HomelessnessA (brief) experience of youth

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Where do I start?Jay has become homeless they

have been kicked out of the family home and things don't seem to be able to improve You can make

choices for Jay but you need to make the right decisions.Put yourself in Jays

shoes and see what happens with

the choices you make .

• Phone a friend

• Call the local council housing team

• Go to Connexions

• Contact the Youth Homeless service

Sofa surfingA friend let's you stay

temporarily and you talk about what's happened , they say that it's best to sleep on it and look for help in the morning. You

have a hot meal meal and have a good talk

about the situation and why it has happened.

• Stay • Don't stay

The Mediation sessions

You attend the mediation session between your parents and yourself there are many

things discussed. You do however come to a resolve and your parents agree to let you

return to the family home as long as you all stick to the agreements made from the

mediation• Agree and

return home

• Don't agree and continue to look for alternate housing

You have been accepted by YMCA and you pay

£60 so you can move in. You have been assigned a key worker who needs to meet you and set up housing & council tax

benefits.Jay will also need to

consider budgeting. This includes utility bills

cigarettes , toiletries, clothes, debts and mobile phones.

• Meet with the key worker

• Find out about bills and budgeting

• Don't Meet with the key worker

You have a room!

• Have a party in your room

Bills bills bills!

• Set up housing benefit & council tax

• Register with water board

• Look at and set up your budget

You are now living

independently , it's important that you set up

your bill payments and

budget for them too. You can use the

links to find out more

information of costs and how

to set payments up. It's important

that this is dealt with at the start of

your tenancy as you can find

yourself in debt.

• Go back

• Tips and ideas to save money

• Great budget recipes

You have successfully arranged to talk to a housing officer and the housing team tell you that there is no emergency housing

available, however they can assess your situation and provide you are registered on the housing list with a banding for housing as

well as some options given to you. If jay is high on housing

priority it could till take up to six months before you have a

tenancy,This is something to consider on

Jay's journey

• Go to the young homeless service

• Go to a homeless shelter• Go to

Connexions

Sleeping rough

You have to spend the night on the streets , it's cold , Long and quite scary. You will need to get some help

and decide who that is.

• Go to the young homeless service

• Go to a homeless shelter• Go to

Connexions• Phone a friend

• Stay Homeless

DOH!Jays friends & family are upset that you have not followed the advice of the YHS and the other services or seem to be

taking the situation seriously. They tell you

that you have to try harder to sort things out

or you can no longer stay there. You have to

go back to the youth homeless service

• Continue

• Job search• New college• Create a CV

Connexions are helpful and inform you of a range of different services available to you.

They will also help you signing up to

your benefits , CV's , college

courses ,local job's.• Contact the

Youth Homeless service

Youth Homeless Service

• Ask for mediation (what is it?)

• Register for Home Choice Plus

• Agree to get continued support from the team

• Use the Internet

• Get a referral to a YMCA foyer

• Use the phone to apply for a crisis loan

• Phone a friend• Go to the Doctors

You talk to YHS about the situation and they offer to support for your needs and problems offer options and

access to the service for as long as needed. Use the links below to explore some of the issues

Jay may be experiencing

•Claim JSA

Local pubYou go for a drink and some food

from your crisis loan and meet some friends , they ask you to stay to have a few more drinks. You want to stay but know you haven't got the money

or the time,

what shall Jay do?

• Stay in the pub

• Leave now

You have decided to stay in the pub the pub with your mates BUT spend all of your money and have to return

to your friends house broke.

Bad Idea!

• Continue

Homeless ShelterYou arrive at the homeless

shelter , the staff are helpful and offer you somewhere to

sleep and give you a hot meal. There is also a offer for support with your options for housing

• Go back to the Young Homeless Service

• Phone a friend• Go back to the

council if you haven't done so already

Job Centre PlusWell Done!

You have registered with the Job centre and will now

receive a JSA payment in a few weeks

• Go back to the Young Homeless Service

Well done!You have got a crisis loan and you are given £60 to see you through the next 2 weeks. But You must use this money wisely

• Go for a drink and food at a local pub

• Decide what to do next

Rough SleepingOh dear you have

made some decisions that

haven't helped your situation , you must

start again and rethink your decisions .

• Start again

Doctors surgeryYou talk to the

doctor about how your feeling , the doctor can offer some options to

help you.

• Support with mental health problems

• Drugs Facts• Alcohol

facts

• Go back to the Young Homeless Service

• Go back to Friends house

•Sexual health

What is ‘mediation’?In mediation (sometimes known as

conciliation) a neutral facilitator, appointed jointly by the parties,

provides a safe place for the parties to seek a solution on a ‘without

prejudice’ basis. The parties retain control. This is a voluntary process

and it does not compromise the rights of the parties in any way: one or other of them can terminate the

mediation process at any stage, they can later attempt mediation

again, or they can proceed to litigation. Mediation may fail;

usually it leads to a settlement or to an agreement which becomes

binding when the parties formally record their agreement and sign a

settlement document.

If a dispute has already been running for a long time and has reached the stage of resort to

independent review, there is no reason why there should not still be

the possibility of recourse to mediation in the interests of

achieving a speedy resolution.

• Continue with mediation

Some useful web links

• Home choice plus

• Dept of work and pensions

• Shelter website

• Substance misuse

• Job centre plus • Job search

• YMCA

• St.basils

• St. Pauls hostel

• Connexions

• Facebook

•Sexual health

• Continue Jays journey

•Young persons homeless service

Top tips • Create a meal planner each week so you don't keep going back and forth to shops and spending more.• Work out your expendable income after you have paid rent,

council tax and utilities. • Make cheap meals and avoid take away food as its very expensive compared to cooking at home.

• Avoid debit cards and use cash to pay for things, this restricts over budgeting and over expenditure !• Avoid impulse purchases as these will take you over your budget.

• If you smoke , consider cutting down or even better giving up!

• Piggy bank ! Put your lose change in a piggy bank , it's a great way to save AND not overspend.

• Find out where you can shop and save money by buying 'own brand' items you can save a lot of money by doing this.

• Turn off electrical appliances when not in use, DON'T leave them on standby.

• Save through the year for birthdays Christmas and other celebrations.

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Oh dear...You didn't meet

with the key worker and you

already have rent arrears and

will be facing eviction if it's not sorted very soon

• Meet with the key worker

• Don't meet with the key worker....

You've been allowed to stay at your friends house for a couple of weeks to keep you safe and

warm. This is on the understanding that you

continue to look for work and try and find permanent

accommodation. This also allows you to have a hot meal , laundry and washing facilities

you have looked on the Internet and have found some options to follow up.pock from

the links below

• Don't stay here

• Go to the young homeless service

• Go to a homeless shelter• Go to Connexions

Accepted support The service will support you with your situation

and you have use of there washing

facilities , food parcels , Internet , telephone use and emotional support. They have also told you that they can also take you to appointments.

• Continue

For this you will need a pack of tortillas, a small jar of pizza sauce,

a package of shredded cheese and what ever toppings you choose (cheaper with plain

cheese). Preheat the oven to 300 degrees (F). On a baking sheet place 1 to 3 tortillas (depending on the size of the pan). With a

spoon spread sauce to about 1/4 inch from the edge of the tortilla. Sprinkle cheese on top trying to

stay on the sauce. Place your toppings of choice over cheese.

Place in oven for about 5 minutes.

Tortilla Pizza

This is an easy one to make and doesn’t cost much. You will need 1

bag of Macaroni. Then you will need a block of cheese, I would

recommend the shop brand as it tastes just as good. This usually costs between £1 and £2 for. Then you will need about 1/4 cup of milk. Boil the pasta until they are just soft, then

take them off the heat and drain. Do not rinse with cold water. If you feel

you need to rinse them, do it with the hottest water possible. Return the

pasta to the pot and add the cheese pre-cut in to 1 inch cubes. Mix

together until the cheese is almost melted (the mix will be stiff and kind

of hard to stir).

Return to a low heat and slowly add the milk slowly creating a thick

creamy sauce. This will make enough to feed 5-6 people generously. If you are making just for 1 person, store

the excess in sandwich baggies (press out as much air as possible) or in a food sealer in the freezer. When you want to make some just pull out

a bag in the morning to defrost. When you are ready for it, make sure it is completely defrosted, pour into a bowl, sprinkle a light amount of water

on top and microwave for about 1 min (give or take depending on your microwave). You can compliment this with a can of tuna but do not freeze if

tuna is mixed in.

You will need 1 pound ground beef, 16 ounces pizza sauce, a

small pack of mushrooms (optional), pepperoni (optional), 1 tablespoon oregano, 1 teaspoon

garlic salt, 1 handful of pasta. 2/3 cup milk, and 2 cups shredded

mozzarella cheese. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Brown the

beef in a skillet and drain. Stir in pizza sauce, mushrooms, oregano, and garlic salt. Bring to a boil. In a separate bowl combine the pasta

and milk. In a casserole dish, Layer half the meat sauce, pasta

mix, and cheese. Repeat with remaining halves. Cover with foil

or a lid and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Mac & cheese

Pizza bake

You will need mince meat, potatoes, and corn or green

beans. Brown the mince. Mash the potatoes. In the

bottom of your casserole pan layer the corn or green

beans. On top of that layer the mince. Top it all off with the mashed potatoes. Bake in the oven at 300 degrees (F) for about 20 minutes.

Shepherds pie

1. Preheat the oven to 200 C / Gas mark 6.

2. Place the potatoes in a large pot with just enough water to cover. Bring to the boil and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and mash, flavouring with milk,

butter, salt or however you normally like to make them.

3. Pour the baked beans into the bottom of a 1.5 litre casserole

dish. Place the corned beef on top of the beans in an even layer. Season with a few dashes of

Worcestershire sauce. Top with the mash.

4. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes in the preheated oven. The mash should start to crisp, but not yet brown. Top with the cheese and

return to the oven. Bake for another 15 to 20 minutes or until

cheese is browned.

Corned Beef Hash with Baked Beans

1. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Cook onions and garlic in oil until soft. Stir in tomato purée,

tomatoes, salt, pepper, basil and water. Cover, reduce heat

to low, and simmer 20 minutes, until thickened.

2. While sauce is simmering, cook pasta according to

package instructions; drain. Toss sauce with hot pasta.

Onion, Tomato and Basil Spaghetti

•Go back

STOP!

Is this realistic? Jay has to budget and

can't really afford to buy new furniture.

• Go back

You go to the Ymca for an interview and they see your situation as serious, after a week they inform you that

you have a place within the foyer. You will need some items such as furniture to

move in.

• Second hand furniture project

• Buy NEW furniture • Go back to

YMCA

Well done ! You have finished and

explored some of the options and now have a more realistic

idea on yours or a friends options in facing homelessness.

• Start again .. If you like

However , it's important to

remember that this is only a brief

glimpse into the situations you can find yourself in and

time frames and services will vary in

different areas.

There are also lots of different

situations that young people find themselves in. You can talk to a range of services and get good confidential

support.

Jay must keep up on budgeting and rent

payments as the tenancy could come to an end quite

quickly.

Logging into Facebook IS the wrong choice, your wasting your time and have much more important

things to do!

• GO BACK

Returned home

The mediation seems to have worked and jay & family have worked on there

differences and jay has returned to the

family home. You can try the

program again to see what else happens

• Start again • Finish

Used the phone

You have successfully got a crisis loan to see you through

the next couple of weeks. You have been given £60 which you will have to pay back £3 per week and is

taken out of your benefits. Use the money wisely as its important that it is used to

help you

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