Good practice guides to housing-focused support

Housing-focused support refers to the range of activities and interventions undertaken by homelessness practitioners, that assist individuals and households experiencing or at risk of homelessness to gain and sustain housing. Housing-focused support is different from allied, mainstream or specialist health supports, which base eligibility on criteria other than homelessness, and are geared towards achieving  outcomes other than gaining and sustaining housing  (but which may, nevertheless, assist an individual to sustain a home).Housing-focused support is usually time limited. The guides to providing housing-focused support were developed by the Council to Homeless Persons (CHP) to assist workers in the Specialist Homelessness Sector (SHS) gain and maintain housing for consumers. They articulate good worker practice in providing housing-focused support to consumers and households, and were informed by a literature review, focus groups and consultations with consumers and advanced practitioners. The guides are designed for use by people working with consumers experiencing housing crisis and homelessness. The guides provide an overview of the core stages for workers involved with assisting consumers to gain and maintain housing. Five guides are available: • An overview of homelessness • Engagement and rapport building • The role of assessment in housing-focused support • Supporting consumers to access housing • Supporting resettlement and stabilisatio