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- Strategy and partnerships
- Being strategic
National Youth Homelessness Scheme
Being strategic
Local authorities and their statutory and third sector partners need to be strategic about preventing and tackling youth homelessness because:
- a multi-agency, multi-disciplinary approach is essential to engage young people and to address the needs which can impair their ability to move on to independent adult lives;
- the needs of young people are distinct from those of older people, but young people form a relatively small element of most partner agencies' work - a strategy is needed to draw together and animate people and resources and to give a profile to key objectives.
In this module we consider the ways in which Housing and Children's Services authorities have reviewed needs and adopted new strategies in conjunction with partner agencies and with young people, how they have organised themselves and a variety of funding streams to deliver their strategies and the lessons they have learned.
A number of key principles and learning points have emerged:
- Most strategies require a change in priorities, in (joint) working methods, in organisational cultures and inter-agency perceptions. Adopting positive management practices to change corporate and individual behaviours across all participating agencies has been important.
- Beneficial changes can be introduced without a formal strategic approach. However, most authorities agree that, for the reasons given above, the investment in a formal strategy has been worthwhile.
- Leadership and active participation of key influencers in the local government structure is essential to achieving objectives.
- Target milestones and outcomes for the strategy, linked to mainstream local authority strategic planning frameworks are essential to motivate influential leaders;
- Identified facilitators and project managers, with capacity to resolve problems and document partnership arrangements, act as an invaluable focus for effort and the process of change.
- Partnership working requires investment. Benefits in terms of outcomes for young people, and in terms of value for money, must be the focus of the strategy and constant touchstone.
