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.

Another one saying shelter are the way to go 🥰 one thing you can do when the local authority say she is non priority, is to ask for a review of that decision, and for interim accommodation be provided during this review.

She should ask her doctor for a letter detailing her diagnosis.

She should also ask to be referred to vulnerable adults and ask for an MDT with her child's care team, housing and vulnerable adults.

All of the above buys you time to get the necessary documents and teams together.

Basically you both need to make polite noise and a lot of it. When they try to send you away, say no. Sit yourselves down in the council office and refuse to move until she is made an offer of emergency interim accommodation.

You don't necessarily need a solicitor, the council should have a complaints system and potentially the issue could be escalated to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman which is free to complain to and they can potently decide if the council should act differently

OP sorry if it sounded like I was quibbling about her being a care leaver; I was only saying it because the term is often used incorrectly ie people using it to refer to anyone who has been in care and not necessarily those who actually have the status. Eg the distinctions been eligible/relevant/former relevant/qualifying and the differing rights. I'm sure you already know this but it's really important that housing have written proof of their care leaver status. You should be able to find out from your local council what their care leaving offer is; they should have a publicly available policy about how they support care leavers (local offer) and information in their housing allocation/homeless policy as well.

I'm not aware of needing to go through the care leaver team to try and get accommodation though - the CL team can provide written confirmation of status and that information is usually just added to a housing application or homeless application. Obviously if she sees a MH specialist their evidence would be added to, and both/either of these should result in them reassessing the decision.

My comments about how the council can and will leave people with nowhere to go were directed at posters telling you if you try and force their hand they will have to do something - the safety net that people assume 'must be there' just isn't, and it's frustrating that people think that maybe you'd just not been stern enough. Lots of people will say 'they can't just leave people with nowhere to go, if they're really homeless'. If that were the case, we wouldn't have a homelessness problem in the country, it would all be solved! That's exactly why charities exist to try and fill in the gaps but it is a postcode lottery as to whether they can help.

As others have mentioned, Shelter are brilliant at speeding up councils to fulfill any duties, and the solicitor involved in care proceedings would typically be happy to send a short email to the LA to remind them of their duties (because her housing situation impacts on the care proceedings, ie her stability and how this will affect the childs right to a relationship with mum) Both of these options will usually get results and save you being passed from pillar to post. Council legal dept will tell the housing dept to act quickly if a legal duty has been missed. Shelter are tenacious with councils and will do the leg work for you, in terms of knowing what to ask for, what to quote, who to chase.
Some of the seemingly contradictory info you referred to in your first post is what would apply for most young people, but it's not taking into account her more specific circumstances.

You sound like you're doing a fantastic job of advocating for her and I'm glad she's got you. Our systems too often let down the most vulnerable, and too few people realise that until they're in that position themselves, eg if homeless through divorce or suddenly made redundant. Until then they assume the safety net is there and fit for purpose. I really hope she gets some support from housing soon.

Btw this is what shelter/solicitor would quote on her behalf, but (assuming you're in England or Wales) this is the relevant statutory guidance - 22.19 to 22.24 are particularly relevant

www.gov.uk/guidance/homelessness-code-of-guidance-for-local-authorities/chapter-22-care-leavers

I think you've got a long list of possibles to work through now OP, but can I recommend you look at this one: z2k.org/advice-support/

They give legal advice on housing, can advocate and provide general housing support - the more I think about it the more I think I should have recommended them in the first place. BTW all my suggestions are charities in the south east and London that I have worked for, or with, but some time ago, so although I still think they have great reputations for going the extra mile for people, that was 10+ years ago and things may have changed.