National Youth Homelessness Scheme

Different methodologies for delivery

The starting point for work in schools is to know what you want to achieve, set some aims and frame the planning of sessions around those aims.

The variety of approach and feedback on what works well is shown in the case studies listed below.  Most of the work described has evolved over time, often based on feedback from young people.

Peer education and mentoring is a feature of some delivery and has proved to be a powerful method of making real to young people the impact of homelessness.

There are other examples of creative ways of working that really do engage young people, capture their imaginations and as a result, get the key messages across very effectively.

There is a not a single way to deliver schools based work, but some of the shared, underpinning features which support successful practical delivery of this work are:

  • The organisation delivering the session needs to have local credibility, in terms of work with young people.
  • Make sure the people delivering the session are well informed and up to date with homelessness issues locally, the systems, the services and provision. Young people can spot a fake miles off!
  • Challenge the myths and stereotypes about who homeless people are and what homelessness actually is
  • Look at the causes of homelessness for young people and how young people might be able to avoid homelessness
  • Give information about the reality of being homelessness
  • Make clear the different challenges of living alone
  • Balance the sessions between giving out clear information and participatory exercises
  • Break into small groups for some of the time
  • Have the class teacher in the sessions as well, so they understand what the session is about and also can pick up on any issues that may arise for individual pupils, including child protection and other risk issues
  • Offer a follow up service for individual young people who may be at risk of homelessness, or at minimum, offer to help signpost/refer young people on to other providers of family mediation or housing advice services. 

Some organisations are starting to run Training the Trainer courses for PHSE teachers. This builds some capacity in schools to cover the issues of youth homelessness and is arguably a way of reaching more young people though mainstreaming and may reduce costs.

However, many organisations believe that the most effective delivery agent is an external agency, working with schools, because they have the credibility, expertise and deep understanding of homelessness issues. An external agency will also monitor the impact of the work in reducing homelessness more closely.

It may be that a mix and match approach could work, with both teaching staff and external agencies working together to cover youth homelessness and the wide variety of related issues that arise.

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