Gateway Service Description

Pilot

The Home Office is providing funding for 3 pilot projects in the south west as part of the South West Accommodation Gateway (SWAG) project.  This is a national pilot project operating in the south west, featured in the National Reducing Re-offending Action Plan produced by NOMS (National Offender Management Service). The SWAG project seeks to reduce the homelessness of offenders and improve their housing options in order to reduce re-offending.  The SWAG pilot is funded until 31.3.08. and seeks to inform the development and commissioning of services nationally by NOMS.  These notes cover Plymouth ?s planned service: the Plymouth Gateway.

Purpose

The Plymouth Gateway Project is the link in Plymouth between the criminal justice system and the accommodation Pathway in the Reducing Re-offending Plan.   It is designed to reduce re-offending, to reduce the incidence of homelessness among offenders, increase the number of bedspaces accessible to them, and help sustain tenancies when gained.

Scope

All offenders in housing need will be referred to the Gateway Project at whatever point in the criminal justice system their housing need emerges. There will clearly be key points of intervention in the criminal justice system when the presenting need is more likely to emerge e.g. at court, in preparing a sentence plan, on entry into custody and at the point of discharge.   The Gateway service will be structured to pick up presenting needs at these points.  With all offenders in Plymouth entering through the Gateway, it will be possible to measure the extent of the problem more fully during the pilot period as the Gateway seeks to provide a wrap around  service.

Key Elements of Service

There are two key elements to the Gateway Service. The main key element is a range of housing support (or client) services to the homeless offender. Many interventions are already provided by either the statutory or voluntary sector, but at times it is necessary to broker access to these services to make them available or it may be that additional capacity is needed.   Some Gateway staff will specialise in delivering client services.   The primary purpose of these is to enable offenders to secure, sustain and maintain good quality housing with the necessary support appropriate to their needs.  To that end, central to such client work will be the development and coordination of housing support clients for each client.

The second key element is a range of services to support providers.   Work is sometimes necessary with landlords in both the voluntary, private and statutory sector to enable them to feel confident in making bedspaces accessible for offenders on a continuous basis, and it may also be necessary to secure the support of other professionals e.g. GPs, CPNs, to ensure that bedspaces remain available.  This can be through the provision of skill training or information.   The primary purpose of provider services is to enable offender managers have access to an increased range of bedspaces and support services in which to place homeless offenders.

On a strategic level, the Gateway will seek to inform the development of local housing, homelessness and Local Area Agreement (LAA) strategy in relation to offenders  accommodation needs. 

Plymouth Gateway Service Provider

The primary service provider will be Path. Path already provides an extensive range of housing related support services across the City funded by Supporting People and Plymouth City Council for the whole range of client groups.   It will therefore be possible for offenders to access these other services in a more seamless manner. 

Path already provides, for instance, an Advice and Assessment service (PAAS), jointly commissioned by SP, DCPA, CDRP and the DAAT, for offenders under statutory supervision and people who have a substance misuse problem.   This service has been recently reconfigured and strengthened to provide better customer focus, and Gateway staff will offer an additional capacity to this service by working directly in the custody suites, the courts and the local prisons.

All offender managers and offender supervisors in Plymouth will be trained and supported to (i) screen their caseload to identify housing needs through the OASys and other first stage assessment processes; (ii) offer brief intervention skills and knowledge to improve the quality of information contained in referrals; and (iii) provide effective rehearsal work within the offender management process that will support interventions from housing providers.

Where the Gateway identifies a statutory duty for the City Council to intervene, City Council staff will contribute to the advice and assessment process.

Single Point of Access

Where offender managers or staff working in prison resettlement teams identify a housing need through the screening process, the offender will be referred to client services staff in Path based at St. Catherine s House.  There will be a single phone number and email address.   However client service staff will also make themselves available via the custody suites, the courts and at Lawson House (the Approved Probation Premises), and referrals can be made to them at these service points. All referrals will be logged onto the system at St. Catherine s House or the Harwell Centre, where the main computer terminals for monitoring the work will be located.

Team

The Gateway team will consist of the following roles:

Gateway Manager; Senior Housing Support Worker; 2 x Housing Support Workers (1 full-time; 1 part-time); Administrator.  The Gateway Manager and f-t HSW will be based at the Harwell Centre (Path s base); other posts at St Catherine s House (Probation).

Path aims to recruit to all posts to start by 1 Sept 06 at the latest, although it is hoped that an early start date may be possible for at least some posts.  Secondments will potentially be welcomed, providing opportunities for individuals and organisations to develop and diversify skills, experience and links.  An added consideration with recruitment will be the need for a balanced team, with a range of skills and experiences.

Role of Gateway (summary)

Support to offenders:

Provider support / monitoring:

Additional capacity for:

Ie To add to provision of the above services, when needed and when provided for offenders.

ND/MT/13.6.06

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