Homelessness on the island-What are they DOING about it?

[finlo]

When I saw the article in the paper this morning I thought the chap in the picture was one of the homeless, then I twigged it was Peter Karran!

Edited June 30, 2023 by finlo

[Moghrey Mie]

On 3/12/2023 at 11:44 AM, Chris Thomas said:

You are right, and I believe we need homelessness defined and then responsibility allocated. I outlined an approach in February Tynwald as follows:

" I think personally there is a perfectly adequate definition (of homelessness in) in the social security capital budgeting emergency loans arrangements which were brought in inJuly 2022. So for instance, in that piece of secondary legislation in July 2022:

(1D) A person is homeless if he has no accommodation available for his occupation, in the Island or elsewhere, which he – (a) is entitled to occupy by virtue of an interest in it or by virtue of an order of a court; (b) has an express or implied licence to occupy; or (c) occupies as a residence by virtue of any enactment or rule of law giving him the right to remain in occupation or restricting the right of another person to recover possession.

(1E) A person is also homeless if he has accommodation but – (a) he cannot secure entry to it; or (b) it consists of a moveable structure, vehicle or vessel designed or adapted for human habitation and there is no place where he is entitled or permitted both to place it and to reside in it.

(1F) A person shall not be treated as having accommodation unless it is accommodation which it would be reasonable for him to continue to occupy.

So that definition that was already worked up for Mrs Maltby by legislative drafters will form the basis of drafting instructions for the whole of the forthcoming Housing and Communities Bill, as far as I am concerned, at this stage."

The DoI might need to be responsible, or it could be a Housing Association or similar. No local authority seems to want to take this responsibility.

When will we see the Housing And Communities Bill?

Edited July 3, 2023 by Moghrey Mie

[Omobono]

no need for anyone to be homeless ,  but sadly there are some in society if you do home them they wreck the place  and give the  neighbours  total hell  and the Police never away from the door ,

I even know some people who wont sleep in a house ,prefer to live rough , its a pity the health and social care minister and Lib Van member couldn't make it to the presentation , after all part of the solution actually lies in his and Manx Cares hands ,

[Moghrey Mie]

On 7/1/2023 at 8:56 PM, Omobono said:

no need for anyone to be homeless ,  but sadly there are some in society if you do home them they wreck the place  and give the  neighbours  total hell  and the Police never away from the door ,

I even know some people who wont sleep in a house ,prefer to live rough , its a pity the health and social care minister and Lib Van member couldn't make it to the presentation , after all part of the solution actually lies in his and Manx Cares hands ,

At one time they were talking about local hubs where people can obtain information about the 'system' but nothing seems to have happened in Douglas/ Onchan / Braddan area.

 

[La_Dolce_Vita]

The problem with applying for public housing is that someone could potentially still have to wait for a year or more even if they have proof of being homeless.  It all comes down to points and the possibility of discretion.

[Banker]

Don’t think it’s just a question of money it’s finding the staff to actually run & work in a homeless shelter, it’s extremely demanding, sometimes staff are physically & verbally abused etc & pay is not great 

[Roger Mexico]

2 hours ago, Banker said:

Don’t think it’s just a question of money it’s finding the staff to actually run & work in a homeless shelter, it’s extremely demanding, sometimes staff are physically & verbally abused etc & pay is not great 

That's true, but the real problem is that a homeless shelter is always going to be a 'one size fits all' solution and in a comparatively small place like the Isle of Man there aren't the numbers for whom it is a good fit.  For example such shelters can't accept women for overnight stays unless there's a female member of staff on duty and there may also be worries about mixing younger or very vulnerable clients with others. 

If you're having to make special arrangements for these, you might as well do so for everyone.  Charities and social services on the Island are pretty good at finding longer- (if not long-) term solutions, so individuals tends not to stay long at the shelter when it was open.  Those with no links here tend to get assisted off-Island fairly soon as they can't be helped via social security. 

As a result of all this the shelter was often empty on a lot of nights (there were figures in a Tynwald answer).  This also meant if was hard to get staff as no one wants to do a job that is stressful and boring.