In this blog, Gill Taylor, Strategic Lead for the Dying Homeless Project and independent Safeguarding Adult Review author, talks about the Radical Safeguarding Toolkit and encourages practitioners to challenge the status quo of harm and discrimination and move towards anti-oppressive practice.
In October 2024, The Museum of Homelessness published the annual Dying Homeless Project investigation, revealing that at least 1474 people died whilst homeless in 2023.
“When I have to advise a staff member to raise a safeguarding concern, my heart sinks..."
This was a reflection shared by a hostel Service Manager in a meeting I chaired earlier this week. He was expressing his frustration that people experiencing homelessness appear to be relegated to the ‘too difficult’ box by statutory agencies, leaving voluntary sector organisations unsure of where to turn.
We can see evidence from research and practice about the deadly effects of a system under immense pressure. Although there has been significant progress in safeguarding for people experiencing homelessness in recent years, one person experiencing homelessness in the UK died every six hours in 2023. There is still much to be done.
Not only has the number of people who died increased by 12% since 2022, the number of people dying whilst rough sleeping has increased by 42% in the same period.
It can feel hard not to give in to hopelessness sometimes, but we must not turn away from the issue.
History shows us that radical social justice movements, have played a huge role in shaping the laws, organisations, working practices and social attitudes that we think of as common sense today. Our first homelessness legislation, protections for people with disabilities, access to HIV/AIDS care and even human rights legislation was all brought about by the campaigning, protesting and lobbying of people with lived experience and those who love and support them. This encourages us not to fall into hopelessness, but to get involved in efforts to bring about real change, even if it might feel unrealistic or radical to some.
How can we adopt ‘radical’ principles when working with people experiencing homelessness?
Systemic change is about more than individual behaviour; social transformation requires collective action and widespread political and economic change. Nonetheless, as individual practitioners we can adopt perspectives and ways of working that make an important contribution.
It was with this in mind that the Radical Safeguarding Toolkit – Homelessness came to life. Working as a group of people with both lived and professional experience, we explored what safety and safeguarding mean to us, what changes would make the biggest difference and what difficult conversations and personal reflections this might require for practitioners.
What we created is not a ‘how-to’ guide. Instead, the toolkit offers opportunities to reflect on anti-oppressive practice and to consider ways of working that challenge the status quo of discrimination, harm and stigma that leave people exposed to abuse and neglect. The toolkit outlines four ‘radical principles’ that can be adopted in safeguarding and homelessness practice:
- Solidarity
- Power
- Agency
- Accountability
The behaviours and working practices that make up these four principles will look different for different people and situations; the toolkit invites us to reflect on how we can model these principles in our individual practice and how we can embed them in team cultures and partnership working.
Where can I see the radical principles in action?
The radical principles are made real in the work of many incredible practitioners and organisations, but perhaps nowhere more obviously than the Museum of Homelessness.
The Dying Homeless Project is a year-round investigation into the number of people who die whilst homeless in the UK every year. The project started in 2017 and has been hosted by the Museum since 2019. Its purpose is to stand in solidarity with people living on the streets and bereaved friends and family, by amplifying their calls for change. Central to this commitment is remembering those who’ve died with respect and care. This means that as well as an annual report, the Museum host a vigil to remember those who died and work year-round to support families, to host grief spaces, and to offer solidarity support to people in the homeless community.
True to their grassroots values, the Museum believes that the Dying Homeless Project can be a catalyst for change. By using rigorous research to ‘speak truth to power’ the project not only makes homeless deaths unignorable, it also adds to legacies and lineages of radical grassroots campaigners throughout history.
What can I do?
We can all take action to challenge stigma where we see it. We can all act in solidarity with the people we support by amplifying their voices and advocating for their right to exercise choice and agency towards lives free from the risk of abuse and neglect.
The Radical Safeguarding Toolkit shares resources that can be used by individuals, in work with service users and in discussion with teams and partnerships. It’s free to download and there is a podcast and blog to accompany it.
You can also amplify the work of organisations like the Museum of Homelessness, The Outside Project, Streets Kitchen, The People’s Recovery Project and Arts & Homelessness International – all small organisations, with radical principles, who make a big difference.
If you’d like a space to speak about grief and loss connected to your work, you’re warmly invited to join a session of The Breathing Room hosted by the Museum of Homelessness. For more information and to reserve a space, click here.
