Members Resources
Casework Toolkit

Moving On and Casework

The Winter Night Shelter Network in the UK has developed over time to become more than a place for hospitality (food, bed, companionship).

There are a number of reasons for this:

• Increasing professionalism of the shelters including many with paid staff and becoming larger organisations with facilities such as day centres;
• A desire from the volunteers/staff to see guests off the streets, accessing services and moving on with their lives;
• Support from National and Local Government partly because of the Homeless Reduction Act and commitment to end Rough Sleeping by 2027.

 

As a result, there are now a large number of shelters delivering case work and support for moving on.

Move On Toolkit

We have put together a toolkit, with guidance and template forms, to help with your move on referrals, assessment and support plans. You can download the resource below.

How Services Support People to Move On

This report from Homeless Link may give you insight into some of the resources and options available, you can download it below.

Glossary of Terms

This document has a comprehensive list of all the terms used when referring to models and move on strategies that you may find useful. Download it below.

Support Plan Examples

We have made available some examples of support plans, covering an Initial Assessment, Ongoing Work and a Personal Shelter Plan.

Skills

The following resources may help you develop the skills required in your shelter to undertake this work:

• Strength Based Practice – A resource from a training workshop delivered in 2019.
• Reflective Practice – A technique used to support staff and volunteers and prevent burnout.
• Responding to Inertia – This is an interesting article written by someone who had severe depression. One of the questions raised in several Workshops was what you do if a guest is completely unmotivated? This article explores this concept of “motivation” (or lack of!) and is really thought-provoking.
• WEMWBS, A Framework for Assessing Well-Being – This website provides the means for us and guests to measure their mental well-being, using a short questionnaire method that is well researched and recognised. In so much of our work with homeless people we are required to identify and measure outputs, and in Shelters these often focus on move-on. Yet the strength-based practice approach comes with an assumption that if you can build someone’s sense of worth and strengths, the other outcomes in their life are likely to follow more easily and more sustainably. This tool enables us to measure well-being as a tangible and valid output in its own right, and therefore show clear and measurable positive outcomes of our work, even when move-on is not yet achieved.
• Active Listening – A technique used by mental health professionals and support services (including the Samaritans) to put aside problem solving, judgements and advice for a time, and focus first on making sure a guest feels heard and understood. It helps to generate a trusting relationship much quicker, that then underpin all further work.

Rent Deposit Scheme

This is for Shelter projects awarded funding under the Equipping Shelters Programme (London only).

The EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS)

We have put together a pack of information to help you understand the EUSS and support your guests through it. You may also want to look into the Immigration Advice Project (London only).

Useful Information & Resources

We have compiled a collection of useful information and resources below.