Homelessness within ex-Armed Forces Personnel - Riverside

Conclusions
If the figures put forward by Homeless Link are
correct, a significant figure of 6% of ex-Armed
Forces Personnel have found themselves
homeless within the UK.
Due to budget cuts and redundancies within
the MoD, there is justifiable concern that there
may be an increase in these figures.
Psychological research has long shown a
relationship between unemployment and
negative mental health effects, particularly
depression (Paul & Moser, 2006; Dooley,
Prause, & Ham-Rowbottom, 2000).
Approximately 2% of all Armed Forces
Personnel were diagnosed with a mental
disorder during 2010 (DASA, 2011). This group
may be at higher risk of depression related to
unemployment when leaving the Service.
A high prevalence of co-morbidity between
alcoholism and depression has been shown,
which may be of even greater relevance to
ex-Armed Forces Personnel who are known to
have a higher incidence of excessive drinking
(Swendsen & Merikangas, 2000).
These issues highlight the essential role that
Riverside ECHG can and does play in supporting
vulnerable and troubled individuals as they
leave the Armed Forces. Riverside ECHG’s
experience of operating dual diagnosis
schemes and their knowledge of supporting
ex-Armed Forces Personnel is an exceptional
combination, which very few other providers
can offer.
Large similarities have been shown between
the paths into homelessness that both
ex-Armed Forces and the general civilian
homeless population follow. However, it is
also clear that employment in the Armed
Forces has a considerable impact on how
an individual will experience homelessness.
The lack of help seeking behaviour related to
feelings of failure or shame is related to a
higher incidence of rough sleeping within this
group as they believe they are physically better
equipped to deal with the adversity. When
combined with the higher prevalence of
excessive drinking and alcohol addiction, this
makes these individuals a challenging group to
support as repeat and sustained homelessness
can be an issue. This clearly demonstrates how
vital experienced and understanding support
workers are to this client group.
Knowledge of dual diagnosis, mental disorders
and insight into the culture of the Armed
Forces are invaluable and unique skills that
staff at Riverside ECHG hold. In general it
has been found that better relationships
and teams are formed when individuals have
shared experiences and values, therefore the
relationships and teams which are formed
within the Riverside ECHG schemes create a
more positive experience for clients (Sheard &
Kakabadse, 2002). This hypothesis is supported
by the successful outcomes demonstrated by
Riverside ECHG.
There are a large number of support services,
which are solely focused on the provision of
housing aid to ex-Armed Forces Personnel.
However, there appears to be a larger
concentration of these agencies within
southern England, particularly London. As
many ex-Armed Forces Personnel tend to stay
in the areas where they were recruited or near
to the base at which they served a greater
geographical spread of these services is
required. Catterick Garrison is the largest
garrison in Europe and Imphal Army Barracks
in York is home to the largest brigade in the UK
– this means that recruitment from Yorkshire
and the North East will make up a significant
proportion of all intake into the Armed Forces.
It can therefore be assumed that the number
of ex-Armed Forces Personnel living within
these areas may be high.
Information given by the MoD suggests that
recruitment in the North West accounts for
around 17% of the intake per year, once again
highlighting the necessity of a wider spread of
specialist supported housing. This need is
supported by findings from Crisis UK that
states that Lancashire and Cheshire have
a high concentration of homeless veterans
(Project Compass, 2011). This is particularly
relevant in the North West where, despite
social housing being available to ex-Armed
Forces Personnel, there is little in the way of
the specialist supported housing that is clearly
needed to enable individuals to gain
psychological health and life skills. Riverside
ECHG has housing stock in this area, which
could be utilised for this purpose.
In addition to a wider geographical spread
of supported housing for ex-Armed Forces
Personnel a lack of co-ordination between
resources has been noted. There are many
organisations attempting to bring together all
the services working with this client group, but
there is no one body that can be seen as a
figure head. A co-ordinated approach, similar
to that of Veterans of Scotland, is needed and
should be a priority for organisations that offer
support to veterans. This system would ensure
that clients only need to fill in one form to
request supported housing and this form is
then passed on to all the necessary
associations (in effect SPACES already do this).
This would simplify the process for already
confused and chaotic clients and may be a
positive step in reducing the number who
return to rough sleeping.
The outcomes reported, supported by the case
studies, clearly demonstrate the value of the
supported housing services which Riverside
ECHG provide to ex-Armed Forces Personnel.
Without this provision many of the vulnerable
individuals who are not based in London or
Southern England would have few local
resources available to offer them support.
More information
This report was researched and written by
Caroline Kilkenny. If you’d like to find out
more information please contact her on:
caroline.kilkenny@riverside.org.uk
01482 351119
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