New toolkit helps councils to tackle veteran homelessness

A new free toolkit offering guidance on how to eliminate veteran homelessness is now available to local authorities and housing providers.

The No Homeless Veterans toolkit has been designed as part of a collaboration between the Sir Oswald Stoll Foundation (Stoll), Homeless Link and the National Housing Federation.

One thing it contains is a self-audit to help local authorities and housing providers to assess how well they are aiding veterans and if they are meeting their housing needs.

There is also detailed information on requirements, guidance on how to improve, and examples of best practice and innovation, with copies tailored to England, Scotland and Wales.

Richard Gammage, CEO of Stoll, said: ‘We know that those supporting homeless veterans are working hard to identify them, but that not all have a sufficiently robust system in place.  We can now help with that. It’s vital that veterans have a safe place to live to help them rebuild their lives. That’s why we’re supporting local authorities, housing associations and supported housing providers with the tools and information they need to drive down veterans’ homelessness.’

While most Armed Forces veterans manage to settle back down into normal life following their time in the military, around 300-400 veterans a year end up homeless.

At any one time, around 4,000 require urgent support to find accommodation, even with the Armed Forces Covenant in place, which is a duty of care that’s supposed to support people who leave the army.

Many end up sleeping rough, sofa surfing, or living in hostels and while help to find affordable housing is available, people often miss out as they don’t identify themselves as veterans.

 The toolkit will assist those on the frontline to identify and support veterans and has been produced with all housing staff in mind, including strategic officers within local authorities, homelessness and housing options teams and housing association staff.

Homeless Link is also offering free online training for all housing staff in local authorities, housing associations and supported housing providers to develop their skills around veterans. It will teach attendants what questions to ask and how to link veterans with the best services to their needs.

Rick Henderson, CEO of Homeless Link, said: ‘We want to ensure that veterans who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness are identified and steered to the support they’re entitled to as quickly as possible. This free toolkit will give staff all the information they need to be compliant with statutory guidance and go above and beyond to support veterans’ housing needs.’

Photo by ales_kartal