Help to Homeless Families in Rochdale

Date published: 27/10/2004

Janet Lowe is a family support worker with Great Howarth Homeless Families Unit in Rochdale. She has been doing her job for five years. "I initially came on a temporary basis from a health action zone, as a children’s health support worker," she explains. "I eventually worked full time doing resettlement work, and two years ago took on the role of family support worker."

The unit has a hostel that takes in high priority and emergency cases. It also has a building containing 13 flats in Great Howarth in which to resettle families and another 10 flats dispersed in council blocks in the area. "My role is firstly to sort any health problems, then help to support the children. This involves everything to do with schools, colleges, nurseries, mothers and toddlers groups. If children have been out of school, we feel that getting them back there gives them a structure. They may not have gone to school regularly but we say that they have to while they are with us," Janet says. Once immediate needs are met the unit helps families with issues like finances, budget skills, home management, and personal relationships.

"I work with the residential workers to devise support plans. But we do not want families to have everything on a plate. We try to motivate them. While they are in our accommodation, we start by giving them an early morning call every day to get them up. After they have been here two weeks, we charge them £2 for an alarm clock, so that they can set the wake up time themselves."

How long families’ stay depends on the cause of their homelessness. When they do leave for more permanent accommodation, the unit provides a resettlement worker for a year. "We also have money from the Children’s Fund to transport children to and from school, if they have moved to a permanent home but do not want to leave the school they are at." Much support has been granted for the Homeless Families Unit and it has so far been a great success.