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The Newcastle Homelessness Forum incorporates a wide range of organisations involved in providing services to homeless people. This makes it valuable for consultation on policies and strategies within the sector.
The forum has been involved in the development of the following documents:
Clean Homes Protocol
This protocol has been developed with Environmental Health, Health and Social Services, Your Homes Newcastle, Newcastle Private Rented Project, social and private landlords and Neighbourhood Services.
It has been developed as preventing homelessness is a key task for local authorities as every year a number of people are in danger of losing their homes because they fail to keep them clean.
Download the Clean Homes Protocol Summary document for further information.
Hospital Discharge & Homelessness Prevention Protocol
The aims of this protocol are to:
reduce the likelihood of a patient leaving hospital with no where to go and therefore increasing the chances of every patient to be discharged to an appropriate home with appropriate support in place
save staff time which would otherwise be spent looking for accommodation
The protocol has been developed with the Housing Advice Centre, Social Services, Advice and Support Workers, Newcastle Hospital Trust, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear Mental Health Trust and Newcastle Primary Care Trust.
• Download the Hospital Discharge Resource Pack here
• Download the Hospital Discharge Summary here
Newcastle Drugs, Alcohol and Housing Strategy
This Strategy has been produced by the Drug User and Accommodation Group on behalf of Safe Newcastle, the Newcastle Housing Partnership, and the Newcastle Supporting People Commissioning Body.
The Strategy is a demonstration of the intention to work together in a different way. It provides a framework and a vision for the 3 Partnerships to work together, and to align their resources and efforts towards a common goal.
The Strategy was launched at a joint meeting of the three Partnerships on November 16th 2006. The Action Plan will now be implemented by groups which are responsible to the Partnerships, and will be overseen by the Drug User and Accommodation Group.
Any questions about the Strategy and Action Plan should be directed to neil.munslow@newcastle.gov.uk (Strategic Housing), helen.wilding@newcastle.gov.uk (Safe Newcastle Drug Support Unit), or rachel.baillie@newcastle.gov.uk (Supporting People).
Download a copy of the Executive Summary here
Newcastle Homelessness Strategy
The Homelessness Act 2002 required all Local Authorities to develop a homelessness strategy. These strategies had to inform how the Council's proposed to help homeless people. In July 2003 the Newcastle Homeless Strategy was published.
Newcastle Temporary Accommodation Drug Management Protocol
In 2002, Newcastle City Council and Northumbria Police published the Drug Management Policy which has gone a long way in helping reduce evictions for drug use in supported accommodation.
The Protocol builds on the previous Policy, and has been updated with the help of supported housing providers in the city. It takes into account changes in the law, housing practices, and drug treatment developments, as well as changing needs. It will improve access to supported housing, and will enable providers to act confidently when working with drug users. It also lays the foundation for better working relationships between the supported housing sector, the police, and drug treatment providers.
All supported housing providers providing temporary accommodation for this group are being asked to sign up to the Protocol. Training on the Protocol will start in January 2007.
You will find 5 documents as part of the Protocol:
• The full Protocol
• A service user guide to the Protocol
• A leaflet for service users
• A wall chart for staff in temporary accommodation
• A poster to be put up in entrances or public areas of temporary accommodation places in Newcastle
Any questions about the Protocol should be addressed to the Homelessness Prevention Project on 0191 277 1731 or 0191 277 1733.
Please note that contact for the Criminal Justice Unit has changed. The e-mail address is now newcastlecju@northumbria.pnn.police.uk and the phone number is 0191 221 8345. For further police contact details click here.
HARP Protocol
The HARP Protocol (Housing and Returning Prisoners) is a framework between local authorities, the prison and probation services and the voluntary sector housing providers to reduce homelessness amongst offenders and people returning from custody. The protocol seeks to address the housing needs of people in custody prior to, during and following the making of a custodial sentence.
Pathways into independence and preventing homelessness
For information on routes into sustainable independent living and threatened evictions
Young Offenders Housing and Resettlement Protocol (YoHARP)
The main aims of this new Protocol are:
The Protocol has been developed with the Youth Offending Team (YOT), YHN, Supporting People, supported housing providers, and Social Services.
The main thrust of the Protocol is (as with HARP) to develop better joint planning between all the agencies, and to identify the need for action to find housing on release much earlier in the process. The Protocol sets out each of the six stages in the process, and what is expected of each agency. An Information Pack accompanying the Protocol (see below) explains the role of all the agencies involved, key points about the law, and gives practical advice such as how to make appointments to visit a young offender at a Youth Offenders Institution.
• Download the YoHARP Information Pack here
• Download the YoHARP Summary here