Before you can assess whether there is currently enough housing and related support for drug users locally, you need to gain a picture of the current level and types of need from this group. There are usually several local data sources you can draw on. The coverage and value of these data sources for assessments of housing need amongst drug users, is set out below. All of the sources except the NDTMS system will include data for drug users who are not necessarily engaging in treatment services.
This dataset collects information about people accessing structured treatment services. It records the accommodation status at the time of entering the service, and can be updated later where changes occur. Unfortunately accommodation status data is not a mandatory data field and data can be missing from large proportions of returns. To fully understand what the data is indicating it is important to understand how treatment agencies are interpreting the different accommodation categories and, from this, what proportion of individuals need support to access of maintain their accommodation. NDTMS data can be analysed by the Drug Action Team. A copy of the NDTMS dataset can be found at http://www.nta.nhs.uk/areas/ndtms/core_data_set_page.aspx.
The DIR is used by Criminal Justice Intervention Teams (CJIT) based in all Drug Action Team areas, and all prisons in England and Wales, as a common assessment and monitoring tool. Its aim is to improve continuity of care across different case managers/treatment providers, minimise duplication of assessments, and provide information for research and monitoring purposes. The form includes questions about housing status and need, and action taken to respond to these. Data can be requested from the Drug Intervention Programme Manager. A copy of the DIR and more information on DIP can be found at http://www.drugs.gov.uk. Some stakeholders interviewed during the Clean Break study suggested that housing data collected by the DIR may not be fully accurate due to perceived incentives for clients to misrepresent the stability of their housing – for instance to increase the chances of securing bail.
Housing authorities are required to make quarterly returns (P1E) setting out details of households they have accepted as statutory homeless and on what grounds. These returns should enable authorities to identify the numbers accepted as homeless for whom drug misuse is a primary or secondary need. However as problematic drug use does not usually confer priority status for homelessness assistance, very few authorities appear to be recording this data systematically. The P1E data can be made available by the housing authority, found on the Communities and Local Government website or requested from Analytical.Services@communities.gsi.gov.uk. It is usually very difficult to get any data on problematic drug use amongst those who applied as but were not accepted as statutory homeless.
Providers of supported housing or floating/tenancy support services funded by the Supporting People programme complete a Client Record Form (CRF) for every new service user. This form records details of service user characteristics, including known problematic drug misuse. A copy of the CRF can be found at http://www.spclientrecord.org.uk. The data is most useful for identifying the characteristics of those already accessing services, where they lived before and the type of SP funded services they are accessing. However, as it only records information on those already accessing services, it does not provide any direct indication of unmet needs for supported housing or housing related support. The raw data can be requested from the local Supporting People manager (who receives updated spreadsheets every quarter).
Some providers keep information on the people referred to them for housing and/or support, from which the needs of drug users can be extracted. When interpreting this data it is important to bear in mind that drug users may be referred to the services that are available rather than the ones they really need. Unless the housing services are specifically for drug users there may also be a tendency for applicants to withhold information about their drug use because of fears that they may be excluded from the service for this reason.
The Probation OASys system collects data on those offenders who are i) subject to supervision by the probation service, or ii) prisoners serving a sentence of 12 months or more.
Completion of accommodation assessments has been variable in the past but new targets for the proportion of probation clients in settled accommodation should improve this in future.
This data should be supplemented using other information gathered during stakeholder interviews. A generic stakeholder interview schedule is available here. Additional questions for specific stakeholders are shown below.
The interviews with stakeholders and literature review carried out during the Clean Break study revealed some estimates of need that could be used in other areas in the absence of locally available data. For instance, the findings suggested that between 35% and 50% of single people accepted as homeless have a current or recent history of problematic drug use. The literature review also produced an estimate that between 50 and 80% of non-statutory single homeless people have a current or recent history of problematic substance misuse.
Using data from these sources to reach an objective assessment of the numbers of drug users who are in need in a year can be difficult. None of them is perfect for the task and some individuals are double counted on several data sources. You therefore need to piece together a picture of need using data from a range of sources. An example of how you can build up a picture of need using a variety of data sources is set out below.
Analysis of NDTMS data revealed that around 40 drug users engaging in treatment each year are of no fixed abode. Local treatment agencies have confirmed that this category is used for those service users who are rough sleeping or in very insecure housing such as a squat or sleeping on a friend’s sofas. 20 drug users are recorded as in ‘temporary housing’, 15 in hostels, and five in supported housing. Local treatment agencies have stated that those defined as being in ‘temporary housing’ are those who have been accepted as statutory homeless and placed in bed and breakfast or private sector leased properties by the local housing authority. The supported housing and hostels referred to are either temporary housing and/or outside the area.
All of those in these NDTMS categories can therefore be assumed to be in need of alternative housing. This amounts to around 80 drug users engaging in treatment each year, however given that details of accommodation status are missing for 20% of records, the figure could be much higher.
Statutory homelessness case workers estimate that they accept around five problematic drug users every month as homeless, but are not sure what further figure may be rejected. This equates to at least 60 drug users accepted as homeless, but it is not known how many of these are engaging in treatment.
The only local supported housing project that will accept drug users keeps records both of those referred to it and those accepted. It received 40 referrals of drug users over a year, but was only able to accept eight. All of these were linked into treatment either at the time of referral or afterwards. The council does not refer statutory homeless households to this project.
Taken together, and accounting for overlap of clients covered by different data sources, the available data and estimates from local stakeholders suggest that 80-100 drug users engaging in treatment each year require accommodation in authority X.
There are indications from council housing managers that around 10 drug users every year who are housed in independent accommodation lose their tenancy through eviction or abandonment. The numbers losing tenancies in the private rented sector are unknown.
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