Sign our petition
END CHILD HOMELESSNESS
This Christmas, there will be 20,000 more homeless children living in Temporary Accommodation in England than last year.
There is currently no national government strategy to mitigate the trauma of homelessness on children. Families having to stay in Temporary Accommodation should have the right to a safer, secure and more peaceful experience of their homelessness journey, and yet for far too many it is anything but. We are calling for government action to prioritise ending child homelessness.
Sign our petition below to add your voice to the voiceless.
The government should prioritise ending child homelessness immediately
160 signatories so far.
There are currently 159,380 children living in temporary accommodation in England, including 20,000 babies.
Many are living in dangerous conditions with little support to help them navigate through our complex systems. Families are continuously placed out of area, far away from their school, GP and community. The educational attainment of homeless children plummets when they become homeless. The barriers to healthcare increase and children's health and development suffer. There is a national focus and political will for rough sleeping, but less so for families. And tragically, 55 children have died in Temporary Accommodation, most were under 1.
And yet, we dare to hope. Things can, and will change.
We ask the government to commit to ending child homelessness.
Shared Health are the experts in family homelessness and work tirelessly to shine a light on the inequalities these children face. However, it is not enough just to talk about the effects of Temporary Accommodation on children, we are calling for government action immediately.
The first 1,001 days of a child's life are integral to their development, and yet the government doesn't have a strategy to protect these years and mitigate the effects of trauma for homeless children.
We ask for a proper strategy, resources and a minimum standard for temporary accommodation to ensure that all children have the good start they desperately need.
Shared Health's recommendations for Homeless Families are;
- A national, urgent strategy to Ending Child Homelessness.
- A minimum set of standards and facilities in Emergency and Temporary Accommodation (safer sleeping provision for infants is a life saving must)
- No mixing of vulnerable single adults and families in B&Bs, ever. This is a safeguarding risk.
- NHS to code for Temporary Accommodation. The NHS does not currently have a way of tracking which children in Temporary Accommodation use health services.
- Homeless Children to have similar rights for education and health as those in corporate parentship (Looked After Children is an example)
- Wrap around support for Homeless Families such as Focused Care.
- Support and funding for Housing Officers in Local Authorities.
- A National Notification System similar to Operation Encompass to ensure no Homeless Family gets lost in the system. (Here is the guidance for how schools and GPs can support Homeless Families)
- Free bus travel for homeless children and their adults in Temporary Accommodation
- Mental Health support for parents going through the homeless system
Please sign our petition, share on socials and with your networks and email your MP demanding that the government commit to #EndChildHomelessness
For more information please email contact@sharedhealth.org.uk