Plans to create rehousing welcome centres

Date: 27th October 2020
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Scottish Government has published its updated action plan Ending Homelessness Together. It includes plans for rapid rehousing welcome centres which will help people facing homelessness into more suitable accommodation as quickly as possible and ideally within 24 hours.

The planned centres will provide emergency accommodation, targeted support for wellbeing, health and social care issues, legal rights, employment and welfare.

The updated action plan builds upon the original action plan published in 2018. It indicates where progress has been made against the 2018 recommendations. This includes:

  • Child wellbeing assessments: Scottish Government reports that work to ensure these assessments are undertaken where children are homeless is underway. Together emphasises that these assessments must be rights-based.
  • Shared needs of mothers and children: Scottish Government reports that work to ensure the homelessness system responds more appropriately to the shared needs of mothers and children is underway.

The plan also includes measures aiming to:

  • Minimise the risk of evictions
  • Develop and implement human rights-based accommodation pathways for women and children with no recourse to public funds who are experiencing domestic abuse
  • Give people with lived experience of homelessness or rough sleeping a greater say in the development of policy
  • Explore alternative routes to reducing migrant homelessness.

Adequate and safe housing forms part of Article 27 in the UNCRC, as adequate standard of living can help to support children and young people to meet their physical and social needs and support their development.

Read more about the plan here.