Housing association backing 'no second night out' campaign

Published by Max Salsbury for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Communities

A Midlands housing association is backing the 'no second night out' initiative that aims to help rough sleepers of the streets.

Nottingham City Homes (NCH) has confirmed its commitment to working with the city council, Framework Housing Association and the charity Homeless Link to ensure that no one will live on Nottingham's streets and no new individual will sleep out for more than one night.

The chair of NCH's board, Janet Storar, said: “It is only by working together that we can put a stop to people sleeping rough on the streets of Nottingham.

“We’re already highly effective at tackling rough sleeping in Nottingham through our partnership approach and this commitment will strengthen that. The city council, alongside its partner Framework, local churches and voluntary organisations, has helped keep numbers low.

“This is against a backdrop of rising numbers of rough sleepers – and national charity Crisis warns that homelessness will rise as the impacts of the recession bite and the government’s radical welfare reforms take effect.

“By making sure we all pool our resources and work together, we can make sure that nobody has to stay sleeping on Nottingham’s streets.”

By signing the pledge, NCH has committed to:

• supporting one point of contact for reporting rough sleepers, a single freephone number, for the whole of the city
• using the Homelessness Prevention Gateway assessment and referral methodology for all rough sleepers data so it has consistent quality in its data
• sharing learned good practice with local partners and in the region with other councils
• making sure there is a coordinated approach to rough sleeper estimates and counts in the city through the Strategy Implementation Group
• delivering a rough sleepers case conference approach to creating innovative personalised opportunities for entrenched rough sleepers to leave street sleeping behind
• maintaining outreach services across the city, ensuring that any rough sleeper in the city can be reached and offered a service
• co-ordinating cold weather provision and revising cold weather plans annually with partners
• making sure the right support is given at the right time including a timely offer of reconnection for those rough sleepers who move into Nottingham and who's support and connections are from outside the city.

Nottingham City Homes was created in 2005 as an arm’s length management organisation (ALMO) to manage Nottingham City Council’s rented and leasehold properties. It currently manages around 29,000 homes.