Working across housing, social care and safeguarding to tackle long-term rough sleeping: webinar
Source: gov.uk (2025-02-06)

Webinar to share research and best practice with colleagues across the homelessness and safeguarding adults sectors, to support effective multi-disciplinary working to help resolve rough sleeping for vulnerable individuals.

In November 2024 MHCLG ran a webinar to share research and best practice with colleagues across the homelessness and safeguarding adults sectors, to support effective multi-disciplinary working to help resolve rough sleeping for vulnerable individuals.

The objectives of this webinar were:
- To share examples of what has worked in achieving effective partnership working between rough sleeping, adult social care and safeguarding teams and organisations in local areas.
- To discuss how safeguarding can be used to end a person’s rough sleeping by providing examples of how this is being addressed in specific areas.
- To create connections across local authorities to support further sharing of information and skills when creating partnerships across rough sleeping, adult social care and safeguarding teams.
The presentations and wider information focussed on how we can identify effective solutions for vulnerable individuals, to help them achieve a sustainable end to their long-term rough sleeping.

This government is carefully considering how we address the causes of homelessness and rough sleeping and deliver long-term solutions as part of our commitment to develop a new cross government strategy to get us back on track to ending homelessness once and for all.

We are pleased to present the recording of the webinar. We have segmented the videos for each speaker, for ease of viewing.

Section 1: Introductions

Introduction from Bruno Ornelas – Rough Sleeping Adviser MHCLG

Welcome from Minister Rushunara Ali – Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Homelessness and Democracy)

Setting the Scene – Bruno Ornelas – Review of the Care Act and the impact on those rough sleeping.

Welcome from Robert Lewis – DHSC Mental Health Social Work Lead – Office of the Chief Social Worker for Adults

Section 1: Introductions (https://youtu.be/qlg1Amn9ihk)

Section 2: Developing Homelessness Fatality Reviews

Gill Taylor - Safeguarding Adults Review author and chair of Pan-London Homelessness, Health & Safeguarding Development Group.

Gill has held frontline and strategic roles in the homelessness sector over the last 20 years. She has worked at the intersection of rough sleeping, safeguarding and social justice in the development of Fatality Reviews, as Strategic Lead for the Museum of Homelessness Dying Homeless Project and as lead author of the Radical Safeguarding Toolkit- Homelessness, published by Research in Practice in May 2024. Radical safeguarding toolkit for homelessness - Research in Practice (https://www.researchinpractice.org.uk/adults/content-pages/open-access-resources/radical-safeguarding-toolkit-for-homelessness/).

Synopsis: Gill discusses the background, drivers and implementation of Fatality Reviews.

Section 2: Developing Homelessness Fatality Reviews (https://youtu.be/145U6T6JDKA)

Section 3: Local Authority Experience: Manchester City Council

Ellie Atkins – Registered social worker, manager and Safeguarding Lead for the Rough Sleeper Social Work team in Manchester.

Ellie has been a practice led researcher in the field of working with hard-to-reach adults with complex needs for the last 20 years. Ellie challenges unconscious bias and advocates for the design, commissioning, and delivery of inclusive psychological and trauma informed services that provide psychological safety for some of the most traumatised people in our society. An example of Ellie’s work is: Why understanding executive function is critical when working with homeless people - Community Care (https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2024/07/08/why-understanding-executive-function-is-critical-when-working-with-homeless-people/).

Synopsis: Ellie discusses a fictional case study of Richard and his experiences of homelessness in Manchester.

Section 3: Local Authority Experience: Manchester City Council (https://youtu.be/c_lLDlbGeGs)

Section 4: Research Findings: Strengthening Adult Safeguarding response to homelessness and self-neglect

Jess Harris - Research Fellow, Health & Social Care Workforce Research Unit (HSCWRU), King’s College London.

Jess just completed a national study on safeguarding responses to multiple exclusion homelessness (MEH) and self-neglect (https://www.kcl.ac.uk/research/homelessness-and-self-neglect). Follow up studies have focussed on the homelessness social worker role (https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/evidencing-the-social-work-role-within-responses-to-multiple-excl), and homelessness in social work education (https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/addressing-multiple-exclusion-homelessness-in-social-work-educati). She is now working on a study of mental capacity and multiple exclusion homelessness (https://www.kcl.ac.uk/research/mca-homelessness). Her webinar series (https://www.kcl.ac.uk/events/series/homelessness-series) on homelessness is open to all.

Synopsis: Jess discusses the findings of her research on Adult Safeguarding response to homelessness and self-neglect, including a good practice checklist.

Section 4: Research Findings: Strengthening Adult Safeguarding response to homelessness and self-neglect (https://youtu.be/mq6RsrfczK8)

Section 5: Local Authority Experience: Stoke on Trent City Council

Gemma Finn – Head of Changing Futures Adult Social Care, Health Integration and Wellbeing – Stoke on Trent City Council.

Synopsis: Gemma discusses working in partnerships and experiences of Stoke City Council within the Changing Futures programme.

Section 5: Local Authority Experience: Stoke on Trent City Council (https://youtu.be/ErYLxLinbgM)

Section 6: Local Authority Experience: Barnsley Metropolitan District Council

Michelle Kaye – Group leader at Barnsley Metropolitan District Council.

Synopsis: Michelle discusses Barnsley’s experience in creating and running a Vulnerable Adults Panel, a multi agency approach to supporting those with complex needs.

Section 6: Local Authority Experience: Barnsley Metropolitan District Council (https://youtu.be/x9VJ_CgrEIg)

The accompanying slide pack can be found here:

(https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67a34119b74b3d9dfe36ca72/Working_across_housing__social_care_and_safeguarding_for_Long_Term_rough_sleepers_-_webinar_slides.pdf)

Webinar slides (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67a34119b74b3d9dfe36ca72/Working_across_housing__social_care_and_safeguarding_for_Long_Term_rough_sleepers_-_webinar_slides.pdf)

PDF, 3.17 MB, 85 pages

For further information and resources please see the links at the bottom of the slides.