Housing

Key reading:

Drugs and supported housing

UK. Home Office, 2007.
This document assesses how supported housing help people with drug problems?How does supported housing help people with drug problems.
Download: http://www.drugs.gov.uk/publication-search/communities/supportedhousing?view=Binary (WORD)

Causes of homelessness in ethnic minority communities

UK. Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Homelessness and Housing Support Directorate. ODPM, 2005.
This study found that problematic drug use was a factor for homelessness in some ethnic minority populations in the UK.
Download: Full report (PDF 119KB)

Drugs use and begging - a practice guide

Rose Davies and Sarah Waite. Home Office, 2005.
Many of those who beg and use drugs do not make full use of available support services. This guidance has been written to support the development of services that are successful in attracting, engaging and sustaining contact with drug users who beg as part of this wider strategy.
Download: Full report (PDF 1MB)

Drug services for homeless people: a good practice guide

Randall G., Britton J. DrugScope., Home Office, NTA, Department of Health.
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, 2002.

The handbook will help the DATs understand the nature of homelessness and drug misuse as they develop drug services at a local level. The new guidance highlights how existing mainstream services can be adapted to ensure homeless people can access them and explores the potential to develop specialist services for them. These services range from housing support and family mediation through to harm minimisation, detoxification and rehabilitation. Research has found that homelessness and drug misuse are often closely linked with around 75% of single homeless people misusing drugs. As the DATs develop their commissioning plans for the coming year, and local authorities develop homelessness strategies, it will be essential that there is local co-ordination between them to ensure
Web: http://www.drugs.gov.uk/publication-search/dip/drug-services-homeless-people.pd?version=1
Download: Full report (PDF 417KB)

Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, 2001.
Gives practical and realistic ways that local authorities and other key partners can prevent homelessness. This handbook does not give all the solutions to preventing homelessness but it does give some ideas for action and shows the effectiveness of joined-up working in a local area. It also follows the intentions of the Government’s Housing Policy Statement ‘The Way Forward for Housing’ 2 published in December 2000, which proposes to give local authorities new responsibilities with regard to the prevention of homelessness, as part of their wider housing strategies.
Download: Full report (PDF 346KB)

Homelessness and drugs: access to treatment

DrugScope. 2001.
Homelessness and Drugs: Access to drug treatment, is the second publication from DrugScope’s Homelessness and Drugs Unit. This document aims to provide homelessness agencies with guidance on ways to reduce drug related harm in their clients, enhancing close working relationships between drug services and homelessness agencies.
Download: Full report (PDF 121 KB)

Rough sleeping, substance use and service provision in London

Jane Fountain and Samantha Howes, National Addiction Centre, 2001.

This study addresses four topics: 1) the link between substance use and homelessness, 2) the uptake of services for both homeless people and substance users, 3) the service needs of problematic substance users who are also homeless, and 4) the issues surrounding service provision for substance-using homeless people. The study comprises two parts: a) interviews with homeless people using a structured questionnaire and covering basic demographics, income and expenditure, experiences of homelessness and substance use, and met and unmet service needs and b) in-depth themed interviews with service providers to gain an insight into what practitioners see as the key issues in the area of providing services to homeless drug users. Results are given in considerable detail with quotes from respondents. The report reflects on the effects of the Wintercomfort case on agencies' policies on drug use.
Download: Executive Summary (PDF 151KB)