To safeguard homeless families during the COVID-19 pandemic and in its aftermath.
There is an absence of discussion and detail on a national level about the impact of Covid-19 on families who are homeless. We are gravely concerned about this ‘hidden homeless’ population, for whom the pandemic has made invisible.
“Many children already do not reach development potential, or struggle to grow and develop because of multi-level barriers, including those resulting from poverty or homelessness.
COVID-19 has added a whole new layer of risk.”
~Rosenthal, Ucci, Heys, Hayward & Lakhanpaul, 2020
There is an absence of discussion and detail on a national level about the impact of Covid-19 on families who are homeless. We are gravely concerned about this ‘hidden homeless’ population, for whom the pandemic has made invisible.
Recommendations made in our 2019 Gold Standard Proposal remain relevant. However, the social and economic impacts of Covid-19 on homeless families is significant. This, in addition to what our frontline workers have witnessed, has led to further, urgent recommendations.
These call to actions need a response NOW!
We don’t simply highlight problems, we are contributing possible solutions to these issues.
Read the full Call To Action HERE.
Call To Action One:
Homeless children to be given the same health and education rights as children in corporate parentship.
Shared Health Provision:
Our ‘Focused Care’ practitioners are embedding themselves within housing teams to provide additional capacity and act as advocates, to register families with GPs and liaise with schools, ensuring children in temporary accommodation are not falling between gaps in services or policy.
Call To Action Two:
Priority access to NHS services to be given to children staying in B&Bs and hotels when mental and physical health provisions resume.
Shared Health Provision:
We are offering our Lemonade Project mental health resources free of charge and and rolling out a mental health ‘roving’ pilot which can be operational by the Autumn to aid capacity.
Call To Action Three:
For the mixing of single people who are homeless and families in B&Bs and hotels to cease.
Shared Health Provision:
We have done extensive research on which B&Bs currently meet our ‘Gold Standards’ and we believe are most ‘family-ready’. We provide those B&Bs with emergency provisions, training and support.
Call To Action Three:
Increase safeguarding in place in B&Bs and hotels.
Shared Health Provision:
We are able to provide safeguarding training and mental health support training to B&B owners and all staff working in locations providing accommodation to homeless families.
To protect homeless children and their families we need action now!