Homelessness prevention by Aspire Oxford

Connecting people with support further ‘upstream’

The context

By the time some households present to housing options, it can be too late to prevent homelessness. When a crisis point is reached – be that with financial, relationship, landlord or neighbour problems – a situation can already be past the point of repair. There are many reasons people may not come forward promptly for help with housing problems: stigma, lack of awareness of what’s available or what they’re entitled to, complexity of systems, a feeling of overwhelm, poor previous experiences.

But those same people may already be interacting with other services, agencies or places (statutory, community or voluntary) who can act as local eyes and ears to spot early signs of homelessness. As one part of the Oxfordshire Trailblazer, Aspire Oxford’s community navigators aimed to embed themselves in places people already used, knew or were connected with, offering tailored support, advocacy, navigation and brokerage.

The intervention

Aspire employed three navigators and three ‘grow’ workers, some of whom had personal experience of homelessness. Early mapping showed a wide range of local services existed. But research with those who had been homeless found people lacked confidence approaching or using services, or didn’t know about them or how to access them. Key insights gleaned were that support should provide continuity (i.e. a single point of contact), involve people with experience of services in delivery, raise awareness of what is available, and work on alleviating low self-esteem.

Navigators had a dual role: direct support, focused on building individual resilience and confidence, and gap-filling, connecting and brokerage in respect of existing services. Aspire had autonomy in identifying which services to approach to find people at risk of future homelessness further ‘upstream’. They linked up with over 30 agencies, including Jobcentres (JCPs), community centres, Housing Associations (HAs), GPs, social work, community link workers, volunteer centres and third sector partners.

Navigators forged especially positive links with some agencies. Work coaches in JCPs adapted questions to include housing risk, referring people with housing problems earlier. In deprived rural areas with poor transport links, community centres can be the only local ‘Hub’. Volunteers, often inundated with requests, forged strong partnerships with navigators. HAs acknowledged some tenants didn’t engage with them: they recruited navigators to reach those tenants and sought feedback on improving their communication.

The outcome

Navigators received just under 450 referrals during Trailblazer. 97% were at risk of homelessness, with 56% further ‘upstream’ than two months. Homelessness was prevented for people supported in 58% of cases. Just 3% were known to become homeless (the rest had unknown outcomes).

Research by Aspire found 100% of people supported felt understood and respected by navigators. 86% felt they’d been connected to the right services to address their housing problems, and that their life had changed for the better. 93% said they’d gained skills and knowledge, whilst 62% thought they could handle future housing problems on their own. Aspire continued to fund the service for three more years, and three Oxfordshire local authorities have gone onto recruit navigator roles on account of this impact.

Key insights

navigators often acted as interpreters of housing-related correspondence full of jargon, technical terms and/or a judgemental tone. Such communication could cause upset and confusion, lower people’s motivation to respond and make them more inclined to hide from addressing problems
low levels of trust in ‘authorities’ meant good advice wasn’t always acted on; greater trust in navigators meant people were more likely to act on the same advice relayed by them
recruiting navigators with strong relational skills and with personal experience of systems reduced power dynamics and heightened trust and engagement

Find out more…

Jessica Rush, Manager, Community Navigator Homelessness Prevention Service
jessica@aspireoxford.co.uk