Gwybodaeth ychwanegol | Additional Information

__________________________________________________________________________________

Senedd Cymru | Welsh Parliament

Y Pwyllgor Plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg | Children, Young People and Education Committee

Gwasanaethau i blant sydd wedi bod mewn gofal: archwilio diwygio radical | Services for care experienced children: exploring radical reform

Ymateb gan Barnardos Cymru | From Barnardos Cymru

__________________________________________________________________________________

Additional information from Barnardos Cymru following the evidence session on 2 March

As promised I am sending you some information on the youth homeless prevention work we do in Swansea. I have embedded a link to our padlet which sets out the service and how the different roles complement each other. We use this padlet to explain our service to other organisations and also have it on our social media for young people to be able to see what we have to offer. Our education worker promotes our social media presence when he is in schools alongside the awareness raising he does as part of our PSE sessions.

The premises of all our work is the earliest intervention as possible to help young people avoid becoming homeless.

https://padlet.com/BarnardosSwansea/youth-homeless-prevention-service-3n0t3hdu0t55htnr

Below is some additional information about our eviction prevention work which I think was particularly requested as part of the evidence session.

The Eviction Prevention Worker

· works with care leavers both under and over 18 with the key focus on preventing eviction.

· receives referrals from Swansea Local Authority Homelessness Officers and Neighbourhood Officers , voluntary sector and RSL accommodation providers, young person advisors, social workers and other professionals working with care leavers and will then look at reasons for NTQs or threats of NTQs such as rent arrears, service charge arrears, anti-social behaviour etc and create a planned approach to address the issues .

· will offer intervention/negotiation within accommodation projects between young people and young people and staff, a referral can also be made to our mediation service

· will liaise with private rented landlords and agents to address issues that may lead to eviction. Part of the role is to also liaise with private landlords to try and secure suitable affordable housing for care leavers.

· will provide one off pieces of advice to young people and professionals on all aspects of eviction prevention.

· supports care leavers, through case management, to find financial help, legal support, provide them with advice and representation including in Court, address wellbeing issues and tenancy management.

· supports the work of the Swansea Accommodation Pathway (SAP) and attends the monthly Threats of Eviction meetings.

· will also undertake initial tenancy work with those young people identified as having had multiple evictions from previous accommodation settings.