Working With The Homeless Social Work Essay

In the following sample essay on social work “Working with the homeless.” Read the introduction, body and conclusion of the essay, scroll down.

Using recent research discuss how recent attacks have sought to undertake the lodging and homelessness jobs and critically analyse, utilizing modern-day studies and policy proclamations, how the late elected Conservative and Liberal democrat alliance authorities may impact these attacks.

‘Nobody should be made homeless by controversial cuts to lodging benefitsa. I do n’t believe it will be necessary for anybody to travel without a place ‘ David Cameron, UK Prime Minister .

In 2008, due to assorted grounds, there was a terrible addition in defaults on sub premier mortgages in the U.S.A. This caused a deficit of financess available for loaning that meant loans became impossible to acquire. What we now call the banking crisis spread throughout the remainder of the universe and brought the universe to its articulatio genuss. The affect in the UK resulted in the trouble in obtaining mortgages ; house monetary values fell and the state entered what is considered the worst recession since the Great Depression of 1929.

In June 2010, elections were held in the UK and the Coalition Government ( Conservative and Liberal Democrats ) came into power with a shortage of ?155 billion – ‘one of the worst shortages as a per centum of GDP in the universe ‘  . The new Government decided on severe steps to cut down the state ‘s shortage and in October 2010, the alliance ‘s comprehensive disbursement reappraisal ( CSR ) was published. Equally shortly as the cuts were announced, several taking homelessness charities urged the Government to ‘rethink the cuts to the benefits budget ‘ as they feared the consequence it would hold on the vulnerable and declared that the CSR is ‘a catastrophe for the really people ; who are most deserving of the Governments support ‘  .

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This essay will endeavor to discourse the impact of the late elected alliance authorities on the homeless and those administrations that help and back up them.

Since the debut of the Homelessness Act ( 2002 ) , there has been a dramatic decrease in the figure of homelessness applications made to local councils in England. Likewise, the lessening seen in Wales has been since the debut of the Welsh Assembly Governments revised National Homelessness Strategy in 2005.

The impermanent adjustment provided to the homeless which are usually in ‘bed and breakfasts ‘ and inns have been reduced by the Government and since 2002 the preferable method has now been to utilize the private sector. In add-on, the 2006 Homelessness Order introduced a set of criterions for impermanent adjustment and whether the adjustment was suited to run into the demands of the person/s, nevertheless this has farther added to the addition in private sector leasing. ( Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2009, online ) .

Although the figure of homeless have reduced with the debut of policies, schemes and Acts, it has still been left largely to the 3rd sector, and the funders of the charities, to go on presenting front line services that support vulnerable people who find themselves trapped in the ‘revolving door of homelessness ‘ . There has besides been a dramatic betterment in the handiness of services that have ensured that the most vulnerable people in society are supported and which facilitate people in developing their accomplishments that will enable them to construct a better life for themselves. Agencies such as Shelter, Crisis and Sitra, and many other voluntary and community sector organsations around the UK have ensured that support has been available for people to assist them settle into lasting places, maintain their occupancy ; happen employment ; manage fundss and reconstruct their assurance. Assorted charities such as ‘Turnaround ‘ and ‘A Chance 2 Work ‘ have taken on the function of supplying preparation ; assisting people with procuring suited adjustment ; signposting them onto bureaus where they can farther develop their accomplishments and besides frequently supplying a Centre where people can run into, be active, and have a ‘sense of community ‘ ( Homeless Link, online, 2010 ) . Additionally Shelter support a figure of voluntary undertakings, ( such as ‘Fab Pad ‘ and ‘Starter Packs ‘ both in Scotland ) , which work with the homeless and besides supply ‘advice, information and protagonism to people in lodging demand ‘ and indefatigably run to stop homelessness ( Shelter, 2010 ) .

However the CSR has now influenced cardinal authorities support which in bend has affected local authorization ( LA ) support ; private sector lodging ; the lodging market reclamation and decreased support for registered societal landlords. Changes to lodging benefits, with caps on payments to be introduced, eligibility standards and proposed alterations to societal lodging term of office and loss of secure support for lodging plants all have changing deductions harmonizing to LA disbursement programs. These may include rent additions for societal renters ; reduced entree to LA equity release merchandises ; less suppport for traveling and increased force per unit area on twosomes and individual older people to travel out of household sized places across term of office. It is argued that these severe steps will probably coerce households from their places and metropoliss, into debt, onto the street and could do 1000s of people to be made homeless in the UK ( Cocks, Care and Repair, 2010 ) . The National Housing Federation ( NHF ) claim that decreases in payments for people claiming Jobseekers Allowance could go forth a big figure of the 4.7 million claiming lodging benefit with less disposable income to run into the cost of necesseties ( such as nutrient and public-service corporations ) which could take to a steep rise in evictions and up to 202,000 people losing their places, despite what the Prime Minister says . Although it sounds sensible that individual people under 35 on lodging benefit will non be able to acquire adjustment on their ain, it will be hard for people such as domestic force victims to portion houses with others. Natalie Peart ( 2010 ) points out in the November issue of the Pavement that it is a strong possibility that after the immense stairss which Glasgow City council has taken to better impermanent adjustment by traveling people from out-of-date inns into supported occupancies in existent places could all but disappear and the big homeless inns could return because of the cuts in benefits and allowances. In add-on, Murray ( Libdem, 2010 ) states that the complex agreements that have changed sing the principal of the computation of lodging benefits will go forth many people with less benefit to afford the rent in private sector places and will further ensue in many going homeless. He goes on to reason that ‘unless more low-cost places are built with the right substructure and integrated into bing communities, so many people will be left behind. The consequence of the current alliance authorities ‘s policies will intend more overcrowding, more wretchedness and more people kiping on our streets ‘ ( Libdemvoice, online, 2010 ) .

Although Shelter welcomes the Governments proclamation that the homelessness and Supporting Peoples ( SP ) grants have been left untasted, it is to be remembered that the SP budget was once pealing fenced, but lost its protection in 2009 and can still be raided by other council sections. They further argue that these grants merely meet the demands of the people who are in the worst state of affairss and does non assist the 1000000s of people who already face the on-going battle to happen and maintain a nice low-cost place, particularly with the rise in unemployment and autumn in disposable income ( Shelter, 2010 ) . Cirencester Housing for Young People have already lost their SP support and this raises the inquiry whether the charity will last ( Homeless Link, online, 2010 ) . Kent Council for illustration has admitted that it is trusting to do significant nest eggs when they re-tend the SP contracts and there are rumors that the figure of SP contracts will be dropped from 72 to 22 when the re-tendering procedure Begins ( Inside Housing, online, 2010 ) .

As LA ‘s have had their portion of grant support badly cut from cardinal authorities, funding grants usually given to the 3rd sector have been either significantly reduced or withdrawn. This in bend has caused redundancies or working hours being reduced in frontline staff and is impacting how charities are able to assist those that are either at hazard of being homeless or are stateless. The lodging charity Sitra advised that a figure of governments have already implemented terrible decreases to disbursement on lodging related support ( Sitra, online, 2010 ) and harmonizing to Mr Sinclair ( main executive of homelessness charity Broadway ) many charities are being asked by the LA ‘s to cut down the cost of the service by 10 – 15 % with a intimation that if they are unable to, the charity could be dropped from the contract and the service put out to tender. This would intend that smaller charities which are non in a stable fiscal place would hold to shut if they cut monetary values on bing contracts or lose out to cheaper commands.

The charity ‘Framework ‘ obviously states that the disbursement cuts will impact them greatly. They already have a immense waiting list and they are unable to, at present, do plenty for stateless people with farther support cuts. The loss of staff and the possible closing of the Centre will intend that local homeless people will hold nowhere to travel ( Framework, online, 2010 ) . Even local administrations such as the Citizens Advice Bureaux, Opening Doors, Warrington Community Law Centre and Age Concern Mid Mersey are already covering with an tremendous work load, which has meant working beyond their capacity and, since the CSR, has seen a immense addition in the figure of people through their doors. Without the administrations that provide advice, information, security and support for people to travel into their ain place, enable them to populate independently and guarantee that they do non go homeless once more, many people that 3rd sector bureaus presently support will stop up back on the street.

Harmonizing to the Conservative Blueprint for Undertaking Homelessness ( 2008 ) , the Conservative Party was committed to undertaking homelessness in society and ‘understand that in order to decently turn to this issue we must travel beyond covering with it strictly as a job of lodging and alternatively accept the multi-faceted nature of homelessness ‘ . As portion of the solution, all relevant Whitehall sections including Housing, Work and Pensions, Health and Justice and Defence would be turn toing the issue of homelessness. Similarly the Broad Democrats ‘housing and homelessness ‘ pronunciamento included ‘providing much needed aid to those who are fighting at the borders of society ‘ by making 1000s of occupations and supplying much needed low-cost lodging to do a existent difference to those who do non hold shelter. The pronunciamento stated that protecting and assisting vulnerable people would stay at the top of their docket ( Broad Democrats, online, 2008 ) . However one time the CSR was announced, it became clear that the rough budget cuts might non guarantee that homelessness remains a precedence on the docket when, for illustration, the disposal budget for most sections was to be slashed by 33 -35 % ( HM Treasury, 2010 ) . Campbell Robb, main executive of the lodging and homeless charity Shelter argues that “ a sequence of authoritiess has failed to turn to our lodging crisis and today ‘s proclamations suggest the alliance has steadfastly joined them in denying duty for an full coevals ‘s ability to entree decent, secure, low-cost lodging ” . He continued to state that it was a immense blow to see that lodging which was one of the most basic demands for every individual individual in the UK was confronting some of the biggest cuts in the CSR ( Daily Mirror, 21/10/10 ) .

The significant lessening in support for lodging will go forth 100s of 1000s of people on the waiting lists for a nice place. New council house renters will hold to pay well more with rents lifting to 80 % of the market rate and with merely 150,000 new places being built over the following four old ages, warnings that the figure of stateless people will lift hold been repeated by taking charities ( Daily Mirror, 21/10/10 ) . Although the authorities has committed to constructing 150,000 low-cost places, this is about a cut of 30 % from current degrees. The mark set by the authorities of 3 million new places by 2020 is improbable to be met as it means 240,000 places should be built every twelvemonth – something that has non been achieved since the early 1990 ‘s and is non on the current docket ( Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2009 ) . Mr Robb ( NCH, 2010 ) criticised Mr Osborne ‘s opinion on lodging, adding that “ the proposed figure of up to 150,000 low-cost places over four old ages represents less than a 3rd of what this state desperately requires to convey the lodging system from its articulatio genuss. ” However constructing new places will non work out the homelessness crisis or even stop the ceaseless lodging demand in Britain – it is far more complex than that. We are still confronting an addition in birth and divorce rates, addition in length of service, people traveling in and out of ‘institutions ‘ ( such as prisons, infirmaries, psychiatric arrangements and immature people go forthing attention ) , increased Numberss of refugees and refuge searchers and in-migration from states within and outside of the European Union all continue to be lending factors to homelessness.

Angela Kail ( 2010, online ) discussed the impact of the CSR and the 7 % cuts to LA ‘s on charities working in the community sector and argued that the ‘cuts will spell the terminal for local community charities ‘ . Many charities will confront closing or cutbacks and will hold to curtail the type, and degree, of services that they can offer ; the figure of people that they can assist and back up, and causes service suppliers to be unable to do long-run programs. Robert McGeachy ( NCH ) argued in 2006 that ‘ the 3rd sector are progressively supplying more intensive support over a longer period when demands are non being met elsewhere, nevertheless services being provided will go limited due to miss of support ‘ and this is more of a world in today ‘s economic clime ( NCH, on-line 2006 ) . The demand for voluntary sector services will doubtless increase greatly, merely as budgets are cut or affected by new support governments and the homelessness sector will hold to believe about how it can supply more support to vulnerable people with less. However, a study has shown that 63 % of community and voluntary sector administrations plan to cut staff Numberss over the following three months which will do this proposal even more of a challenge ( CVS, online, 15/10/10 ) . Additionally services that are thought to be ‘nice-to-have ‘ such as those that develop community development, those that work towards battling fiscal exclusion and societal isolation and those that are similar to others that are being delivered by other homeless services suppliers will non last. Partnership and collaborative working between administrations is now more needful than of all time and it may be the lone manner some charities are able to last to go on back uping vulnerable people.

The support cuts are likely to do extremist alterations and charities will hold to confront shriveling in size or unifying with larger charities that are financially more unafraid otherwise they will merely neglect one time they have run out of options. Cathy Pharoah ( 3/11/10 ) argues that this will be the clip when many 3rd sector administrations will necessitate aid with these alterations such as covering with the practicalities of undertaking or closings, redundancies and service reconfiguration. However with the closing of the Regional Development Agencies, and the decreases in Cabinet Office support for substructure organic structures, this aid will non probably be available and the extremist alterations will be even more distressing for some. Jeremy Swain ( main executive of Thames Reach ) suggests that the most of import inquiry of all is ‘will stateless people besides end up paying a rough monetary value? ‘ ( Inside Housing, online, 2010 )

No affair who pays the monetary value, it is argued that the budget cuts were necessary in order to cut down the state ‘s public shortage. Grant Shapps ( Minister for Housing and Local Government ) says that by non doing the difficult determinations in order to cut down the shortage, mortgage rates would lift still higher and do houses less low-cost. The involvement refunds on ?1 trillion of debt would take money off from frontline services, cut down future investing and finally stultify the UK. With the loss of about half a million public-sector occupations – some say closer to 750,000 ( Sunday Times, 2010 ) , it is possibly fortunate that the alliance Government decided to protect the Homelessness grant by puting ?400 million, and that the decreases to the SP programme has been minimised, with ?6.5bn investing secured over the following four old ages. The Government is cognizant that low-cost lodging for those who can non afford to run into their ain lodging demands remains indispensable and a more flexible system of low-cost lodging will be adopted to run into the different demands of people. Simply put, given the immense force per unit areas on public fundss and the economic fortunes that we face, methods to do limited public investing travel farther demand to be found. Despite the fiscal restraints, the Government will still be puting about ?6.5 billion of the taxpayer ‘s money into lodging, with ?4.5 billion to fund new low-cost places. They besides intend to supply ?200m so that the Mortgage Rescue strategy can remain unfastened to back up vulnerable householders threatened with repossession and a farther ?100m to convey empty places back in usage ( Shapps, 2010 ) . However will this be adequate to cut down the figure of people who are already stateless, those at hazard of going homeless in the hereafter whilst still work towards eliminating homelessness?

Since the CSR was announced, everyone interviewed by the BBC seems to be in favor of the budget cuts every bit long as it does non impact him or her. The rough world is that for the following few old ages, everyone will be affected in one-way or another and it is non the first clip that something has happened, such as the election of a new authorities ( albeit it be a alliance ) that will impact attacks and policies in topographic point with respects to undertaking the lodging and homelessness jobs that Britain has faced over the last 20 old ages. The CSR will decidedly hold an inauspicious affect on the full state and harmonizing to the homelessness charities, more so on those that are vulnerable, homeless or at hazard of going homeless. Charities that work with and for older people, kids, carers, young person wrongdoers, ex-service work forces and adult females, those with mental wellness issues merely to call a few are all stating the same and contending for their ain corner – naming on the Government to rethink the disbursement reappraisal as the cuts will be impacting their most vulnerable service users. Which are the few that need to be sacrificed to maintain the state from crumpling? We may non be ready for the disbursement cuts and revenue enhancement additions, but we now have no pick and something demands to be done to acquire the state off from the threshold of bankruptcy.