Homelessness prevention by The Rock Trust and West Lothian Council

Community hosting for young people in crisis

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The context

We know homelessness experienced early in life can increase the likelihood of further homelessness later in life. We also know temporary accommodation, especially hostels and B&Bs, can have harmful impacts on those forced to stay there: impacts which can be even more acute for young people. Less institutionalising, more supportive emergency accommodation options which are more bespoke to young people, such as Nightstop, can play a dual preventative role. They provide a period of respite and ‘cooling off’, which may precede a return home. Or they can act as a bridging option, buying time to facilitate a planned move - lowering the risk of repeat homelessness, which may be increased by full exposure to the mainstream adult homelessness system.

The intervention

Whilst they’re staying with the host, the coordinator gets to know the young person and their needs. They can help with practical matters, such as accessing emergency funds or ID, applying for benefits (or jobs), doing a CV or negotiating with an employer to prevent dismissal. They can also make referrals to specialist wellbeing support/therapy and mediation. A key role is to find out the young person’s housing goals and plans, and support them to secure a suitable longer-term option.

Hosting is a community response to youth homelessness, with the ability to attract hosts in parts of an authority where there may be no temporary accommodation. As a model which prioritises relationships in a family environment, alongside tailored support exploring interpersonal aspects of a young person’s situation (such as family relations, social networks and wellbeing), it also responds to the fact that relationship breakdown is the single biggest cause of youth homelessness.

The outcome

Last year, Nightstop West Lothian supported 25 young people through 389 bed nights (average: 16 nights each). 84% were able to avoid unsuitable temporary accommodation entirely, with 8% returning home, 8% moving straight to settled social housing, 4% directly to university halls and 60% to youth-specific supported accommodation. Many guests reported better sleep patterns, improved mental health (particularly reduced anxiety), and are taking positive steps towards their aspirations after using Nightstop. The Rock Trust is working closely with partners (such as schools and social work) to reach young people earlier so that preventative outcomes can be increased.

Key insights

• appointing the right member of staff to promote and coordinate a local Nightstop service is vital: there can be significant attitudinal and cultural barriers when introducing a new, non-traditional housing model
• working with a range of partners to promote and embed community hosting at an earlier point in a young person’s journey towards homelessness is a key objective for a Nightstop coordinator
• Nightstop produces better outcomes for young people and causes less harm than emergency accommodation, whilst also bringing benefits to hosts; unlike B&B, the service becomes more cost effective the more it is used

Find out more…

Ali MacDermid, Assistant Director, Rock Trust
alistair.macdermid@rocktrust.org