January 01, 2020 - 1670 views
The National Assembly’s Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee has called for more to be done to help rough sleepers suffering a mental health and substance misuse problem.
The Welsh Government’s Homelessness Action Group has described the situation in Wales as a “rough sleeping emergency” because of the 45% increase in the number of people sleeping rough between 2015 and 2018.
The Committee heard distressing evidence from people with experience of rough sleeping and from those who work with homeless people, prompting it to call for an urgent solution to the increasing problem.
The Committee was disappointed to hear from a panel of people working with rough sleepers that a significant barrier to delivering effective services were due to cultural issues within organisations and lack of leadership. Repeatedly, the Committee was told of silos and of an “us and them” attitude between different professional groups.
Those working with homeless people recognise that services to help individuals with housing, mental health issues and substance misuse must work together to tackle the issues they face.
The Committee heard that the Welsh Government ‘s Housing First pilot scheme has shown that this can be done.
Members of the Committee were told that the very nature of the model, bringing together a wide range of services, has led to more integrated working. However, the Committee is clear that Housing First is not a “silver bullet” and other problems needed to be addressed
The Committee is recommending that the Welsh Government takes the lead role in working with organisations across different areas, such as mental health services, substance misuse and housing to change the culture to bring organisations together to deliver properly integrated services.
It also recommends that the government identifies best practice to encourage sharing across different sectors.
