CIH Level 4 Enhancing Well-being Through Housing Support Services Report Answer

Introduction

Housing support services have a critical role in promoting the health, independence and well-being of vulnerable groups. Investment in housing support services is important for independence and social inclusion for people with low socioeconomic security and other vulnerabilities. Housing is a basic need for individuals to lead a good quality of life. Housing needs involve having a home that is comfortable, affordable, convenient and well-maintained (Miller, Brown & Mangan, 2016). This report will provide a review of housing support services and evaluate key requirements for successful partnership work within the organization. In addition, a plan will be provided for innovative services and involving service users in the design process.

Role of housing support on health and well-being

According to Rolfe et al. (2020), housing is an important determinant of health and it is a site for control, autonomy and socialization which influences health and well-being. The need for establishing housing support has been supported by UK legislation. The Housing (Scotland) Act 2010 supports that there is a Scottish Social Housing Charter that states that people living in communities that are inclusive, safe and resilient (Scottish Government, 2022). The regulation process of the Care Commission is guided by the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001. The Care Commission is involved in inspecting all the services and evaluating applications from people who provide housing support services (The Scottish Government, 2009). Hence, our services were aligned with the regulatory standards and processes.

 Housing is a critical factor for health and well-being. However, many sections of the population fail to get access to proper housing. These groups include those with low income, mental or physical health problems, elderly people, people with mobility issues and those who have left their homes due to conflict. Our service users include people above 75 years, people with learning disabilities, and those with addiction or mental health challenges. Our housing support services provide these types of clients with the option of getting decent accommodation solutions. Other services that we provide are increasing access to utility services such as gas and electricity, supporting people in gaining a settled accommodation, helping them with training and job opportunities and specialist support for people with diverse needs. For instance, for people with substance use issues, we focus on empowering clients to live independently and engage with the wider community to gain control over drug and alcohol misuse.

Key job roles and responsibilities in Housing Support Organization

There are many core purposes behind setting up housing support organizations in the UK. The goal or mission of our organization was to work with all people who need support in their life and provide tailored support that allows diverse groups to live independently in their homes. The organization provides temporary and permanent accommodation for vulnerable and homeless individuals. There are different job roles and responsibilities in our housing support organization. The Housing Support Officer or manager is involved in providing excellent customer-focused services to the client. They work closely with tenants and support agencies to address different tenants and property issues. They collaborate with different stakeholders in the internal departments and external organizations to support different housing schemes and maintain the tenancy of clients. They assist vulnerable tenants and refer them to relevant agencies. They are aware of the terms of tenancy at our organization and they focus on liaising with scheme staff to sign tenancy agreements. The manager deals with other issues such as the replacement or repair of communal furniture, responding to complaints, assisting tenants in completing transfer applications, responding to emergency calls and ensuring that the staff maintain a proper log book.

The managers are effectively delivering the goals of the organization as they are ensuring that all the housing schemes, processes and the environment are well-maintained. Their action fulfils the national care standard 2 of housing support which states that a written agreement should be there to set out the terms and conditions of housing service. Our staff are selected through a rigorous process which further ensures that they have the skills to meet the housing needs of the client. The managers are aware of all legal processes in case of any nuisance, harassment and domestic violence issues at the organization. However, one gap in their role compared to other organizations is that they are not involved in the inspection of the properties. As managers, they should be involved in this process too so that the standard 3 of good housing support is maintained (Scottish Government, 2009). The code of practice for housing support suggests that housing authorities should evaluate if the accommodation is suitable for an individual client or not (UK Government, 2020). Hence, managers at our organization need more training in this area.

Housing Support Workers (HSW) is another job role in our organization. Their core responsibilities are tenant support, cleaning and maintenance, safety and security and record keeping. HSWs play a role in giving all information on housing guidelines and engaging with the client to assist them in positive activities linked to cooking, cleaning and laundry. Apart from informational support, they guide tenants in the area of emotional, organizational and practical support too. In addition, they are involved in maintenance-related work such as maintaining hygiene and cleanliness, restocking supplies, preparing pods for move-in and reporting about any security and building maintenance issues. They are also involved in record keeping and documentation works such as document breaches of the agreement, completing intake and discharge procedures, maintaining inventory, recording observations and maintaining all paperwork. In brief, HSWs are expected to provide all forms of assistance to vulnerable clients in terms of housing, independence and promoting positive choices for them. The strength of the HSW role is that they are making our goals a reality. They skills can be effective in supporting vulnerable clients and fulfilling different rights of the client. This is aligned with care standard 5 to 8 which states that the housing support service staff should respect and promote the rights of the client. They understand the uniqueness of each client and provide all information on the choices available to them (UK Government, 2020).

Key requirements for successful partnership work

Housing support services are in demand as they have the scope to provide safe and affordable dwellings to vulnerable groups and support them with adequate skills for independent living. Despite recruiting different staff for the purpose, the housing sector is facing various challenges and they need a successful partnership work strategy to overcome them. One of the challenges is substantial financial pressure due to the rise in inflation. It can have an impact on overall operating costs and increase the cost of living pressures on the tenant (Regulator of Social Housing, 2022). Hence, planning ways to maintain financial viability is important. It will require taking a strategic approach, identifying priorities and making a trade-off. One opportunity for us is that the demand for new homes will remain high as economic development is still uncertain. Thus, we can consider ways to tightly manage risk including investment-related challenges.

Secondly, gaps in the skills of workers as per the standards are a concern. Many housing providers are using new IT tools and applications within their organizations. However, as IT technology is not integrated into all services, it results in extraordinary challenges for staff. The trend of flexible work practices and mobility is a concern too. Traditional communication techniques may fail and there is a need to empower staff with mobility tools to accelerate service delivery and decrease operational costs. Thus, this challenge will require finding relevant partners who can provide solutions for effective unified communications.

To deal with financial pressures, our organization needs to enter into partnerships with councillors and other funding organizations. Good finance is a requirement not only for good quality housing but also for promoting the safety of tenants. Our organization has the opportunity to partner with three sectors namely Shelter, Homeless Link and Housing Justice. These expert groups are offering grants to the voluntary and community sector (UK Government, 2022). Partnership with Homeless Link will be beneficial in getting funding support and developing a strong local strategic partnership to address local barriers. Homeless Link is a national membership charity organization and their goal is to make services better and end homelessness. It is a membership body for the homelessness sector in England and so the partnership with Homeless Link can help us to eliminate system blocks (Homeless Link, 2022). We need to build effective links into local advisory services for successful partnerships too.

In addition, collaboration and partnership with Shelter would help in getting specialist advice regarding ways to establish effective and innovative communication channels for staff. Furthermore, a partnership with Housing Justice may help to get solutions regarding best practices for establishing links with statutory services. We believe that Shelter is an important partner organization for us because its goal is similar to our organization. The Shelter offers personalised help with housing and they are a great source of legal help too (Shelter, 2022). Through this partnership, we can develop other innovative training solutions for our staff and train them to use effective technologies for an efficient communication process. In addition, we aim to establish with other established housing companies who have already made a name in the UK. One such organization is the Riverside, which is one of the major providers of affordable housing, care and support services in England and Scotland. It manages around 56, 000 homes and deals with 160 local authorities (Government Events, 2023). It would be a great achievement to collaborate with such an organization and learn newer ways to revitalize the neighbourhoods. To engage in a successful partnership, we will look for alignment of our mission and core values with that of Riverside. In addition, we will involve our top management and CEOs to build trust and effective strategic partnerships with the organization. We would make use of our core competency with their special insight to address current challenges. Riverside has acknowledged facing challenges in recruiting and retaining staff. Thus, their solution is relevant to our problems. As our staff makes our vision a reality, the purpose of the partnership is to gain innovative insights regarding managing workforce challenges. They can support us in getting grants from local authorities and once adequate funding is available, staff development opportunities can be easily implemented. Thus, by innovating our practices, we will be able to attract new talent as well as the client in the housing sector.

Successful partnership will depend on establishing good relationship between key leaders in local authorities and housing associations. Other aspects that will be considered for effective partnership are accountability, shared sense of purpose, joint problem solving and sharing resources. During structured meeting with the above organizations as well as other stakeholders (such as councillors, tenant representative, housing association members and staff), there is a need to commit to joint work. The provision of pooling and sharing resources will be done which will involve sharing technology, joint funding and market analysis. In case of long-term joint ventures, it is planned to engage proactively with authorities for shared risk and rewards The (Chartered Institute of Housing, 2017).

Summary of methods to set personal outcomes

The next step that will be important is to set personal outcomes and work according to those outcomes. There are different tools to set personal outcomes such as the Outcome Star. We are an organization that is focused on promoting health and well-being through housing support. The Outcome Star is a relevant tool designed to support positive change and well-being. The Outcome Star tool has been used in a variety of settings due to its focus on sustainable outcomes and offering a clear outcome framework. The tool helped to identify the need for collaborative work and engaging in integrated actions (Harris & Andrews, 2013). The information captured in the journey of change helped to identify flaws and areas of weakness. The tool is person-centred as holistic assessment was offered and it helped to identify areas of difficulty and strengths. It guided us in effective risk management as we could identify the need for investment, training staff to use new technology, need for offering innovative housing solutions and working on our infrastructure. All these process paved the way for effective risk management too.

We used the tool in some of our staff and it helped to identify impact on organizational learning. There were many staff who were unaware about latest technology in housing support services. This informed us regarding risk in present system. Secondly, the tool helped to identify lack of resource related barriers. It affected efficiency of work and affected performance of staff too. The information from the personal outcome tool has further guided me in identifying new service provision.

Role of service users in designing and delivering new services

The primary purpose behind the review was to identify areas of weakness and innovate in our practices to attract funding from local authorities. To engage in innovative practice and design new services, it is planned to involved service users in the process too. This step is important as it is a good practice that has been adopted by many successful organizations. For instance, Shelter is one of the renowned organizations that is committed to promoting innovative practice and it believes in involving users for innovation process. Some of the benefits suggested by the organization were cost-effectiveness of services, improvement in scheme management, better user communication process, increase in staffing and development of community spirits (Shelter, 2015). Another good practice involves using a welcome pack. It involves introductory information given to service users during first contact with a project. This can be done via various means such as a booklet, newsletter format and video. Service users should get information on their conditional rights, anti-oppressive policies and exclusion or eviction procedures. Such practice will empower service users.

. Hence, to involve service users in our organization, it is planned to engage them in meetings and feedback sessions. We also plan to keep suggestion boxes where users can drop their suggestions in a confidential manner. Their suggestions related to the qualities that they desire in housing workers will be taken and this will inform training and recruitment process.

Conclusion

To conclude, housing support services play a crucial role in managing health and well-being of the organization. The report discussed about the Housing (Scotland) Act 2019, the regulatory process of the Care Commission and other relevant standards that support housing support service. A discussion was provided regarding the jobs and responsibilities of managers and workers in our organization. The comparison of the job roles with other organization revealed they are not involved in the inspection of properties and this should be improved too. In addition, a discussion was provided on current challenges and important organizations with whom partnership is necessary. The primary reason behind partnership was to gain funding support, meet resource needs and facilitate implementation of new technologies. Lastly, based on the analysis of improvements, it was planned to

References

Government Events (2023). Discussing Workforce Challenges in the Housing Sector. Retrieved from: https://www.governmentevents.co.uk/workforce-challenges-in-the-housing-sector/

Harris, L., & Andrews, S. (2013). Implementing the Outcomes Star. https://www.outcomesstar.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Harris-Andrews-2013.pdf

Homeless Link (2022). Partnership working for better outcomes. Retrieved from: https://homeless.org.uk/team-training-courses/partnership-working-for-better-outcomes/

Miller, R., Brown, H., & Mangan, C. (2016). Integrated care in action: A practical guide for health, social care and housing support. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Regulator of Social Housing (2022). RSH identifies key risks facing social housing sector in 2022 and beyond. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/rsh-identifies-key-risks-facing-social-housing-sector-in-2022-and-beyond

Rolfe, S., Garnham, L., Godwin, J., Anderson, I., Seaman, P., & Donaldson, C. (2020). Housing as a social determinant of health and wellbeing: Developing an empirically-informed realist theoretical framework. BMC Public Health, 20(1), 1-19.

Scottish Government (2022). Scottish Social Housing Charter November 2022. Available at : https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-social-housing-charter-november-2022/pages/3/#:~:text=Housing%20(Scotland)%20Act%202010%2C,%22Scottish%20Social%20Housing%20Charter%22.

Shelter (2015). Heading Involving users in supported housing A good practice guide. Available at: https://assets.ctfassets.net/6sxvmndnpn0s/3g4tHxncX46ctcoyhyvh7G/ac34ba3d12e624c6d7784148d230bc62/Involving_users_in_supported_housing.pdf

Shelter (2023). What we do? Retrieved from: https://england.shelter.org.uk/what_we_do

The Chartered Institute of Housing (2017). A guide to better partnership working between local authorities and housing associations. Available at: https://thinkhouse.org.uk/site/assets/files/1732/altairbb.pdf

The Scottish Government (2009).National Care Standards Housing Support Services . Retrieved from: https://www.eildon.org.uk/library/64/care-support/1375/national-care-standards.pdf

UK Government (2020). Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities. Retrieved from: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5ef9d8613a6f4023cf12fc67/Current_Homelessness_Code_of_Guidance.pdf

UK Government (2022). Voluntary and Community Frontline Sector Grant. Retrieved from: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/voluntary-and-community-frontline-sector-grant

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