Housing First: managers' learning network

Delivering a high-fidelity Housing First service requires more than commitment – it demands courageous leadership, strategic clarity, and a deep understanding of how to balance values-led practice with operational realities.

Managers are often at the centre of this balancing act, navigating pressures from commissioners, funding frameworks, and wider systems that may not align with Housing First principles, all while supporting frontline teams working with complex and high-risk caseloads.

This four-part series will cover approaches to measuring success beyond conventional outcomes, supporting staff through supervision and reflective practice, and advocating for systemic change.

Through attending the sessions, you will gain clarity on defining success in Housing First, strengthen skills around valued-led leadership and will develop tools to influence stakeholders and push back against system pressures.

As well as receiving ‘top-tips’ takeaway slides from each session, this learning network will offer a vital opportunity to build a peer network of Housing First leaders committed to embedding and protecting the ethos of the model in a changing landscape.

Who is this learning network for?

Managers and leaders working within Housing First services.

What will you learn?

Delegates are expected to attend all four sessions:

1) The principles of Housing First: staying on track

23 October | 9.30am-12.30pm | Online

In the first workshop, we will recap the principles of Housing First before exploring how to maintain fidelity to these principles when delivering Housing First services. The workshop will explore what the greatest challenges to this are and provide a space for you to share best practice to overcoming these challenges.

You will be able to explore the role of partnerships in delivering Housing First services, as well as discussing managing relationships with commissioners and managing referral processes. Through group discussion, staff will explore the challenges faced and what works when running a service that maintains fidelity to the Housing First principles.

Key takeaways:

• A deeper understanding of how to navigate challenges in maintaining fidelity to the Housing First principles.
• Learn best practice from other leaders in managing relationships with commissioners and partner services.
  
  

2) A strategic approach: support and leadership in Housing First

27 November | 9.30am-12.30pm | Online

The second workshop in this series will explore the nuances of management and leadership in a Housing First setting. In this session, we will look into the specific challenges brought about by managing Housing First staff, and participants will have an opportunity to share best practice of how to support team members working in challenging frontline roles.

Through group discussion, we will explore the meaning of professional boundaries in a Housing First context, the individual challenges brought about by prioritising person-led, autonomy driven support, and how to lead and support staff teams in a trauma-informed way to navigate this. Learn and share with a network of fellow Housing First leaders.

Key takeaways:

• Develop a deeper understanding of how to support staff to manage professional boundaries in a Housing First setting.
• Learn best management practice from fellow Housing First leaders.
• Explore a trauma-informed approach to case management.

3) Selling Housing First: measuring and managing success

18 December | 9.30am-12.30pm | Online

In the third workshop in this series, we will explore what success looks like within the Housing First model. We will explore how leaders might demonstrate the success and positive impact of Housing First to relevant stakeholders whilst still prioritising client autonomy, harm reduction and housing stability.

Through group discussion participants will explore how to align performance management with the ethos of Housing First – looking at how we balance accountability to funders, stakeholders and the people we support. The workshop will offer a space for peer discussion on what works in practice.

Key takeaways:

• A deeper understanding of what success looks like in Housing First.
• Peer insights into managing expectations from funders and commissioners while maintaining fidelity.
• Renewed confidence in leading a service that maintains fidelity in the core principles.
  
  

4) Looking after yourself: tools to take forward

22 January | 9.30am-12.30pm | Online

This final session in the Housing First for managers workshop series will offer a dedicated space for reflection, connection, and consolidation. You will reflect on the themes explored throughout the series, considering how their understanding and practice has evolved – and how lessons learned are showing up in their daily work.

Together, we will look at the isolation often brought about by managing a complex service, and how to identify and navigate your own signs of burnout and vicarious trauma. We will discuss looking after yourself whilst managing yours and your team’s resilience and ongoing learning in a pressurised environment, leaning on the community of peers you’ve built throughout the series.

Key takeaways:

• Reflect on lessons learned throughout the series with a community of peers.
• Explore how signs of burnout can present themselves in your day-to-day life.
• Share how your practice and understanding has evolved through the series and identify the key lessons to take forward.

Bookings

To book, please email Lana.Newby@homelesslink.org.uk

Your booking will be invoiced.

The programme is sold as a full programme of all four sessions. Sessions are not recorded. Slides will be sent electronically.

Cancellation policy

Please note details of the cancellation policy for this training programme here