Step Together, our innovative service supporting people facing multiple disadvantages in Somerset, is taking part in a nationwide Test and Learn Project to find out more about what works in our bid to end rough sleeping and reduce homelessness.
Working alongside our local partners Rethink, YMCA and Arc, the Personalised Budgets Project will evaluate the impact of providing financial support to help people who have experienced rough sleeping to exit homelessness. We are one of 15 organisations across the country taking part in this important work.
The pilot project is part of a three-year programme led by the Centre for Homelessness Impact and funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). Other Test and Learn projects include linking people into homeless health services and connecting people back into their local communities.
Evaluation
Each project includes an independent evaluation of its impact. For this project, the evaluation will be led by King’s College, London using a randomised controlled trial.1
This will compare outcomes from a group of 360 people who receive financial support via a personalised budget with those from an otherwise identical group who do not receive the budget, but who will still receive the usual support services. The work will start imminently, and interim findings are expected in Autumn 2025.
Mark Brown, Senior Operations Manager with Second Step, explained that all clients from all four organisations involved in the project in Somerset will have a 50/50 chance of getting the funding. The research team from Kings College will interview clients before the grant, at a mid-point, and then later and compare outcomes for those that got the money and those that didn’t. He said:
“We’re delighted to be involved in this work which will increase our understanding of this complex and often entrenched issue and help us create lasting change both at a local and national level.”
Claire Tough, Chair of Somerset’s Homelessness Reduction Board and Mark Leeman, Strategy Specialist Housing at Somerset Council, said:
“This granular look at approaches to support people when they’re experiencing homelessness will make the important work we do to tackle homelessness so much more effective. We’re really pleased to be hosting this important test and learn project as a Homeless Reduction Board, local authority and multi-agency initiative through Second Step.”
Joe Heslop, Head of Adult Housing at the YMCA in Somerset said:
“We’re really excited to be involved with this project which will not only directly benefit individuals in Somerset who are currently experiencing homelessness, but will also enhance the wider understanding of the role of personalised budgets in ending homelessness. If the impact is demonstrated as we expect, we are hopeful that this will lead to further funding which could benefit others in the future.”
The Centre for Homelessness Impact was set up exclusively to find and share evidence that proves or disproves what works in reducing homelessness. Other partners include Greater Change (who provide a range of grants to organisations and clients) and King’s College London, who are conducting the research.
Our partners
Arc is a charity offering support and accommodation to people at risk of homelessness and those who have become homeless in Somerset.
Rethink Mental Illness seeks to improve the lives of people severely affected by mental illness through their networks of local groups and services, information and campaigns. Its goal is to make sure everyone severely affected by mental illness has a good quality of life.
YMCA Dulverton Group provide a range of supported housing for families and individuals experiencing homeless throughout Somerset, Mid Devon and North Somerset.
Greater Change help people donate directly to a homeless individual’s specific financial goal, integrated into a long-term support plan, by connecting with their story online.
The Centre for Homelessness Impact exists to improve the lives of people experiencing homelessness through better use of data and evidence.
- A randomised control trial is the most rigorous method of evaluating the causal relationship between an intervention and outcomes. One group of people will receive the new project and one group will receive whatever support they would have received if the trial was not taking place (‘business as usual’). Random selection is used to determine which group each individual participating in the trial is assigned to. This approach is designed to provide us with reliable, unbiased evidence. ↩︎
Image: the Centre for Homelessness Impact/ Liam McBurney/PA