The real issues behind begging
The real issues behind begging
Keywords: Housing, Charities, Counselling
National Homeless Alliance (NHA) today welcomes initiatives to bring additional resources to front-line homelessness services. NHA is involved with the Government's "Change a Life" campaign, which encourages the public to support homeless people by offering money, time or gifts to local charities. NHA's role is to distribute donations made to its members through its groundbreaking new initiative, Homeless Direct. NHA members look forward to receiving donations and offers from the public to volunteer.
NHA welcomes a constructive debate on the issue of begging and hopes it will lead to real solutions to the complex problems many vulnerable people face and a unilateral commitment to achieving them.
NHA and its members urge the public not to focus on negative images of homeless people, but on what they need to improve their situation and what they are doing to change their lives themselves.
NHA appeals to the public to understand why people beg and what problems they face.
Research has shown that most people who beg have experienced severe trauma early in life and are extremely damaged people. The majority find begging an embarrassing and degrading experience and they frequently experience harassment,verbal abuse and in many cases, physical and sexual assault by members of the public.
NHA wishes to avoid people who beg being simplistically divided into the deserving and undeserving on the basis of issues such as their drug or alcohol misuse, as there are many reasons why people misuse substances. Those who have a mental health problem often do so to avoid distressing symptoms; others wish to block out memories of past abuse and trauma and many see it as a coping strategy for the difficulties of life on the street.
NHA members report that current provision of drug and alcohol services are inadequate. Recent research by Crisis showed that 53 per cent of beggars with a dependency were receiving no help with it at all with one-third reporting there was no help at all locally. Of the 47 per cent who were receiving help, a further third did not find it useful.
Dominic Fox, Chief Executive of National Homeless Alliance, says:
We have to ensure that no person begging is demonised through this debate and that all vulnerable people have access to adequate support when they need it.
The waiting times for detox are simply unacceptable. If you can't get people in as soon as they are ready, they're often tempted or persuaded to take drugs and are back to square one.
Access to one week detox, which relieves initial physical dependency, is not the primary issue. The limited availability of rehab which takes a long-term approach by changing people's thinking about themselves and their drug use is the major problem. Also, because they move around a lot, homeless people cannot satisfy local connection rules in any local authority area which they must have before the council will fund their rehab. This barrier should clearly be removed.
Research has shown that outreach provision is currently inadequate and only half of the people on the street have been approached by them. If we want people to be able to access services we have to give them the means to do so.
For people to no longer have to beg there must be proper resources for homeless and drug treatment agencies and no situation where vulnerable people cannot access benefits. It is right that the public is encouraged to give to services, it is everybody's responsibility; however, public donations should be additional resources for agencies not what enables them to operate, this is the duty of government.
NHA calls for the issue of poverty and social exclusion to be central to this debate. Income support is very low, especially for young people and asylum seekers, who are expected to live on less than the rest of the population when life is clearly no cheaper for them. The coercive aspect of Job Seekers Allowance also means that if anyone is not prepared or able to accept any offer of work they can be forced off benefits, while benefits can be sanctioned for a whole range of reasons, including being sacked. Research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows that people often continue to beg because of benefit issues.
NHA members urge the public to join them in calling for significant improvements in the provision of drug and alcohol services and for the adequate statutory resourcing of all support services to vulnerable people.
Funding is the major problem local agencies face. They do not have the profile or resources to fundraise effectively. Homeless Direct is a groundbreaking new initiative that will allow the public to donate money or time to the local homelessness charity of their choice. Homeless Direct aims to use marketing techniques for social gain – to help local charities promote their work and understanding of the homelessness issues and encourage donations.
All the members of the Homeless Direct will benefit from the volunteering and"gifts in kind" elements of the "Change a Life" campaign, and the 50 first year Homeless Direct participating agencies will benefit from the fundraising element.
Homeless Direct is a truly revolutionary fundraising idea. No other charity has set up a system that allows the general public to give time or money to the charity of their choice within one sector. We anticipate that it will have a major impact for local charities and greatly strengthen the work they are carrying out.
NHA is the membership body for local organisations and individuals providing services and support to homeless people, which work with members to:
influence policy at local and national levels;
improve homelessness services and support;
generate new funding for homelessness;
improve public understanding and support for homelessness.
