Effective Action

Practical guidance for local authorities and services to help end rough sleeping and homelessness.

This series is designed to promote and share good practice from across the homelessness sector. It emphasises the importance of homelessness prevention and the localism agenda, and promotes innovations such as No Second Night Out and the lessons learned through Places of Change. New guidance will be published here at regular intervals.

From April 2013, government welfare reforms will begin to change the benefits system. We are in the process of updating the Effective Action series to reflect these changes. Please refer to our Welfare Aware pages for current information on welfare benefits.

Commissioned by DCLG and developed with the support of members to ensure it is strategically relevant and, most importantly, useful to organisations working to end homelessness.


	Removing barriers to services: a guide to inclusion for homeless people Our Survey of Needs and Provision (SNAP) 2012 suggested that projects are becoming increasingly difficult to access. This updated guidance looks at why people are excluded from services and offers solutions for providers and commissioners to develop inclusive homelessness services. Take the test: how inclusive are you?
	Changes in Commissioning for Housing Related Support - guidance for providers This guidance, drawn from Homeless Link's research, presents an overview of changing practice within the commissioning of housing-related support around the country. It highlights potential risks, opportunities and suggestions for services in this changing environment and includes examples from around the country.
	Changing structures in commissioning for housing-related support This guidance, drawn from Homeless Link's research into several local authority areas, presents an overview of changing practice within the commissioning of housing-related support around the country.
	ETE & Accreditation There is a strong association between homelessness and a lack of engagement with education, training and employment (ETE). Meaningful occupation and activities can help to rebuild self-esteem, develop skills and build social networks away from the streets. This guidance outlines the pivotal role that homelessness services can play in the provision of and engagement with ETE and meaningful activities.
	Severe Weather Emergency Protocol and extended cold weather provision Read about good practice from across the country and see example protocols and supporting paper work to help you develop suitable responses during the extreme weather period.
	Task & Targeting Toolkit Task and targeting multi-agency meetings bring services together to agree action plans targeted to the needs of individuals who are, or who are at risk of, sleeping rough. This toolkit is based on feedback from nine areas. It provides a framework to set up and run effective task and targeting meetings, including case studies and template documents.
	Adopting the No Second Night Out standard This guidance supports local authorities and their partners to meet the No Second Night Out standard by developing a service offer for people new to the streets. It includes practice examples and templates.
	Reconnecting Rough Sleepers This practical guide is intended to support local authorities and their partners as they develop their reconnection service offer for people new to the streets with connections in another area, as part of the No Second Night Out standard.
	Resettlement This guidance provides an overview of the principles and processes of resettlement from or between homelessness services. It covers strategy, procedure and support and includes a checklist to help services develop an effective approach to move on. There is also a summary version for local authorities.
	Evaluating the extent of rough sleeping This toolkit has been developed to help local authorities, in partnership with other local agencies, to evaluate the extent of rough sleeping. It contains advice and tools to support areas to carry out an estimate or a count in order to submit their single figure.
	Supporting Clients into Employment This guidance contains practical steps that agencies who are supporting their clients into employment can take. The steps are broken down into five chapters which help clients move towards employment.
	Jobcentre Plus and support for homeless people: know the direction of travel This guidance, revised in July 2012, contains details of practical steps that homeless men and women and agencies supporting them can take to ensure that they get the most out of the new flexibility Jobcentre Plus has to offer.
	Supporting People with No Recourse to Public Funds People with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) are at high risk of homelessness and destitution because they cannot access mainstream housing, welfare benefits and employment. This guidance outlines the steps services can take to develop a support offer for this client group.
	Managing Volunteers in Homelessness Services This guidance is for organisations that plan to recruit or want to improve the way they manage volunteers. It aims to ensure that volunteering is the best possible experience for service users, the volunteer and the organisation.
	Working with refugees Refugees have the same entitlements as UK nationals, but the process of receiving a positive decision and accessing mainstream housing and benefits can be problematic, with a high risk of homelessness. This guidance will help agencies to anticipate these issues and support clients both before and after receiving refugee status.
	Providing Advice and Assistance to single homeless people This template letter should be used by local authorities as a basis for the advice and assistance they give to single homeless people and whether they have made an application or not.
	No Second Night Out - the approach for areas with low numbers Additional guidance specifically addressing the needs of areas with low numbers of rough sleepers to adopt the No Second Night Out standard.
	Guidance on the Entitlements of EEA Nationals A summary of the entitlements available to EEA Nationals, to enable agencies to support this group to make informed decisions.
	Thinking about setting up a service? How to take a strategic approach to developing a service, from establishing need in your local context to assessing risk and practical requirements.
	The Response and Offer for EEA Nationals This guidance is to support local authorities and their partners to develop a strategic response and offer for European Economic Area Nationals who are rough sleeping.