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FINAL EVALUATION OF THE ROUGH SLEEPERS INITIATIVE

APPENDIX TWO: TOPIC GUIDE FOR THE TELEPHONE AND FACE TO FACE INTERVIEWS WITH NATIONAL LEVEL AND LOCAL AUTHORITY RESPONDENTS

Final evaluation of the Rough Sleepers Initiative

Topic guide for telephone interviews

Explain study. Ask if the respondent has any further questions about the study. Tell respondent that interview will be recorded and confirm that they are in agreement with this. Inform respondent that their answers are in confidence and will not be used in any form that will identify them as an individual. However, the content of their interview will be referred to and they may be quoted, in an anonymous form, within the report of the research.

1 Role

What is their role within their local authority (or other organisation)?

How long have they had this role?

What does their role in relation to rough sleeping entail?

• If work in relation to people sleeping rough is a part of their role, what proportion of their time do they devote to it? How would that work on a weekly basis, how many hours would they devote to work related to rough sleeping in their area?

If role in relation to people sleeping rough is restricted, ask if there is an individual who works more directly in this field and whether it would be possible to interview them . Terminate interview.

2 RSI services

We are aware of the following services supported by RSI funds in their area (list and briefly describe known services).

Are there any other services supported (in whole or in part) by RSI money in their area, if so what are they?

• housing advice and information (including preventative)
• access or rent deposit schemes (including preventative)
• street work/outreach services (including preventative)
• direct access accommodation (nightshelters, hostels or other supported housing)
• move-on or transitional accommodation (including preventative)
• tenancy sustainment services (including preventative)
• resettlement services
• day centre or night centres
• drug and/or alcohol services
• mental health services
• medium and long stay supported housing
• vertically integrated services (e.g. outreach plus direct access plus resettlement)
• prison discharge services
• anything else? What?

Has the pattern of RSI funded services changed over time? How has it changed?

Which services are supported by other sources of money as well as RSI funding, like the Supporting People budget, Social Work or NHS funding? How significant are the RSI funds as compared with these other sources?

What about services that work with former, current or potential rough sleepers but are not RSI funded? Are there any of those?

3 Perceptions of rough sleeping

How would they describe the population using RSI funded services in their area?

• What proportion are sleeping rough at the time they present to services?
• What proportion have some history of rough sleeping?
• What proportion have no particular experience of rough sleeping?
• How geographically mobile are they? How many come from other areas? (Where?)
• What types of households or individuals do they see? (older people, couples, households containing one or more children)
• What proportion are 'short term' rough sleepers?
• What proportion are 'long term' rough sleepers?
• Have these patterns changed over time? How?
• What are their sources of evidence for this?

Are there rough sleepers not using RSI funded services? Why is this? Are they using other services?

Is there anything they can say about the causes of rough sleeping in their area? What do they think the important causes are?

• housing markets and house prices
• drugs and alcohol
• mental health needs
• changes in society ('uncaring' or unstable family structures, poor social supports)
• economic change or decline
• childhood experiences and later experience of rough sleeping
• migration of people sleeping rough from other areas of Scotland
• other causes? What are they?

How would they describe the levels of rough sleeping in their area? A serious social problem?

Has this increased or decreased over time?/ Any change since the introduction of RSI funding into their area?

4 Impact of RSI

What are their views on the effectiveness of each of the RSI funded services? ( Review all services mentioned). Effective in meeting the needs of people sleeping rough?/potential rough sleepers?/reducing rough sleeping levels?

How effective has the RSI programme overall been in reducing levels of rough sleeping in their area/ the need to sleep rough in their area?

Is there evidence that these services have been effective in helping reduce levels of rough sleeping in their area?

• evidence from the core monitoring conducted by Glasgow Homelessness Network?
• evidence from George Street Research monitoring on the 'need' to sleep rough?
• evidence from any local evaluations of services?

How would they describe the quality of the evidence that there is about how effective these services are?

Thinking in terms of the Scottish Executive target of removing the need to sleep rough in Scotland, has that target been achieved in their area? What sort of progress has been made toward it, if it has not been achieved as yet?

Services working with single homeless people and other groups, not funded by RSI, may be providing support to people sleeping rough and potential rough sleepers. In a context in which Supporting People, NHS and in some instances, social work and charitable funding may be contributing towards services, what has the specific impact of RSI been in their area?

• How do RSI projects compare with those working with the same or overlapping groups compare with those projects funded (in whole or in part) by Supporting People, the NHS, Social Work or charitable funding?

6 Future of RSI

What are their views on what the future of the RSI programme should be?

How should the money be allocated? Any comments on the existing system or how it might be revised?

(RSI funding is currently built in to Local Authority Revenue Support Grant and will continue to distributed in this way until at least 2005/6 - there are no plans for it to cease as a separate grant imminently).

How would they describe the process of integrating RSI activity within the strategies for their area, what level of progress has been made in relation to successful integration with:

• the homelessness strategy
• the Supporting People strategy
• the housing strategy
• the health and homelessness action plan
• Social Work/Community Care strategy
• Children's Plan
• any other local planning of relevance?

Have services for people sleeping rough and potential rough sleepers become part of the mainstream services in their area?

• For example, are mainstream housing, health and social care services (for example), better equipped to meet the needs of people sleeping rough?

7 Overall

How would they assess the overall impact of RSI in their area? Is policy moving in the right direction?

Is there anything we have not discussed that they feel is important or relevant that they would like to raise now?

Ask respondent if they have any questions about the interview or the study that they would like to ask now. Conclude interview

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