emerging and developing;
- We will ensure that where policy and legislation offer opportunities to change how we work we will embrace this whilst being bold and creative in our approach to finding solutions
- We will maximise any impact of changing legislation and policy, ensuring that our services reflect changes and capitalise on
- the opportunities they offer including where funding is available.