Trusts, Statutory and National Lottery Partnerships

People leaving custody are particularly vulnerable to homelessness. They often lose their accommodation when entering custody. On release, they can struggle to find accommodation. If someone leaving prison does go to their local council, they are likely to be turned away as they are not classed as ‘priority need’. Many people leaving prison comment on how difficult it is to hold down a job, relationships, and other factors of everyday life whilst in unstable and unsuitable accommodation. And we know that re-offending is exacerbated by people being homeless. 

Critical Time Intervention is designed to break the vicious cycle between institutionalisation and homelessness, and to promote stable community living by providing people with emotional and practical support and strengthening their long-term ties to the community during transitions from institutional to community living. 

Our CTI project is a time-limited, housing-led approach that provides rapid access to housing for people at the point of leaving prison. Lead Workers provide intensive 1:1 support over a nine-month period to prevent homelessness. The support provided consists of four phases – pre-release support; transitioning into accommodation; progression support; and moving towards independence.  

Since 2019, our CTI projects in Merseyside and South Wales have been generously supported by The Linbury Trust and Liverpool Combined City Authority.  

The UK welfare system helps people to cope with financial stress during rough periods of their lives.  However, claiming benefits like Universal Credit can be daunting, especially for people experiencing homelessness, who often have low self-esteem or confidence, lack a contact address or who may not have a bank account.  In addition, the welfare system is complex and working out what benefits or tax credits you are entitled to claim can be challenging for people.  

In January 2021, we started our Welfare Benefits Advice Service to help people who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness to access the benefits they entitled to claim. 

The service answers queries and provides training on welfare benefits issues to Crisis staff in England.  This enables our staff to work alongside people to ensure they receive the welfare benefits they are entitled to claim, helping to end their homelessness or to prevent them from becoming homeless in the first place.  In addition to answering queries and providing training, our specialists also directly support some of our members who have complex benefit eligibility cases, including representing them at Social Security Tribunal hearings. 

This is a small project that makes a big impact, and we’d love to hear from funders who are interested in supporting it.