On-Boarding

In October 2021, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities announced a further £66 million to support rough sleepers with drug and alcohol issues. 

At present, there are over 60 councils which have been awarded a Rough Sleeper Drug and Alcohol Treatment Grant to offer specialist support to rough sleepers and those at risk of becoming homeless – each with their own local needs and challenges.

The difficulties faced by those rough sleeping in urban areas such as London or Liverpool, for example, are quite different from those in more rural areas of Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire. Similarly commissioners have seized this opportunity to further develop and tailor their local services to offer integrated pathways to better support their client’s recovery.

The Drug and Alcohol Treatment Grant is entering its second year and we are already seeing the positive impact this initiative has had. Across the communities served by the original 43 councils awarded the grant, we have seen improved pathways into structured drug and alcohol treatment for rough sleepers, including counselling, detox and rehab services. 

As we move into Phase II of the initiative, the picture nationally is one of continued development and innovation to support:

  • Rough sleepers into safe and warm accommodation as we move into the winter months
  • Local authorities as they aim to recruit specialist staff for the various roles required to support this vulnerable cohort
  • Commissioners of service providers who have been working hard to offer a collaborative, multi-agency approach to tackle the challenge of homelessness across their local areas

So that ILLY can support these activities and initiatives, we have developed and configured LINKS CarePath to meet these needs, with the key objective being the ability to share client information across different organisations and teams ensuring that the clients remain at the centre of their work.

To enable this, we have developed the Rough Sleeping On-Boarding process which enables the Local Authority to have confidence in the process, as well as check that the visibility and clarity are there from the very beginning.

How to find out more:

Our teams are dedicated to support the Local authorities and their commissioned providers.

  • Presently OHID have developed and submitted monitoring Excel Spreadsheets which will enable Local Authorities to submit their returns in line with the RS Grant funding
  • As part of the On-boarding process, we will electronically migrate the row-level client data into the RS system. Once you have approved the transfer in the test environment, we do a similar process in the LIVE production environment as well as train your key staff (including commissioners)
  • We will support and guide you if you get stuck or need help

Next Steps

If you have any questions or would like to find out more, please get in touch with our Client Services team and we’ll be happy to help:

0204 566 5727      rs@illycorp.com

Considerations

Before councils opt-in to the Rough Sleepers initiative, it is important that they know:

  • What help is available and how they can access support
  • What are the requirements for on-boarding?
  • The data ownership and governance processes
  • How workers will be trained to use the Rough Sleepers system

Rolling out

To support OHID, Local Authorities and Commissioners of RS Services, ILLY have agreed the following:

  • Deliver a Phased Roll-out of the system so that we can quickly engage and on-board local councils. This will ensure that the training is scheduled appropriately through a managed process
  • Respond quickly to any council queries that may arise
  • Develop a comprehensive tracking system that will enable the on-boarding process to be managed and reported directly to the Implementation Team
  • Help schedule training and demonstrations when required to support the teams