Session guidelines
Before the session
- If you decide to use a case study from within your own organisation, consider the different forms that homelessness can take - from street homeless to being in temporary accommodation, supported housing to sofa surfing with friends or family.
- Use your case study to discuss how your organisation interacted with that person and begin to formulate your pledges and action plan.
- If you do not have a case study to use, then make use of the example case study provided within this toolkit. Shape the discussions to how your organisation would have interacted with that client (Jas).
- When you have decided on your case study, consider sending it out to the participants so they have knowledge of the story prior to attending the session.
- Think about who you would like to involve in the work – internal departments, frontline staff, management and decision makers, existing partners, potential partners, current end-users and people that have experienced the system in the past (service user groups & people with lived experience of the systems).
- Where possible, ensure the group has a good mix of skills and experience.
- Keep numbers to a manageable level.
During the session
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Make use of the accompanying facilitator guide. It will walk you through the session ensuring you make the most of the day.
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Use the completed example discussion log, pledges and action plan found below as a guide for your session.
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Consider drafting in a note-taker from your organisation/team.
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Consider breaking the group into pairs to go through the case study and each of the four separate sessions.
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At the early stage of generating ideas and identifying opportunities, try to allow participants to think creatively without the burden of how those ideas would be put into place.
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Then, at the point of moving from ideas and discussions and onto your pledges and actions, consider using the SMART approach to allow you to create achievable actions that can be evaluated and evidenced in the future.
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When hosting the session, focus on what activity you can take, what difference you can make and how you plan to drive activity forward. Also give consideration to what you are already doing and if you could be doing more to prevent and relieve homelessness.
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Think about what you do now that keeps people included or promotes their protective factors.
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Give thought to how activity can be moved from the crisis prevention & relief space towards the universal prevention space. Are there things that could be put in place to move things upstream, away from crisis, as much as possible?
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When reviewing the case study think about what is missing from the scenario. What could your organisation have done more of?
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How could your organisation have intervened during this case study? What were the key interactions that worked for Jas and why?
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What further action could you have taken?
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Consider what further support your organisation could provide beyond the end of the case study.
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What protective factors are already in place and could be tapped into –
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Safe, affordable accommodation that is appropriate in size and location, underpinning learning, work and the community.
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Timely access to health services.
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Flexible approaches to school enrolment; support structures in school and pathways to employment.
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Single gateway to tailored holistic family support, income and accommodation.
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Secure accommodation; healthy relationships; specialist domestic violence support for the whole family.
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Give consideration as to how collaboration will be achieved and what, if any, systems and services will need to be aligned.
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Consider what barriers are currently in place and how they could be overcome.
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Review those organisations you are already working with and discuss what further organisations you could collaborate with in the future.
Use the example discussions, pledges and actions in this document to shape your approach.
Complete the pledge template to garner commitment from all of those taking part in the process and ensure focus is maintained after the initial discussions have taken place. This is your chance to get all of the participants to Commit to Collaborate.
The action plan template should be used to take all of the ideas, suggestions and pledges recorded in the initial discussions, and turn them into real actions that will contribute to designing out homelessness.
When creating your actions from the discussions you’ve had, you could consider such things as -
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How can we evaluate our future impact to prevent and relieve homelessness and the effects of any further activity by us and our partners?
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What early outcomes would we hope to see? What will the eventual impacts be? How can these be identified and measured?
- Ensure the actions are SMART
S - specific
M - measurable
A - achievable
R - relevant
T - time bound
They should also be Evaluated and Reviewed (SMARTER).
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Ensure you provide feedback following the case study session to the participants to ensure continued engagement.
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Make those actions a reality!
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Review the progress of the actions on a regular basis and continue to collaborate.