To find it all so incredibly confusing? (Housing)

[UndertheCedartree]

I'm helping a friend and just looking for any advice.

She is a 22 yo woman who was made homeless after being in a mother and baby foster placement. Her son was moved to a foster placement in his own right and she was made instantly homeless. She has been sofa surfing for the last 5 months but has now run out of options. She has no family support. She suffers from anxiety, depression, panic attacks and suicidal ideation. She was removed from her mum and put in foster care as a child. She has been through a lot of trauma in her life.

We spoke to the leaving care team who said they couldn't help as she is over 21 (despite their web page saying 25.) We were told to go to a certain homeless charity. When we got there they told us they didn't have the capacity to see her. When we left a man outside sexually harassed us and gave her a panic attack. They told us to go to the council.

At the council they told us to use the phones to phone the housing team. She had previously done a homeless application. They told her she wasn't a priority as she wasn't vulnerable. I went to reception and begged them to help her. I'm concerned that being on the streets would be very dangerous for her and she would likely complete suicide. So the housing team came down to see us. They said the only option was the rent and deposit scheme and gave her a form to fill in. They could do nothing else and said we should go to another homeless charity.

There they said she shouldn't do the rent and deposit scheme as the only properties available would be unsuitable especially considering she has a child. They want her to come back tomorrow to see a psychotherapist to hopefully get her accepted by the council as vulnerable. We then went to the job centre as she had an appointment and the advisor there said she should go down the leaving care route as she would be band A for bidding.

Literally, everyone says something different! Any advice most welcome.

@HangerLaneGyratorySystem a mother and baby foster placement is ultimately for the benefit of the child, it isn't there to provide housing for mum. If a decision is made that the child won't remain in mums care then the placement is withdrawn and the child is cared for separate to mum.

It's really sad but having worked in women's homeless hostels, losing care of children was a really common cause of homelessness for women.

The only scope this young person is likely to have for being housed is if she qualifies for duty as a care leaver for homeless accommodation/priority housing. If not, it's a postcode lottery as to whether there are any charities that have accommodation in her area, or it's finding a houseshare in a private rental which will accept housing benefit/LHA which is a nightmare.

OP if you are in the South East I am wondering if you have already been to Depaul but here's the number anyway, they have mother and baby accommodation but I am not sure which areas it covers - in any case they are open now here's the number 020 7278 4224, www.depaul.org.uk

From your description it sounds like you might have already been to somewhere similar; not all charities are the same and some are about as much use as a local authority but places like Depaul were set up to avoid people falling through all the supposed safety nets, like your friend has.

I note on here people seem to be keen to establish that the young woman was at fault somehow and that's why her child was "removed", but can't offer practical advice. The OP's friend is among the most vulnerable in society, she should have support. Anyway, moving on, I mentioned Rights of Women earlier, might be worth a call today rightsofwomen.org.uk

I've always found Shelter very good you can use their chatline or call: england.shelter.org.uk/get_help

The Mix helpline is open 4 till 11pm today, I've not used them but heard they are recommended.

Let us know how you get on.

Try Coram Voice (google for their number) they are very good at supporting care leavers and ensuring that local authorities provide their young people with support.

Due to her mental health

She won't get him back while she is homeless. It's a vicious circle.

I completely agree. I've been on the verge of tears when every door is slammed in her face and she's told to just live on the streets.

That's what we said. They expect her to just sleep on the streets.

We've been told she can either go the homeless route or the care leavers route. Care leavers route needs to go through care leavers team. Is that not right?

She grew up in care and is classed as a care leaver. She was in care at 17 and beyond. In private she would get the higher amount of money as a care leaver but this would still mean a house share. There are supported accomodation places, one we are told she is unlikely to get into as she has been there before and the other unlikely because of her age (although we have also been told she could get a place there by other people).

No, the advice to not privately rent was due to the awful state of the accomodation provided by the one landlord who will work with the rent and deposit scheme. This was separate to the issue of needing somewhere her child could come (eventually).

While she's not expecting to get any extra bedroom or anything she does need somewhere safe that he can come to, even not straight away. I don't think barriers should be put in place to stop a child coming home where possible.

I'm fully aware they leave vulnerable young women to sleep on the street - that's what they've done with her.

The charity we went to today are going to assess her mental health and believe she will be made a priority due to that. It won't be a quick process, unfortunately, but it's all we've got right now 😟

It's been made quite clear she is a care leaver all along.

Yes, she is. Thank you for that. We'll get onto the solicitor.

I look that up, thank you.

In short baby was developmentally delayed. They blamed mum. It now appears it wasn't her. But her mental health is shot from the intense stress from children's services and past trauma. She needed support and she wasn't given it.

What I find so shortsighted is that mum being homeless, mum's mental health getting worse this all has a knock on effect on her son. It's really not in his best interests for his mum to be on the streets.

Thank you so much. This is so helpful.

Yes, I think that is where we went and I do have a good feeling about them.

And I agree she really is incredibly vulnerable and it would be so risky for her on the streets.

Thank you, I'll look at that

https://england.shelter.org.uk/professionalresources/legal/homelessnesssapplications/priorityneeddinhomelesssapplications/priorityneeddofvulnerableepeopleanddpeoplelivinggwiththem#title-0

Councils have a habit of often not doing what they are meant to do, I have found many cases where DV victims are turned away despite that being a thing councils aren't meant to do. I found that giving them the facts on a print out was the only way to get them to pay any attention (and a lot of persistence!) and shelter have loads of helpful resources as a starting point.

Maybe speak to shelter as well though? And see if there are any young peoples hostels in the area, which sometimes have their own assessment criteria, somewhere like the YMCA might be a good starting point if you don't know of any locally.

Good luck and I hope she finds somewhere soon. I'm sorry sounds like she's had a rough start in life but everyone deserves a roof over their head and a chance at a better life. Hopefully even if the council doesn't come through there is somebody who can

www.gov.uk/guidance/homelessness-code-of-guidance-for-local-authorities/chapter-8-priority-need

Chapter 18, under (g)

(g) a person aged 21 or more who is vulnerable as a result of having been looked after, accommodated or fostered (except a person who is a ‘relevant student’) (see paragraphs 8.29–8.32);

Thank you so much. We've been given different advice around the YMCA so not clear if that is an option or not. I'll have a look at shelter, thank you so much.

Does she have a GP and is she diagnosed with any health problems or Mh problems? It sounds like she probably will have a level of ptsd or c-ptsd and that is another vulnerability again.

She has had a very rough start in life. But she is a wonderful young woman with so much to give, if she has the chance.

Another homeless charity you could try is Emmaus.

She is diagnosed with anxiety and depression. She has panic attacks and severe suicidal ideation. I would expect PTSD and there is a family history of Bipolar too. The last time she tried to kill herself she told noone and it was only by chance she was saved. I'm terrified she will complete suicide soon. I've tried getting the GP to refer to the first response team, but we never hear anything. She has been under the Crisis team many times but nothing comes of it. She has been on a waiting list for therapy for at least a year.

Thank you

I’ve worked in this field a long time now and the single best thing your friend can do is to instruct a solicitor urgently.

She really needs somebody who knows the relevant law in detail, and who understands how to hold the local authority to account and how to properly scrutinise their decision making.

She needs somebody who has the confidence and ability to continue fighting for the best outcome for her, or, at the very least, who is properly qualified to advise if she really doesn’t have a chance of getting meaningful help.

If you go to this link, put in your postcode and then tick the ‘housing’ box. It’ll come up with a list of solicitors’ offices (or housing charities who employ solicitors) who undertake such work for free via legal aid.

find-legal-advice.justice.gov.uk

Good luck.

Thank you so much