Homelessness and safeguarding

Welcome to Learn on the Go, a podcast from Community Care Inform, where we discuss the latest research, theories and practice issues, and look at what they mean for social workers.This episode is about safeguarding and homelessness. It covers key lessons from safeguarding adults reviews and gives practice advice for social workers working with people who are homeless and have complex needs, experience multiple exclusions, and/or are self-neglecting. Discussing these questions are Michael Preston-Shoot, emeritus professor of social work at the University of Bedfordshire, and Gill Taylor, strategic lead for single homelessness and vulnerable adults at Haringey Council. The questions were asked by Radha Smith, assistant content editor at Community Care Inform Adults. Learning points:- When and how social workers should carry out needs assessments under the Care Act for people who are homeless.- The foundations for positive social care practice in safeguarding people experiencing homelessness.- Strategies for supporting people who are homeless and self-neglecting.Community Care Inform Adults subscribers can access additional resources and a written transcript of the podcast: https://adults.ccinform.co.uk/practice-guidance/homelessness-and-safeguarding-podcast-transcript/In this episode:0.31 – Introduction2.00 – Defining homelessness4.50 – Duty to conduct a needs assessment16.47 – Wrongful assumptions24.44 – Foundations for positive practice32.12 – Multiple exclusion homelessness43.04 – Self-neglect48.08 – Making a real differenceReferences and useful linksBramley, G and Fitzpatrick, S with Edwards, J; Ford, D; Johnsen, S; Sosenko, F and Watkins, D (2015)Hard Edges: mapping severe and multiple disadvantagehttps://lankellychase.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Hard-Edges-Mapping-SMD-2015.pdf?msclkid=e3c74440a6ae11ecb96b228237e6f1d6LankellyChase FoundationCooper, A and Preston-Shoot, M (2022)Adult Safeguarding and Homelessness: Understanding Good Practicehttps://www.bookdepository.com/Adult-Safeguarding-Homelessness-Adi-Cooper/9781787757868Jessica Kingsley PublishersLocal Government Association (2021)Making every adult matter and every contact count: safeguarding people experiencing homelessnesshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfR32HKXHfk(webinar including presentations by people with lived experience referred to in the podcast)Martineau, S J; Cornes, M; Manthorpe, J; Ornelas, B and Fuller, J (2019)Safeguarding, homelessness and rough sleeping: an analysis of safeguarding adults reviewshttps://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/files/116649790/SARs_and_Homelessness_HSCWRU_Report_2019.pdf NIHR Policy Research Unit in Health and Social Care Workforce, The Policy Institute, King’s College LondonMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (2018)The rough sleeping strategyhttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-rough-sleeping-strategyPreston-Shoot, M (2020)Adult safeguarding and homelessness: a briefing on positive practice

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Learn on the go is the Community Care Inform podcast where practitioners, trainers, consultants, academics and researchers discuss practice, research, and theories and what they mean for social workers. Listening to episodes is a convenient way to learn and refresh your knowledge when you don’t have much time to read or prefer other ways of getting information and reflecting on your practice. We’ve been recording Learn on the go on an ad hoc basis since 2017. Over these eight years our podcast audience has grown, and in 2025 we made the decision to start recording Learn on the go in seasons. We launched Season 1 Episode 1 in January 2025. During each season, episodes are released monthly on the last Friday of the month and all episodes appear on Inform Adults and Inform Children or you can subscribe to Learn on the go through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.