This exciting opportunity brings together commissioners and services to take a test and learn approach to supporting those impacted by both housing needs and problem drug and/or alcohol use.
Cornwall received funding from the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) to explore what works in supporting those with drug and alcohol problems to access secure, good quality accommodation to meet their needs. We know this cohort have often experienced trauma and can have additional needs relating to, for example, domestic abuse, poor physical health, mental health struggles, financial issues and contact with the criminal justice system.
The programme includes:
- Employment of specialist floating support workers in With You and The Women’s Centre Cornwall to support people with drug/alcohol problems where they are whether that be in temporary or supported accommodation or in private rented accommodation.
- Health Peer Advocates to support earlier identification, health prevention and treatment, such as mental health, smoking cessation and the tissue viability project
- A designated post in housing to support those entering and leaving inpatient and residential drug and alcohol treatment.
- A housing analyst to crunch the data and aid us in performance improvement.
- Personalised budgets.
- A training and workforce development programme on housing law, de-escalation and dynamic risk assessment and management.
We are also working with a Learning Partner who will bring together all the services and commissioners involved to understand how we can work better together to support this cohort, align our work and maximise the resources we have. The Learning Partner will facilitate reflective sessions, capture learning and produce learning materials as we go along. This means we can adapt as we go rather than only evaluating what we have done at the end.
Partners:
