The report of the Strategic Director of Children’s Services (Document “J”) is to provide an update to the panel on developments in respect of the Youth Homeless Team in Bradford.

The team for 16/17 year olds, who are experiencing homelessness or rooflessness, is sited within the Through Care Service. For young people over 18, the team work in partnership with Housing Options to ensure their housing needs are met, alongside appropriate emotional support.

Recommended -

The views of the Panel on the content of this report are requested.

(Emma Collingwood - 01274 437123)

The report of the Strategic Director, Children’s Services (Document “J”) provided an update to the panel on developments in respect of the Youth Homeless Team in Bradford.

The team for 16/17 year olds, who were experiencing homelessness or rooflessness, was sited within the Through Care Service. For young people over 18, the team work in partnership with Housing Options to ensure their housing needs were met, alongside appropriate emotional support.

A Service Manager from the Children’s Social Care Service was present and introduced the report to the Panel. In particular, she highlighted that due to an additional resource of a temporary Team Manager post, which had focused on a quality assurance role and ensuring work was of a standard that was compliant with Practice Standards expected across all of Children’s Services, the current team setup would be revaluated. Following the strengthening of relationships with Nightstop in order to increase its capacity and ability to respond to the Council’s more challenging young people, through delivering training to hosts and developing smarter working processes, this setup would be revaluated. There were plans to consider additional crèche facilities. To consider Post 18 and the pressures associated.

A question and answer session ensued –

• How were young persons made aware of the Youth Homeless Team?
  • There was a series of people who worked for the team and continuously circulating via word of mouth in relation to homeless provisions for young people. A combination of leaflets were also circulated, drop in locations and a universal telephone number for access to the team and provisions. Ex homeless person had also been utilised to give talks around Bradford;
• Was the telephone number free to call?
  • Yes;
• Was the team working with the Youth Services?
  • Better links had to be forged with the Youth Service as at present the team was identifying young people to the preventative stage. There was room for forming better links with the Youth Service and this is something that would be focused on during the re-structure;
• What was the basis of the 54 young people that required no further assistance by the Youth Homeless Team, as highlighted in the report?
  • Reasons behind the no further assistance being due to young people falling out with parents on interim basis over very trivial circumstances such as not cleaning bedrooms;
• Until what age did the team support young people?
  • According to new legislation, the age had risen from 21 to 25 year olds;
• In relation to the Project Initiation Document that set out what was required in relation to bringing together a Youth Homelessness Delivery Plan as a key action identified in the district’s emerging Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2020-2025, what was the basis of the Project Organisation?
  • To give the formal project accountability throughout the whole process; and,
• Who were the independent voices on the Project Organisation?
  • There were plans to involve young people to be the independent voices of the delivery plane.

Resolved –

(1)       That in response to the contents of Document “J”, a Hub Centre           model be explored for the purpose of establishing an environment             in which young people can feel safe and be able to access a   number of services in one place.

(2)       That, to prevent care leaver post 18 staying in adult focused       hostels, efforts be focused on increasing the crash pad facility to             include provision for post 18.

ACTION: Strategic Director, Children’s Services