Data Coordinator Alison Abbott is the person who crunches the numbers for the pilot talks about what the numbers are saying in her blog post.
As the newest member of the team, I’ve been blown away by the work the pilot – and its amazing team – has done.
My career has been varied - IT Project Manager following returning to University as a mature student, Customer Service, PA & Office Admin and Training / NVQ assessment at a local football club.
Although I hadn’t worked in housing before, I had heard of the Housing First model but hadn’t realised that there were pilot schemes in England until I found the vacancy advert.
When reading about the schemes in Denmark and Canada, I thought that the idea of helping a person into a tenancy whilst providing the support needed was really obvious and was surprised that this hadn’t been tried before. I firmly believe that having a stable home is key, and any other support can put in around that.
My day-to-day work involves creating the monthly reports for the delivery partners, GMCA and MHCLG, and any additional reports required by any of the team.
As I don’t have a background in housing or homelessness support, this has been a steep learning curve and I have learned an immense amount from everyone in the Central team, as well as the team leads and zone leads in each zone.
As well as the regular monthly reporting, my first major piece of work was the end of Year 2 report.
Gathering the data for the first two years of the pilot, I was able to see everything from the demographics to the outcomes but most of all the increase into a person’s wellbeing since they have been on the pilot using the Wellbeing scores are based on Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale.
The scale uses seven positively-worded statements which can be answered with five response categories, ranging from ‘none of the time’ to ‘all of the time’. The total scores give a measure of a person’s wellbeing and as these assessments are repeated on a three-monthly basis, differences over time can be seen.
We don’t like to dwell too much on numbers, we prefer to talk about people, but the statistics say loud and clear that the model works, and the GM pilot – along with our sister pilots in the Liverpool City Region and the West Midlands and the work being done is vital.
We hope that the decision makers see the work that is being done and the way it has changed people’s lives for the better.
Together, we are making a difference.