Provision of Housing First Support Service

Bournemouth Council is looking to appoint a supplier to deliver a Housing First Service.

The Service offers support for individuals who have a history of entrenched rough sleeping, who may have a history of failed accommodation placements and/or have struggled to engage with previous offers of support.

The Service Model offers immediate, secure long-term housing without any requirement to show capacity for tenancy readiness. In order to facilitate support, six units of accommodation will be sourced by the Service Commissioner in line with the minimum requirements of the Service Specification.

The Service will provide intensive wrap-around support to individuals who have multiple complex needs, which may include substance or alcohol misuse, diagnosed or undiagnosed mental health issues, and anti-social behaviour/offending behaviour.

Support will focus on harm minimisation and engagement with substance misuse, mental health and/or other appropriate support agencies.

Support will decrease as the Service User moves towards independence. When the Service User no longer requires Housing First support, the Service Provider will develop an exit strategy to ensure that the Service User can successfully remain in the accommodation provided. The Housing First support resource will be transferred to a new Service User.

The length of the contract is for two years with the option to extend the contract annually for a further three years. Therefore, if all extensions were taken, the full length of the contract would be for five years. It is anticipated that the contract will start on 1 October 2017. TUPE will apply to this contract and needs to be considered.