Blog | Centre for Homelessness Impact

Introducing the COVID-19 index

To help to shed some light on the risk of exposure faced by people experiencing homelessness during the pandemic, we have created the COVID-19-Homelessness Index.

April 6, 2020

Jade Bradford

COVID-19 Talk series: No ordinary emergency with Linda Gibbs

How can examples from other cities help us deal with this crisis? Hear from Linda Gibbs, Principal for Social Services at Bloomberg Associates, New York.

April 3, 2020

Jade Bradford

COVID-19 Talk Series: Clinical Homeless Sector Plan

The first in our COVID-19 talk series explores the COVID-19 Homeless Sector Plan with its creators, Dr Alistair Story and Prof. Andrew Hayward.

April 3, 2020

Guillermo Rodríguez-Guzmán

Are people experiencing homelessness more at risk of COVID-19?

In this blog we delve into the international evidence on COVID-19, risk factors, and how these are more common among people living in homelessness

February 26, 2020

Eilidh Morrissey

What Works Community pilot: our second residential

Our second WWC residential was designed to build capacity in data visualisation, behavioural insights and evaluation before our teams pitched their ideas to a Progress Panel.

February 20, 2020

Guillermo Rodríguez-Guzmán

CHI’s Head of Evidence and Data, Guillermo Rodriguez-Guzman, appointed to Government What Works Trial Advice Panel

Today we are delighted that our Head of Evidence and Data, Guillermo Rodriguez-Guzman, has been appointed, among 50 others, to the What Works Trial Advice Panel (TAP) which will support the improvement of the quality and quantity of impact evaluations across central government to foster a better understanding of ‘What Works’.

February 13, 2020

Eilidh Morrissey

New reporting platform will track progress towards ending homelessness in UK

A new reporting platform which aims to give insight into the conditions required to prevent homelessness has been launched today by the Centre for Homelessness Impact (CHI) and the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

February 13, 2020

Dr Lígia Teixeira

Measuring what matters: introducing a new set of homelessness indicators

It's time to ensure we are creating the right conditions to end homelessness for good everywhere in the UK. In this post our CEO introduces a new set of homelessness indicators and reporting platform developed in collaboration with the ONS to help us get there.

January 9, 2020

Clara Collingwood

What Works Community pilot: exploring design methods

We believe that by combining the heart and the head we can turn good intentions into lasting impact. To help our team of LAs to innovate and achieve breakthrough results, the programme of our What Works Community pilot includes combining innovative data practices with person-centred approaches to systems design.

December 30, 2019

Eilidh Morrissey

The CHI team share their highlights of 2019

The end of the year is a time for reflection. Here the team share their highlights of the last 12 months and to look ahead at what’s to come in 2020.

December 16, 2019

James Cartwright

CHI announces Guillermo Rodríguez as its new Head of Evidence and Data

Dr Ligia Teixeira, Chief Executive of the Centre for Homelessness Impact (CHI) has announced the appointment of Guillermo Rodríguez as CHI’s new Head of Data and Evidence.

December 11, 2019

James Cartwright

What Works Community pilot: understanding and using data

Day one of our first WWC residential focused on building capacity for data and its use among our pilot teams, from gathering and inventorying data, to identifying and addressing issues with data quality.

November 22, 2019

Eilidh Morrissey

What Works Community pilot: our first Residential

The objective of our first What Works Community pilot residential was to give participating LAs data and design skills to take to work on executing their challenge on the private rented sector. In this post, we explore what happened and share next steps.

November 15, 2019

Eilidh Morrissey

What Works Community: getting to know Southend-On-Sea

On Oct 7th we met with leaders and staff working across Southend-On-Sea Borough Council for our second What Works Community pilot kick off. We got to know them and gained an understanding of local housing and homelessness challenges and opportunities. This post explores what we heard.

November 12, 2019

James Cartwright

The Cabinet Office’s Sophie Catlin reflects on her year-long secondment with CHI

For the last 12 months, CHI has been lucky enough to have Sophie Catlin as part of the team, working as Head of Business Development on a year-long secondment from the Cabinet Office. Here, she reflects on her time as she leaves us to return to government.

November 7, 2019

Eilidh Morrissey

What Works Community: getting to know Pembrokeshire County Council

On 10 October Pembrokeshire County Council welcomed CHI to their offices to kick off their engagement with the What Works Community pilot. We got to know the people we will be working closely with over the coming months and learnt more about the local homelessness context.

October 25, 2019

CHI announces Faye Greaves as new Head of Practice, Policy and Development

Dr Ligia Teixeira, Chief Executive of the Centre for Homelessness Impact (CHI) has announced the appointment of Faye Greaves as CHI’s new Head of Practice, Policy and Development.

October 22, 2019

Eilidh Morrissey

What Works Community pilot: getting to know East Ayrshire Council

On 3rd October we met with leaders and staff working across East Ayrshire Council and local third sector organisations for our first What Works Community kick off. We got to know them, gaining an understanding of local housing and homelessness challenges and opportunities. This post explores what we heard.

October 15, 2019

Dr Lígia Teixeira has been conferred the award of Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences

Professor Joanna Richardson and our CEO Dr Lígia Teixeira have been conferred the award of Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences following nomination by the Housing Studies Association. This award recognises individuals’ contribution to the use of social science for public benefit.

October 3, 2019

Eilidh Morrissey

Launching our What Works Community pilot designed to help Local Authorities

As a first step towards building a community of practice, we have invited three councils to take part in our What Works Community pilot designed to build their capacity for the use of evidence and data to see more sustainable reductions in homelessness.

September 11, 2019

James Cartwright

Impact Forums 2019: Taking a person-centred approach

Putting people at the heart of service creation is the core principle of human-centred design. Here we explore what this actually means in practice.

August 27, 2019

James Cartwright

Impact Forums 2019: Opportunities for Data

We’ve never had access to so much data on homelessness before. It’s time we worked out how to use it more effectively.

August 20, 2019

Dr Sarah Miller

Our first three systematic reviews

Work is underway to synthesise the available evidence through three systematic reviews. This guest post by Dr Sarah Miller explores what reviews are we doing and why.

August 15, 2019

Our plan to drive behavioural change among landlords in the private rented sector

The Centre is joining forces with the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) to improve the effectiveness of homelessness services by applying - and rigorously evaluating - behavioural science methods.

August 13, 2019

James Cartwright

Impact Forums 2019: Shifting The Narrative

How transforming the public understanding of homelessness will be key to ending homelessness for good.

August 2, 2019

James Cartwright

Impact Forums 2019: The Prevention Imperative

Why paying greater attention to prevention is the only way we can end homelessness sustainably.

July 15, 2019

James Cartwright

Insights from our Impact Forums 2019

As our inaugural Impact Forums come to a close, we’ll be sharing key insights from the events and reflecting on where the What Works movement in homelessness goes next.

June 4, 2019

Dr Lígia Teixeira

Launching our new strategy for ending homelessness for good

Later today we will release our 5-year strategy. Our CEO Dr Ligia Teixeira outlines our ambitions and how we will drive lasting change.

June 3, 2019

Eilidh Morrissey

The What Works Network welcomes the Centre for Homelessness Impact as a new member

The National What Works Advisor, Dr David Halpern has welcomed the Centre for Homelessness Impact as a new member of the What Works Network. Its membership has also been backed by Communities Secretary RT Hon James Brockenshire MP, Ministers Kevin Stewart MSP and Julie James AM, and the Centre’s founding partners at Crisis and GHN.

June 3, 2019

Dr Lígia Teixeira

We’ve joined the What Works Network, so what does that mean?

Today we celebrate joining the What Works Network. This blog by our CEO Dr Ligia Teixeira describes why we wanted to join the Network and what this means for us.

May 29, 2019

Dr Lígia Teixeira

How could new metrics help to end homelessness?

Together with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) we have launched a consultation on a new set of homelessness indicators which aim to measure factors that influence homelessness, such as housing, poverty, and relationships to see how they change across the country. In a recent blog post, Dr Ligia Teixeira and Hugh Stickland, the ONS’ Head of Strategy & Engagement, explain how this project came about.

May 22, 2019

Dr Lígia Teixeira

Scotland’s new system to track every person who is street homeless in the country

Today we release an options appraisal for a new data and monitoring system for street homelessness in Scotland. Our Director Dr Ligia Teixeira explains the aims of the study, what we found, and what happens next.

May 15, 2019

Our Intervention Tool now includes a new implementation section

How a policy or service is implemented on the front line can make or break an intervention. Our Intervention Tool, which summarises the reliable evidence for homelessness interventions, is designed to inform commissioners, policymakers and practitioners, and improve intervention strategies and implementation.

May 15, 2019

Dr Jenny Wood

Five factors underpin good homelessness service implementation

A review of the implementation issues evidence from the Evidence and Gap Maps reveals that some barriers/facilitators apply across all homelessness interventions

April 25, 2019

Eilidh Morrissey

The Homelessness Reduction Act: one year on

On 2nd April 2019, we joined forces with Solace and the District Councils Network to bring together Local Authority leads from across England to mark the anniversary of the implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act and identify 5 opportunities for evidence and data to be used to improve outcomes.

April 3, 2019

Dave Russell

Putting people first: building a common vision for a new national data system for street homelessness in Scotland

In this post we describe our engagement and approach to undertaking an options appraisal for a new national data and monitoring system for street homelessness in Scotland.

March 20, 2019

Eilidh Morrissey

Looking back at our first year + mapping 2019 with our Advisory Panel

We brought our Advisory Panel together to share the progress and learnings from our 1st year, get their input on key opportunities in the year ahead, refining our offer for local areas and seeking their guidance on where to build upon the evidence baseline in homelessness.

March 14, 2019

Charlotte Turner

On having the confidence to change direction

Charlotte Turner, Head of Organisational Development at Social Bite and one of our Clore Social Emerging Leaders, reflects on her groups journey through their self-selected challenge and on embracing change in response to feedback.

March 6, 2019

Dr Emily Tweed

Preventing premature deaths among people experiencing homelessness

This guest post by Dr Emily Tweed considers the latest developments in generating and linking data about health, homelessness and deaths and suggests what we might do to ensure that we have the evidence necessary to prevent unnecessary deaths in future.

March 4, 2019

Dr Howard White

Taking a closer look at the quality of evidence: releasing a new version of our Effectiveness map

Our effectiveness map now includes information of how confident you can be on the findings of the studies captured. CHI Senior Fellow and CEO of the Campbell Collaboration explains why it was vital to create this new version of the map.

March 1, 2019

Towards a harmonised definition of homelessness statistics

England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland currently use different definitions of homelessness for their official statistics. We believe harmonised definition would improve the evidence and data infrastructure.

January 24, 2019

Brian Robson

Brian Robson, from Homes England + one of our emerging leaders on responding to their self-selected challenge.

In this post one of our emerging leaders, Brian Robson, reflects on his teams journey through their self-selected challenge so far. They have chosen to look at allocation of existing housing stock.

January 15, 2019

James Cartwright

The Centre welcomes Andrew Hudson as the new Chair of its Board

In this post discover more about our new Chair, his extensive background, what he brings to the Centre, and his commitment to accelerating progress towards ending homelessness with better use of evidence.

December 12, 2018

Sophie Mei Birkin

17 change-makers — their journey so far

In this post discover what the emerging leaders have been up to on the first two installments of the programme. Gain an insight into their challenges, design research and problem solving journey.

November 27, 2018

Dave Russell

Don't design a system for people, without people

To inform the options appraisal for a new Scottish data and monitoring system for rough sleeping, we spoke to people with lived experiences of homelessness in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness.

November 26, 2018

Dr Lígia Teixeira

Evidence standards in web based research portals

Today we release a report by leading experts Prof. David Gough (UCL) and Dr Howard White (Campbell Collaboration) that will help inform the evidence standards and evidence claims in the Centres Intervention Tool. Our director Dr Ligia Teixeira explains why.

October 24, 2018

Ciara Keenan

The beginning: systematic reviews in homelessness

The Centre for Homelessness Impact is working with the Campbell Collaboration, Campbell UK and Ireland, Heriot-Watt and Cardiff University and others to develop the tools necessary for evidence-informed practice targeting or preventing homelessness.

October 15, 2018

Glyn Halksworth

Better use of evidence in policy-making: a local authority perspective

In this guest blog we hear from Glyn Halksworth, Head of Housing + Social Inclusion at Southend-On-Sea Borough Council on some key challenges that he sees to better use of evidence in policy-making – and what can be done about it.

October 11, 2018

Dr Lígia Teixeira

Releasing the new Implementation Issues Evidence and Gap Map

Today we release a new Evidence and Gap Map (EGM) focusing on what factors influence the successful implementation of homelessness interventions. Our Director Dr Ligia Teixeira explains why this matters and how the EGMs provide a robust foundation we’re using to build a new infrastructure for learning.

October 2, 2018

Dr Lígia Teixeira

What counts as reliable evidence in homelessness?

On Wednesday 26th of September we held a joint event on with our friends at the Alliance for Useful Evidence to explore what counts as reliable evidence in homelessness and how standards of evidence can help drive efforts in this space. Learn more about it and what happens next.

September 12, 2018

Eilidh Morrissey

Better data, better results: an options appraisal for a new national data + monitoring system on rough sleeping in Scotland

To be able to test, refine, evaluate and improve our efforts to reduce rough sleeping, we need to be able to measure its key elements. This is why the Scottish Government have asked us to carry out an options appraisal for a new national data and monitoring system on rough sleeping. Learn more about the project here.

September 6, 2018

Eilidh Morrissey

Centre for Homelessness Impact + CaCHE research priorities workshop

On the 6th September the Centre and CaCHE jointly held a workshop with the aim to create a shared Research Agenda to accelerate progress and improve the lives of people experiencing homelessness.

September 4, 2018

Dr Lígia Teixeira

Making better use of evidence to end rough sleeping in England

A new strategy to end rough sleeping in England by 2027 is a welcome development. Dr Lígia Teixeira proposes three ways to improve the use of evidence in government to best ensure its vision is translated into reality and results in real and lasting change.

August 28, 2018

Eilidh Morrissey

NEWS: Clore6 cohort announced

Today we are delighted to announce the details of our partnership with Clore Social Leadership in response to the need for stronger, evidence based approach to leadership within the sector.

August 23, 2018

Dr Tim Hobbs

What we talk about when we talk about systems

Thinking in systems is vital to accelerating the effectiveness of how we tackle homelessness. Our Senior Fellow Dr Tim Hobbs explains why.

August 21, 2018

Dr Lígia Teixeira

How evidence can make the government’s vision to end rough sleeping on England’s streets a reality.

A new strategy to end rough sleeping by 2027 is a welcome development in England. Dr Lígia Teixeira reflects on the promise of evidence-based policy-making to best ensure the Government’s vision is translated into reality and results in real and lasting change.

July 20, 2018

Dr Howard White

Jigsaws of evidence: our puzzle

The Centre for Homelessness Impact’s evidence maps are part of putting together the evidence jigsaw for homelessness. Here are all the pieces of evidence. How do we fit them together?

July 11, 2018

Eilidh Morrissey

Evidence Week: why reliable evidence matters

Reflections on Evidence Week, which brought together MPs, peers, parliamentary services and people from all walks of life from across the UK to talk about why evidence matters to them.

June 27, 2018

Eilidh Morrissey

Creating our own Google Maps for homelessness

Ever wondered why we made our flagship tools? We know where we want the homelessness sector to be – making impactful decisions informed by reliable evidence. But how can we map the best route from A to B?

June 15, 2018

Eilidh Morrissey

May 30 – the journey so far and our flagship tools event

On May 30 we brought an intimate group of change makers and leaders together in Edinburgh to celebrate the fact that we are now fully up, running and have launched the first iteration of our flagship tools. Here are reflections and a videos from the day.

May 17, 2018

Dave Russell

Introducing the Homelessness Intervention Tool

Our Intervention Tool has been created to address the challenge of finding quick and reliable insights from the considerable body of evidence on what works in homelessness.

May 10, 2018

Dr Lígia Teixeira

SHARE framework – announcing the first iteration.

We are offering the SHARE framework to those in and around the sector to help facilitate smarter conversations about ending homelessness.

May 3, 2018

Dr Lígia Teixeira

Announcing our first Evidence and Gap Map on homelessness

By mapping gaps and global evidence, we are aiming to highlight ‘what works’ and create efficiencies for decision makers

April 18, 2018

Dr Howard White

How to make what works work: initial lessons from process evaluations

Previously successful interventions may fail if poorly implemented. It is common for programmes which attain successful pilots to fail to achieve the same impact once taken to scale. So, as well as mapping studies which tell us what works, we are mapping data from on what implementations issues arise.

April 9, 2018

Dave Russell

Lessons from Open Demo Day

Explore learnings from sharing prototypes of our Evidence Tool at Open Demo Day in Edinburgh

April 5, 2018

Centre for Homelessness Impact

Our story so far: pursuing evidence based impact

Learn more about how we are introducing people to our mission, approach and early projects. And imagine how much energy we might unleash if we applied the same rigour and meticulous testing to homelessness as they do in fields like aviation.

February 28, 2018

Dr Lígia Teixeira

Advisory Panel workshop 2018

On the 12th of February we hosted the first meeting of our new Advisory Panel to share our plans for mobilising evidence in support of more effectively tackling homelessness. Here are reflections and videos from the day.

February 13, 2018

Dr Howard White

Evidence and gap maps: a launchpad for strategic evidence creation and use.

We are working with the Campbell Collaboration to produce a number of systematic maps of existing evidence. The first stage of this work has mapped 131 studies. Dr Howard White shares early findings.

February 5, 2018

Dr Lígia Teixeira

How can foundations help accelerate progress towards a future without homelessness?

Working with foundations to help them take stock and to map out the future.

December 18, 2017

What counts as good evidence?

We need an improved infrastructure to assess what works in the homelessness field. Ruth Puttick explains why adopting standards of evidence is a vital first step before we can ensure that policy-makers, commissioners and practitioners have evidence that supports effective work.

December 18, 2017

Dr Lígia Teixeira

We're off the ground!

Funding secured by Crisis and GHN to launch our new centre in spring 2018. A note from director Ligia Teixeira on what that means and what we've got planned for the new year

December 15, 2017

Press release

Can we end homelessness faster? New centre launches in 2018 to help accelerate the use of evidence in the sector.

Crisis and Glasgow Homelessness Network (GHN) are pleased to announce the creation of the Centre for Homelessness Impact, with the support from philanthropist

December 11, 2017

Dr Lígia Teixeira