Birmingham Rough Sleeper Outreach Services
No one should have to sleep on the streets of Birmingham and Birmingham City Council is determined to prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place; and supporting those who are homeless to build a more positive future in good health, with sustainable accommodation and long-standing employment.
All Birmingham citizens can access housing advice to prevent homelessness and get support at a time of housing crisis. It is always best to seek support as soon as possible to prevent a homelessness crisis. This table sets out the specialist services provided by, or commissioned by, Birmingham City Council, to prevent and relieve homelessness.
Unfortunately, some people will find themselves on the street, and Birmingham City Council is striving to meet the needs of rough sleepers through a wide range of commissioned outreach services, and by working in partnership with local organisations to ensure access to safe and secure accommodation.
Birmingham City Council’s Rough Sleeper Outreach Team (RSOT) provide a street-based 24-hour outreach service that helps people sleeping rough to access accommodation. The service is operated by Trident Reach and commissioned by Birmingham City Council.
If you are concerned about someone over the age of 18 that you have seen sleeping rough in England or Wales, you can send an alert via www.streetlink.org.uk
This will send an automatic alert to the RSOT who will respond by going out to the area identified and help support the individual. This leaflet provides further details of this service.
It is important to note that if you think the person you are concerned about is under 18, please do not contact StreetLink but instead call the police.
In addition to the Rough Sleeper Outreach Team (RSOT), BCC also commissions an integrated outreach team operating across the city targeting the most complex of clients facing multiple disadvantage. This service is funded by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) through their Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI) scheme.
The primary objective of RSI services is to:
- Prevention – Activities to stop people sleeping rough for the first time
- Intervention – Support for those currently sleeping rough to move off the streets
- Recovery – Support for those who have slept rough to ensure they do not return to the streets
- Systems Support – Systems and structures to embed change and monitor progress
BVSC through a DLUHC-funded RSI Project Manager are responsible for coordinating all RSI services and integrating them with Birmingham’s commissioned and non-commissioned rough sleeper and homeless services across public, private, community, voluntary and faith sectors.
Some of the RSI funded Outreach Rough Sleeper Services include:
Adult Navigators – who provide engagement outreach workers with lived experience who carry small caseload to help the most entrenched high need rough sleepers into services and accommodation. Workers focus on gradually and informally building relationships of trust with individuals who have been historically long disengaged from support services, with several pre-existing exclusions and refusals from support service users and accommodation providers.
St Basil’s – who provide a bespoke outreach service for young people aged 16-24 rough sleeping or at risk of sleeping rough, engage and return home or access support services and accommodation. Working closely with RSOT, contact is initiated via street outreach as well as self-referral with the navigator aiming to contact the rough sleeper within 24 hours and carry out risk and needs assessment to support the young person to return home or secure alternative suitable accommodation and access relevant services.
Change Grow Live (CGL) – who provide a mobile clinical prescriber and 2 health assistants to deliver a rapid prescribing service on the streets, in hostels and working closely with other services. They work with complex clients as part the multi-agency homeless team operating across the city. The clients being supported until settled in more stable move-on accommodation.
The Homeless Health Exchange (HEX) – is a primary care service for homeless people in the Birmingham area provided by Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust. They offer a full general practice service to those who are homeless or vulnerably housed aged 16 and over and not pregnant. A HEX nurse is funded by (and part of) the RSI outreach team, she supports rough sleepers to access appropriate health support with on-street support and linkage to primary care.
