Skills and Expertise

This section explores what expertise is needed in different sectors and how it can be developed in order to address the needs of the older homeless population. 

Successfully addressing the needs of older homeless people requires a sharing of expertise across sectors that have previously not been accustomed to joint working or communicating about their client groups. This is true both at the provider level and the commissioning level. The older population is changing rapidly and there are increasing issues around substance misuse, challenging behaviour and mental health issues.

Many local authorities are producing older people’s housing strategies or carrying out strategic reviews of older people’s housing care and support. However on a national level there seems to be very limited recognition of older people in hostels as part of this population. Where local authorities have begun to address the needs of their older homeless population the issue has been approached in different ways. The best place to start is by assessing the needs of the local older homeless population  In some areas the process has been led by commissioners, in others providers have taken the lead. Where the older people's needs audit  has been carried out a multi-agency steering group needs to be set up to oversee the process and to take forwards the work that emerges from the findings.

A multi-agency steering group

You may wish to consider inviting the following agencies:

• Homelessness providers - to talk about their experience of  moving-on older people, what works and what the barriers and gaps are
• Specialist teams – what is on offer in terms of ongoing support from floating support/resettlement/older people’s outreach teams
• Sheltered/retirement/extra care housing providers - to provide their perspective on what the offer is from sheltered housing, what information they need to make a decision on referrals, what level of support they can and cannot provide and working with other support providers
• Commissioners of housing and support services - to look at where housing related support is provided for this client group and to explore with providers why some older people get stuck in hostel accommodation
• Older People’s commissioners - to ensure that older homeless people are brought into the mainstream of commissioning and that there is an understanding of the complexity of need in this client group
• Social care/health commissioners – to understand the complexity of need in the client group and to provide the understanding of accessing care packages for this client group
• Housing association partners – particularly those with a potential interest in developing specialist projects for older people with complex needs
• BME agencies - If there are specific groups of BME elders in the local area it may be worthwhile to work in partnership with voluntary sector agencies that have access and insight into the issues for those groups

In Camden an Older Person’s Housing Care and Support needs analysis was carried out. Data was gathered on one third of the substantial numbers of residents over 50 years living in hostels. As a result Camden has established a multi-agency steering group with cross agency representatives from all of the above sectors. They are moving towards re-configuring current services such as the remit of the older people’s outreach team and planning extra-care type provision for this client group.

Below are examples of where local authorities or housing providers are beginning to share expertise :

• Individual staff skills such as hostel workers training around older homelessness and working with institutionalisation
• Organisational knowledge such as providers of retirement/sheltered housing – working towards a better understanding of homelessness and improved customer care for people with a homeless history
• Developing a specialist response to homelessness within adult social care
• Strategic joint working such as commissioners of housing and support services and older people’s commissioners working together.