This event is the fourth meeting of the Supported Youth Housing and Health Network.

It is an opportunity for delegates to hear direct from the government about joint statutory guidance issued to local authorities on 1 April 2010 by the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (now Department for Education) and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. This provides revised guidance for children's services authorities and local housing authorities about their duties under Part 3 of the Children Act 1989 and Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 to secure or provide accommodation for homeless 16 and 17 year old children, following the judgment by the House of Lords in the case of R(G) v London Borough of Southwark (2009).

This seminar will provide an opportunity for delegates to hear about this guidance direct from the government. Delegates will learn about how housing and children’s services can, and have, been working together to fulfill their respective duties and enhance young people’s experiences of their services.

The day will be chaired by Jo Gunner, National Housing Advisor, YMCA England, and will include speakers from Department for Education, Department for Communities and Local Government, London Borough of Brent, The Bridge provider in Loughborough, the Commissioning Support Programme, and young people from the National Youth Reference Group, supported by St Basils.

The Supported Youth Housing and Health Network is a unique forum for practitioners and policy makers to share expertise and examples of good practice, develop new ideas and partnerships, and help create a united voice on what is needed to effectively meet the health and well-being needs of young people in supported housing.

Why Attend?

·        Hear direct from Government about the latest policy developments

·           Learn more about how children’s services, housing services and providers can work together to create a more effective service

·           Learn about commissioning and the potential of a collaborative approach

·           Hear from young people about what you can do to make a real difference

·           Share information and network with other colleagues working with and for young people

·           Have your say and get your ideas fed directly back to Government

Who should attend?

This conference is relevant to all professionals supporting 16 and 17 year-olds who may be homeless / require accommodation, including representatives from:

·   Supported Housing Providers

·   Supporting People Teams

·   Local Authority Housing Teams

·   Local Authority Children’s Services

·   Government Offices

·   Regional Housing Boards, Homelessness Teams

·   PCT Children’s leads, Commissioning managers

·   Directors of Public Health and Children’s Services

·   Health Practitioners

·   Drug Action Teams, Youth Offending Teams

·   Voluntary, Independent & Public Sector

Programme

10.00   Registration and coffee

10.30   Welcome from the Chair

Jo Gunner, National Housing Advisor, YMCA England

10.40   Clarifying the guidance:  Provision of accommodation for 16 and 17 year  old young people   who may be homeless and/or require accommodation

Val Keen, Specialist Adviser - Youth Homelessness, Department for Communities and Local Government

Mark Burrows, Team Manager - Care Planning, Department for Education

11.10     Questions

11.25     Coffee break

11.40     Bringing services together: housing, children’s services and Connexions

 Jenny Dunne, Homelessness Strategy Manager , Housing and Community Care,

 London Borough of Brent

12.10      Providing a single gateway to accommodation services for young people

Helen Howson, Single Access Point and Mediation Manager, The Bridge, Loughborough

12.30     Table discussion

13.00      Lunch

14.00      Collaboration in commissioning accommodation and support

              Katy Burch, Commissioning Support Programme Lead for Looked After Children and Young People

14.20      Young and homeless: listening and learning from those who know

Young people from The National Youth Reference Group with

Tamzin Taylor-Rosser, Youth Involvement Coordinator, St Basils

15.20        Chair’s closing remarks

15.30        Close of conference

** For directions and map of the venue, please visit the following link:http://www.ncb.org.uk/pdf/Camden_Lock_map.pdf

** For parking options please visit the following link:http://www.ncb.org.uk/docs/curnock_car_park.doc