Cymorth Cymru and the Housing First Wales Network have published a set of revised national principles to support the continued development of Housing First services in Wales.
A rigorous review, involving service providers and clients, has resulted in two key publications – a shorter document, outlining the ten principles and key considerations for each; and a second, longer supporting document goes into more detail about each principle, with a self-reflection scoring system that services can use to assess their delivery of Housing First, and additional context about each principle, with good practice and potential issues highlighted.
- Housing First Wales Principles 2024 – available in English and Welsh
- Housing First Wales Principles: Discussion, context and good practice – available in English and Welsh
We’ll be sending hard copies out to services across Wales – if you think we might not have up-to-date details to include your service in this, please get in touch.
Introductory training sessions
We’ve developed an introductory online training session to key elements of the new principles, which we’ll be running twice, on Tuesday 10th September and Wednesday 2nd October. The sessions are two hours long, and will offer some scope for question and answers. If demand is substantial enough, or if there is a clear need for further sessions to enable discussion, we will assess that nearer the time. We highly recommend these sessions to everyone involved in the delivery or commissioning of Housing First services in Wales. However, we also welcome people from a range of other homelessness and housing support services, as the sessions will highlight lots of issues and good practice relevant to your work. Sign up for the training here.
In this article, Alex and Cath Docherty, Chair of the Housing First Wales Network, explore the reasons for revising the principles.
Cath: So Alex, what inspired the review? Why has it been so important to get right?
Alex: The review process was initially inspired by a growing awareness that the specific focus on rough sleeping was potentially overlooking people who might benefit from Housing First (women, for example, are less likely to sleep rough, and rough sleeping numbers vary in different parts of Wales).
The fact remains that there are people across Wales who have experienced homelessness alongside considerable challenges such as trauma, mental health or addiction issues, who would benefit from Housing First.
Cath: Yeah, I think one of the most essential changes that we had to make was to ensure that Housing First in Wales is still being provided to ‘the people who need it the most’.
This is key, because the original principles focused on providing Housing First to people who had a history of entrenched rough sleeping. This is not to say that someone accessing Housing First today would not have had these experiences (you’d be pretty unsurprised to be working with people who have some experience of rough sleeping or a different kind of homelessness), but the idea of broadening Housing First’s reach across Wales, to ensure that nobody who might benefit from the model would be left out, was key. For example, as you’ve already mentioned, women are less likely to sleep rough. Our experience of COVID-19 has also impacted the rough sleeping context in Wales, with more people now accessing various forms of temporary accommodation.
Alex: I agree – it’s important to emphasise that the changes we’ve made to the principles don’t come out of any sense that rough sleeping isn’t an issue across Wales.
Cath: No, of course not – rough sleeping is still a problem in Wales, but the landscape is different now. More people are eligible for temporary accommodation, because being ‘street homeless’ is a priority need category now – it was added in 2022. So people who are sleeping rough have an entitlement to this kind of accommodation, which they didn’t in the past. There are, perhaps, more accommodation options, but the challenge still remains. That’s why we wanted to change the Housing First principles to ensure that they remain fit for purpose, reflective of our Welsh context, and faithful to the core ideas behind the model.
Alex: Yes, and the changing policy context is important too. The Welsh Government’s commitment to rapid rehousing has Housing First at the more intensive ‘end’ of the spectrum, and it is vital that we keep the Housing First principles fit for purpose. In the Rapid Rehousing Transition Plans Guidance, page 9 highlights the fact that ‘all local authorities’ are expected to invest in Housing First; similarly, fidelity to the principles is emphasised in the Ending Homelessness Action Plan. On page 13, the ‘temptation to dilute Housing First’ is highlighted as a phenomenon that must be resisted. What’s more, page 16 includes the clear action for national and local government to continue supporting the expansion and fidelity of the model.
Cath: So how did Cymorth settle on the right process for the review?
Alex: Broadly speaking, the process behind this review, started with initial conversations with Welsh Government, the Housing First Network, and various service providers. That’s how we decided to establish the task-and-finish group and then from the task and finish group we also hosted several face-to-face events where we involved Housing First clients and their support workers, and many additional conversations.
Cath: Of course! It’s worth emphasising how indebted we are to the large number of people who have contributed to this piece of work, whether they were involved in informal discussions, participated in the task-and-finish group you mentioned, or came to the events. We also appreciate the insight of colleagues in the sector from the rest of the UK and beyond. The two documents we’re discussing here represent hard work involving many people, far beyond the efforts of the two of us.
Alex: You chaired the task-and-finish group, as well as the Housing First Network itself. What were those experiences like – actually carrying out this review process?
Cath: It was a real privilege to be asked to chair the task and finish group and to attend the events. The conversation has pretty much been continuous over the past 12 months and I feel confident that we have really involved the right people. We have many people to thank!
You know that I call myself ‘evangelical preacher at the church of Housing First’ – it’s like a running joke, but there is truth behind it! – I relish any opportunity to discuss and dissect the model, and the good practice and challenges that can come with it. In a nutshell – I really enjoyed it and found it very affirming to hear my enthusiasm echoed by such a wonderful collective of practitioners and commissioners.
Alex: I think that the people who came were brave in sharing parts of their stories, and providing their insight into quite dense pieces of text in confident and intelligent ways.
Cath: Yes! The events we ran, involved some really thoughtful and reflective Housing First clients. Hearing the individual voices of people who experience Housing First as a model on a daily basis was really positive. They also brought really grounded and practical input, which really helped us iron out some of the nuances of the principles, and understand how they play out in the day to day running of services across Wales.
Alex: That’s a good point – in fact, to emphasise this, we’ve included quotes throughout the longer supporting document, from both clients and support workers – things that were said during our face-to-face events which really drive home the fact that what might seem like an abstract principle on paper has a real effect on someone’s life as part of the support they receive.
Cath: The quotes make the principles feel real, which is sometimes easy to forget.
Alex: And as chair of the task-and-finish group, was there anything that struck you through reviewing the principles that you hadn’t really thought about, or that you thought about differently? I can give you an example from my perspective – at one of the events we held, we were discussing the concept of harm reduction. I had never thought of a trusting, strong relationship between a client and their support worker as a particular aspect of harm reduction – but it makes perfect sense. The more a person receiving support trusts the person supporting them, the more likely they are to be honest and open about their substance use – what they’re using, how much, and when. As such, they can be given more accurate advice about how to reduce harm to themselves and those around them.
Cath: I agree. I also think the process has given us both a much clearer insight into the particular challenges faced by Housing First projects across local authorities in Wales. These challenges can be geographical, financial, or practical, for example where projects struggle to develop key statutory relationships or to access the housing they need.
Alex: I agree completely – I think it’s fair to say that the process has given us both a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by different local authorities in Wales, and different ways of overcoming them, as they establish and deliver Housing First services.
In my experience, the same things get talked about internationally when it comes to Housing First. Interestingly, I was recently talking with a colleague about how important it is for those involved in Housing First to be reminded of the fact that they are part of delivering an internationally proven model, that is often challenged in similar ways around the world, and that they are not alone.
Cath: That’s very assuring! Sometimes, you can feel very isolated when working in Housing First services. You often feel like you’re swimming against the tide. Hearing the voices of others experiencing the same challenges is affirming, and makes you realise how important nationwide pieces of work like the accreditation and principle review are.
Alex: Going back to the beginning of the conversation, we’ve talked about ensuring the model doesn’t end up being inaccessible to anybody who could benefit from it, and the fact that there might be plenty of people who don’t sleep rough, or experience such a visible kind of homelessness, who could still have their lives transformed by Housing First. What other factors influenced this process?
Cath: Well, ongoing evaluation is essential in any development process. Reflection and adaptation are imperative – that’s the kind of flexibility that Housing First is fundamentally based on. The world around us has changed, it’s worth re-emphasising what I said before about COVID-19, the changing landscape when it comes to rough sleeping – as well as changes to how services are being commissioned and delivered. We also have the legislative context changing with the Renting Homes Wales Act. There’s (I hope!) an increasing awareness of the need to develop good practice across the sector, and of course we’re experiencing a fluctuating economy. Even increases to adverse weather! All these issues meant that it made sense to look at what changes might need to be made, even if we’d started a review process and amended very little.
Alex: Tell me more about how all of this work links to our Housing First accreditation process? You’re in the fairly unique position of having guided a service through its accreditation process (the Salvation Army’s Cardiff Housing First service) and now sitting on accreditation panels to make decisions on whether to award accreditation to other services.
Cath: Well, when the original set of principles was developed, there was no accreditation process, so it was a bit of a different experience! What we’ve tried to do in the new documentation is more clearly align the principles with the accreditation process. As such, we’ve highlighted good practice when it comes to certain principles, as well as potential challenges. For each principle, there’s also a list of types of evidence that might be used to demonstrate delivery of each principle for that accreditation process.
Alex: How do you think that might help people commissioning and delivering Housing First services – in terms of going through the accreditation, but also maintaining good practice and fidelity more generally?
Cath: Well, the wider principle document is immensely helpful for projects not only moving towards accreditation, but just starting out – it helps you to think as a manager and a practitioner about the types of documentation that might be required to evidence your delivery of the model in the most effective way possible and also different ways you can communication what you’re doing with all the different audiences who need to understand it. Individuals accessing the service, partners, practitioners and leaders.
Alex: That’s what we hope. Could you sum up your thoughts about this whole principle review process, and where Housing First is now, in Wales?
Cath: Well I’ve already highlighted how important evaluation is, for any process or model to work well. I hope that this will be the start of an ongoing, constructive attempt to keep the Housing First principles we use in Wales specific to the country’s context, while remaining faithful to the Housing First model. We’ll continue to work with our colleagues nationally and internationally to ensure that this support is accessible to those who need it most.
Alex: Completely. Thanks Cath – as always its been great to chat!
Cath: No problem. Thanks to you Alex and thanks to Cymorth for leading this piece of work. It has been brilliant to be part of this review process and I feel confident that we can show that the model we define in Wales, continues takes a person-centred and flexible approach. Housing First really does make a huge difference to peoples lives.
Huge thanks to Cath for chatting with me.
