Rough Sleeper Outreach Service

Ealing Council, a West London Borough, is looking for provider to deliver an effective Rough Sleeping Outreach Service. We are a borough with a significantly high incidence of rough sleeping, currently the 6th highest total in London. We need a provider who can work with rough sleepers found bedded down in public places, on private land and in places like garages, stairwells, and vehicles. We need a provider who can rise to the challenge of helping a diverse rough sleeping population, of which up to two-thirds have no eligibility for public funds and amongst which many individuals have health and substance misuse issues. We do, however, benefit from the existence of key partners who work together, including through a well-established borough Homelessness Forum.

We need a provider which can operate an assertive outreach model, with a view to signalling clearly that rough sleeping is not acceptable and that engagement with sources of help is expected. The provider will also work with enforcement agencies, where the outreach offer is not effective and rough sleeping, with all its risks, persists. The contractor will be the main point of contact for rough sleepers in Ealing and will work with and forge strong working relationships with key local partners, in the statutory and voluntary sector. The provider will have primary responsibility for dealing with new rough sleeping reported via Streetlink but will work alongside initiatives like the GLA’s Rapid Response Team, while these continue.

Success will be measured by the sustained reduction of rough sleeping, in line with government targets and our local Rough Sleeping Strategy. The contract will set out that the provider is responsible for early intervention, a No Second Night Out approach, follow-up case work, minimising entrenched rough sleeping and achieving sustained accommodation outcomes and support for individuals. The provider will also have first refusal on hosting additional posts which might be created through government funding to assist in meeting the challenging target of eliminating rough sleeping by 2024.

We are looking for a provider with a proven track record in this field, who can demonstrate that they have a clear plan for achieving our targets and getting the best results for rough sleepers in challenging times, making the very best use of the resources and budgets available.