Our HRA Implementation Project came to a formal and belated end a few weeks ago, with a virtual event to mark the occasion. It was a chance to reflect with the five local authorities we’ve been working in close partnership with since April 2018. It was also a chance to look ahead and discuss plans for a practice network of local authorities to support our next phase of work.

Reflecting on the HRA journey

It was great to see everyone again, if only virtually, and get a sense of what the partnership has meant to the five local authorities involved. The event gave participants the opportunity to reflect on the project and provided some great feedback about what they valued, including: 

• The need and importance of culture change, particularly the focus on the need to develop strategies around psychologically informed environments and trauma informed care 
• Reflective practice and peer support provided through our regular quarterly days  
• Help developing a practical understanding of the new legislation 
• Critical friend support when navigating this new territory 
• Frontline officers being involved in development and discussions with the other local authorities, not just managers 
• An external perspective on their service, particularly through our service review methodologies 
• The emphasis placed on customer needs and the ‘user-centred’ approach we adopt in all our work 

Transitioning to a practice network 

All the partnership LAs want to continue working with us and recognise there is still a way to go on their respective service journeys. As the formal partnership ends, we want to broaden this offer to other local authorities and develop a regionally diverse practice network of around 15-20 authorities to benefit from and inform the next phase of our work. 

Frontline staff participation will be encouraged and peer to peer learning will be a continued focus, with the potential to explore common practice challenges and opportunities with groups of LAs.  We want to make the network as useful as possible, whilst managing the time burden and keeping the tasks relevant and ambitious.  As with all our work, the network will evolve over time using our iterative approach and all learning will continue to be openly available to others on our project website. Watch this space for more information as it develops.  

Our thanks  

At Crisis we are very lucky to be able to partner with passionate people working on the frontline.  We value their insight, willingness to share and dedication to improving outcomes for homeless people every day, often under huge financial and legislative pressure.  Our vision for a new network strives to bring together like-minded authorities who share our ambition and resolve to end homelessness, not just manage it. 

If you would like to get involved, we are always looking for collaboration opportunities so please get in touch. You can sign up for regular updates on our work at the bottom of our project page.