Social Class and Homelessness.

A recent report suggests that the middle class are the emerging group of homeless.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/recession/8732209/More-middle-class-families-will-become-homeless-due-to-recession.html
But at what point do we record these distinctions? Is alcoholism and drug addiction class distinctive or do the middle classes just hide it well? Are we to assume that middle class people all have savings, mortgages or family to help them out in their time of need, I know plenty of people who would consider themselves middle class but have none of these. If we are to assume a definition of middle class then is it someone with a good education, in a professional job and a home owner? 
Do we need to put aside these useless definitions and make people realise that homelessness can happen to anyone, as we don't know what the future holds and how we will cope with it. Can any one of us ever say we will never be homeless? Maybe, we need to do more to open peoples eyes and make them realise that mental health, physical health, addictions, bereavement, self harm, domestic violence, abuse, unemployment are common factors that can contribute to someone being homeless regardless of their class.

Working with those that continue to refuse accomodation, even during the coldest weather.

Now that winter is definatley here, cold weather provision services have been set up to ensure that everyone can access emergency accommodation.

Every year rough sleepers die on the streets, but when the weather gets very cold, many agencies set up emergency accommodation. Some cities have churches which open thier doors for the winter, such as the Church circuit in London. Many other cities work with homeless organisations to provide temporary accomodation in hostels and B&B's. Click here link for more information.

 

But there are still those that refuse all offers of accommodation despite the dropping temperatures. These are quite often people with mental health issues, who are considered unwell, but not seriously enough to be sectioned for their own welfare.

 

What can we do to ensure these clients are as safe as possible if they insist they will not leave the streets?

Are we able to solve the problem of the 'revolving door' of homelessness?

Several years ago homeless organisations acknowledged the issue of ‘the revolving door of homelessness’. Through much hard work and cooperation with other agencies specific situations were identified, which were believed to be the contributory factors of the ‘revolving door’.The main body of these factors seem to be  multiply linked to the criminal justice system, mental health issues, substance misuse, and homelessness.

In 2007 St. Mungo’s and Revolving Doors Agency (RDA) went into partnership and piloted a scheme in Islington, so as to identify ways of improving support and link work between agencies, “to prevent people from spiralling into a cycle of crisis, crime and mental health problems". Click here for link.  It seems that this scheme showed some very positive results.

Now in October 2010, the Government are looking for further ways to tackle this issue, and have identified the issue of rehousing ex-offenders upon release. Click here for link.

While I understand that the lack of access to accommodation can be a contributory factor to re-offending rates, I don’t see how we can be specifically identify private sector accommodation as the solution to this issue. There is already pressure on the agencies to find appropriate accommodation options for homeless clients, within a limited stock of housing resources.

Can we be doing more to improve links between agencies and for service users or is the ‘System’ partly responsible for this ‘revolving door' of homelessness? What are the solutions?

Mental Health Services and Chaotic Rough Sleepers

Chaotic and entrenched rough sleepers can be hard to track down by even the most experienced of outreach and front line workers. Can we really say they that their needs are being fully met? Are mental and physical health services willing to go a step further or do we have to wait for them to become so unwell they 'become a danger to themselves or others'?