Tackling the Issue of Urban Homelessness Through Partnership Working

Executive Summary

This report sets out to explore how issues causing homelessness can be tackled through partnership working. Partner working places emphasis on identifying the root causes of homelessness so that relevant responses can be developed in order to better address the problem at hand. The role of the partners, in partnership working, is to work with individuals or organisations and to help them develop suitable approaches to tackling issues of homelessness. The effectiveness of partnership working including co-production is discussed in this report in order to demonstrate the way it can be established as well as used in tackling the issue. Further, with whom the partnership is to be formed and the reason behind they are chosen as partners is also explored in this report. Lastly, the best practices required in building and management of professional partnership are discussed so as to consider how the issue of homelessness can be tackled most effectively.

Introduction

Inequality mainly occurs in society when resources are not evenly distributed which occurs as a result of typical social norms where people of the lower-class are unable to have adequate resources for their basic need whereas the people of the upper-class explore surplus of resources (Farrugia et al. 2016). One of the tragic consequences of inequality in society is homelessness. Homelessness is a term used to refer to individuals who “do not have a home” and it is important to stress that this is not exclusive to individuals sleeping on the streets (Shelter 2018). Homelessness is also used to describe a number of other living arrangements such as: sofa surfing, squatting, staying in hostels or sleeping in shelters; to name but a few alternative examples (england.shelter.org.uk, 2019). In this report, the way inequalities influence homelessness is discussed along with the partnership approaches to be taken for tackling the issue of urban homelessness is also explained.

Overview of the issue of homelessness

Homelessness is referred to the circumstance when the individuals do not have a permanent dwelling place like an apartment or house. The Crisis which is a UK homelessness charity argues that the home is not only physical space but also offers identity, security, roots, a sense of belonging and consequently acts as supportive place for the emotional well-being of the individuals (www.crisis.org.uk, 2018). Thus, homelessness causes both social and emotional issues. Urban homelessness has been raised as result of influence of different inequalities in the society. As mentioned by Browne-Yung et al. (2016), urban homelessness is caused due to the inappropriate decision by the government to accept the real estate speculation that the home is a commodity rather than a human right. The decision has arguably led to the unfair distribution of land and property among individuals which is made evident by people with power and money having the ability to buy and manage multiple properties despite having enough living space for themselves. However, people with less power and wealth are unable to arrange the resources required to obtain permanent living spaces.

Economic inequality can also be regarded as a potential reason for homelessness in urban areas. In urban areas, as a result of homes being regarded as a commodity, houses are highly priced rendering them unattainable to people with a low economic status (Tonkiss 2017). In contrast, people who have a higher economic status are able to purchase such properties providing them with the opportunity to have a permanent place to live (Tonkiss 2017).Income inequality may therefore act as a reason behind homelessness in urban areas among individuals as people with lower income are unable to manage proper finances after meeting their basic needs to be spent on buying or availing homes to live. However, individuals with higher incomes in society are more likely to have stable economic conditions and so their finances can be used to buy homes to avoid homelessness issues (Moreno-Monroy, 2018).

The social inequality that exists in relation to people's health in society is also a potential reason for urban homelessness. This is because it offers unequal opportunity to people who are ill to have the ability and power to live in permanent places (Mabhala et al. 2016). As asserted by Stovall et al. (2016), mentally-ill people are often thought as a burden by their families. This is because the mentally-ill individuals have various requirements along with specific demands that are hard for the families to meet for supporting the patients. Thus, the hardship being unable to meet by the leads the families, friends and society leads them to withdraw their support for the individuals. Since some mentally-ill people lack the capacity to sustain employment and income finances they are unable to have adequate resources to arrange their permanent living spaces (Guan et al. 2015). This lack of resources and power to manage permanent homes may lead mentally-ill people to face homelessness in urban areas in comparison to people who do not suffer with mental health issues. It is evident as more than 300,000 people in the UK are reported to lose jobs (www.huffingtonpost.co.uk, 2017). Moreover, 80% of the homeless people in England are informed to be suffering from mental-health issues with 45% have been medically diagnosed with mental health problems (www.mentalhealth.org.uk, 2018). Thus, this indicates that mental health problem and homeless are directly related with one another.

The unequal treatment of women in society also leads to urban homeless for women. This is because the unequal treatment leads women to be though as a lower part of the society where the men dominate over them. It results in creating incidences of domestic violence where the women are forced by their partners or husband to live outside homes (McMaster et al. 2017). Women who face homelessness as a result of unequal treatment leading to violence towards them are often found to be unemployed or lack economic stability to manage their permanent living conditions. Thus, the lack of economic and social support for the women in the urban areas who are not economically self-sufficient women facing homelessness.

Role of partnership working to tackle the issue of homelessness

Partnership working plays an effective role in tackling issues of homelessness. As asserted by Liptrot et al. (2018), people working individually in the field of social work often find hindrances and barriers that they are unable to resolve. This acts to prevent them from reaching the goal of ensuring better outcomes for the service users. As argued by Aykanian (2018), effective partnership working in social work helps professionals to develop knowledge from their partners regarding the way to tackle issues related to any social problem. This is because in partnership working the information and skills of the partners are shared through communication. This helps individuals in partnership working to be able to resolve their weaknesses in accomplishing the tasks by accessing help from the partners. In the case of tackling issues related to urban homelessness, the involvement of partnership working plays the role to help the individuals understand the way different aspects of inequality are to be managed in a better way from their partners regarding which they were not previously knowledgeable. The partnership working plays the role of improving efficiency and productivity at work. This is because partnership helps to share workload as well as reduces pressure on the individuals to assist them to complete the task within set deadline (Caldwell et al. 2018). This role of partnership will help social workers feel less pressure and be more productive in effectively tackling the inequality factors that are contributing to the issue of urban homelessness.

The partnership working in social work plays the role of avoiding as well as creating fewer mistakes at work. This is because the partners through sharing of their skills and knowledge with one another help each other to resolve their personal issues and weakness that may lead to mistake (Goode et al. 2018). In this respect, partnership working is going to play to role of creating fewer barriers due to improper management of factors that are contributing to the issues of urban homelessness. Moreover, it would play the role of offering better scope to the social workers regarding formation of better strategies in tackling the inequality factors that are contributing to the cause. The partnership working in social work also plays the role of sharing responsibility for tackling issues that are contributing to the development and deterioration of the social problem (Gardner and Emory, 2018). This is because each partner in social work is responsible for meeting the goals as per their expertise to remain in partnership. Thus, the contribution of partnership working in tackling the issue of homelessness eases the way of tackling each inequality factors for the cause by sharing responsibility among one another without feeling burden.

The partnership working in social work plays the role in helping the social workers who are partners to take the best strategic decision in tackling a social issue (Siemiatycki, 2017). This is because increased number of partners means an increased number of potential ideas from which the best strategic idea can be picked to resolve the raised social issue. Thus, this role of shared decision-making helps in developing and using best strategic way of tackling urban homelessness. Partnership working also plays the role of creating synergy among individuals or social workers who are involved in tackling social problems (Narendorf et al. 2016). This is because the mutual sharing of goals and encouragement created due to cooperation results the partners to develop greater sense of accomplishment in executing the duties. In case of tackling issues of urban homelessness, this synergy formation as a result of partnership is going to make the social workers develop greater zeal to work with better efficiency in managing the problem. They would feel motivated to use their expertise to the maximum levelin more effectively tackling the inequalities to avoid the problem of urban homelessness.

Effectiveness of partnership working including co-production to tackle the issue of homelessness

The issue of urban homelessness which is caused by many different inequalities present in society is to be addressed through partnership working including co-production in social work field. There are five key principles that are required to be abided by for executing partnership working with delivery of co-production. As mentioned by Patel et al. (2015), co-production in partnership can be achieved by creating value for all the participants and building their strength. This is because it is to be understood that each of the partners has something to contribute which others cannot. This act of co-productive partnership in tackling issues of urban homelessness is going to create collaborative attitude of the partners to perform at their best in tackling the problem as they would feel engaged with the cause. As commented by Song (2016), partnership working including co-production requires development of proper support network where not only the peers but also the individuals involved in the network are included. This is because it would help to create broader scope in resolving any raised issues in tackling the social problem. It is evident as with partnership co-production the social workers and others who are partners is not only going to get help from peers but also from community to avoid any mistake in tackling the issue of urban homelessness.

In partnership working including co-production, relationships between partners are to be built on the basis of mutual trust and shared power (Czischke, 2018). This is because proper relationship helps partners to depend on each other without feeling they are cheated or neglected of any required power. It is going to help social workers who have developed partnership with service users, organisation or others to make them rely on them for successfully collaborating for long-term to tackle the issue of urban homelessness with efficiency. The application of the partnership working including co-production is mainly implemented to achieve reduction in urban homelessness. Moreover, it is done to lower the influence of the inequality factors present in the society that are responsible for urban homelessness so that the overall living conditions of all individuals in society irrespective of any discrimination can be achieved. In order to determine, whether or not the act has helped to achieve the goal of tackling homelessness before and after evaluation a survey of the homeless condition is to be done in the urban regions of the UK. This is because the reduction of homelessness condition after the application of partnership working would mean that the strategy has been effective to allocate homes and better living condition to individuals.

In the partnership, the service users, non-profitable social organisations, community members and experienced social workers are to be included. The service users are the homeless people who are actually facing the issue and trying to cope with the situation (Durose and Richardson, 2015). The partnership is to be formed with them so that they can inform about the care strategies from their perspectives to be implemented so that the issue of homelessness can be effective tackled to lower the influence. Moreover, formation of partnership with the service users who are homeless people would help the social workers to understand which nature of inequality has greater influence in raising the homelessness problem. This is because they are the real sufferer who has practically faced the situation and thus have better scope in informing the way the inequality factors in contributing in creating this social problem.

The non-profitable organisations are to be included in partnership as they have expert ideas and ability to develop effective strategic decision in tackling the issue of homelessness (Powell and Crisp, 2017). Thus, involving them in the process will lead to implication of productive ideas that are essential to tackle the problem in reducing the influence of the issue in society. Moreover, the non-profitable organisation helps to contribute financial help that is required to acquire the resources need for tackling urban homelessness. The partnership with experienced social workers and community members are required in social work as they offer help in the form of workforce and resources needed to tackle any social problem (Shand, 2018). In this case, the community members of the society on partnership formation may help to reduce the influence of inequality in the society that is contributing to the homelessness issue. This would eventually assist to reduce homelessness as the people who could not avail permanent living spaces due to unequal condition in the society would be able to avail permanent homes. Experienced social workers would also be involved in the partnership so as to share their knowledge, expertise and experience regarding the most effective and efficient ways to tackle the issue of urban homelessness.

Identify best practice in the development and management of professional partnerships to tackle the issue of homelessness

The issue of urban homelessness can be effectively resolved by social services through partnership working. However, there are various practices required to be implemented in order to manage and develop effective partnerships to resolve any social problems. As mentioned by Dimmock (2016), individuals involved in professional partnership are to be frank regarding the goals to be achieved. This is because without understanding of the goals to be achieved based on which the partners require to work they would not be unable to determine the tactical way of executing their task to reach the mentioned priorities. Thus, the social workers working in partnership need to be frank about the goals to be reached in determined time for tackling the issues of urban homelessness. This is because it would help them to have clear ideas regarding the way they are work so that the issues influence homelessness can be resolved. As argued by Baldwin (2016), avoiding being frank in the sharing of goals often leads partners to remain in delusion regarding the way they are to work to achieve the priorities. Thus, such an act among partners who are involved in tackling issues of urban homelessness would make them fail to resolve the condition.

Partners in social work require being clear about their role and responsibilities to develop and manage effective professional partnership for tackling the issues of homelessness. This is one of the best practice for professional partnership development and management as clear division of roles and responsibilities makes the partners function properly without being confused regarding which of them are to perform which role (Harris and White, 2018). Therefore, the clear definition of roles among the individuals working in partnership in relation to tackle urban homelessness would be able to make them execute each of their roles needed for the purpose in a proper manner. One of the best practices to develop and manage professional partnership in the field of social work is delegation. The delegations among the partners are to be done in such a way so that the responsibilities offered to them are done as per their expertise (Regan et al. 2016). This is because such delegation would lead the partners to work to their best by using innovative skills and knowledge as per their ability. Thus, in forming professional partnership to tackle urban homelessness issues the power to resolve the causes related to the issues are to delegate as per the expertise of the partners so that they can work to their best with ease to reach the goals.

In order to form effective professional partnership, the partners are to be included in each phase of the project life cycle. This is required to make the partners included in the project and avoid misunderstanding that they are avoided of vital information and processes required to be known by them in meeting the goals of the project (Webb, 2016). In case of tackling urban homelessness issue, the partners are to be included in each phase of the project so that they are well-informed regarding the progress which has been made and decision taken in respect to manage the issue. It would also lead the partners in this project to understand the changes to be made by them in their working aspect so that the issue of homelessness is effectively tackled with less hindrance and delay. As commented by Field et al. (2016), the best practice for successful development and management of professional partnership is that the final decisions are taken in consultation and in a transparent way on any project. This is because it makes the professional partners included in the project and feels their need for participation. It is required in case of tackling urban homelessness issues; as it would lead the partners put their expertise to help in talking best decisions to tackle the causes that result the issues.

The presence of good internal communication and coordination is one of the best practices required to develop and manage professional partnership in social work. This is because clear communication makes the partners remain knowledgeable about what others are performing and to which extent (Aimers and Walker, 2016). It is required so that the partners can understand which partners need what nature of help so that they can build an effective professional partnership to reach the determined goal. The professional partners involved in tackling issues of urban homelessness through effective internal communication would be able to understand which of them require what nature of assistance so that the goal can be effectively achieved to reduce homelessness. As asserted by Fouché (2015), many partners are seen to have rich knowledge and expertise on various fields that are required for the context of effective operation on which they are working. In this case, effective internal communication and coordination help to create better delegation of duties and responsibilities need for managing effective professional partnership in tackling the issue of homelessness. In order to develop and manage effective professional partnership, the individuals, as well as partners, require trusting each other. This is because without trust a fruitful relation can be developed (Dimmock, 2016).Thus, the partners involved in tackling the issue of homelessness require contributing towards forming effective interpersonal relationship to manage professional partnership.

Conclusion

The above discussion informs that the issue of urban homelessness has been raised as a result of unequal sharing of wealth, property, power, social status and others. The issue is to be tackled by forming partnership working in which co-production is to be included. This is because the partnership working with co-production helps to develop better strategies in tackling the issues or urban homelessness in potential way. Partnership working plays the role of creating trust, collaboration, sharing responsibilities and others in tackling the social issue of homelessness. In order to develop and manage professional partnerships to tackle urban homelessness, clear roles are to be set, partners are to be consulted in making decision, develop good communication and interpersonal skills, delegate power as per expertise and others.

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