I’ve worked in homelessness for almost a decade and I must admit that I was a practitioner who believed the narrative that before we would think about employment as part of a support plan, the person we were supporting needed to ‘prove’ their work-readiness. Then I was introduced to Individual Placement Support (IPS).

IPS is an internationally recognised, evidence-based approach to support people into employment. Developed originally for people receiving treatment in mental health services, and has also been used successfully in England in alcohol and other drug services

A year and a half ago, the Centre for Homelessness Impact initiated the first UK-based trial evaluating the IPS for people experiencing homelessness, supported by funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. It is one of a series of trials to test new ways to reduce homelessness and end rough sleeping - the Test & Learn and Systems-wide Evaluation programme.

The proposition of this test is to bring a high fidelity IPS model directly into homelessness services. Integrating Employment Specialists within housing and homelessness teams, to provide rapid job search, targeted employer engagement, and support for up to 12 months for people experiencing homelessness

It flips the traditional train and place approach to employment support on its head, working with anyone who wants to find a job, and continuing to support them while in employment. Think of Housing First but for employment, removing the traditional staircase model

The 30th of September marked the end of the trial service 18 month delivery period; supported  by Beam, South Yorkshire Housing Association, and Enable (Shropshire Council). Across nine local authority areas, over 250 people received IPS support. Job carving is a key component of IPS, where Employment Specialists will help employers to create jobs for the people they’re supporting; the teams made over 1000 contacts to employers over the course of the trial.

Some of the services used peer support workers who have lived experience of homelessness to add a layer of holistic support. Employment Specialists should primarily focus on employment and housing teams they are working alongside don’t always have capacity to address all aspects of a person’s housing and wider needs. The Peer Support Workers added an important component, helping to address housing and other immediate needs, as well as role modeling that employment is achievable. 

Although the evaluation results won’t be available until 2027, here are some reflections about the legacy of the IPS trial from those who took part: 

‍"Possibility! It can be done in this setting, be implemented well, and make a difference to people's lives. Trailblazers.

"BRINGING AN EMPLOYMENT LENS into a new system is hard and changing perceptions and ways of working is hard - IPS gives us a framework to keep focus and make impact"

‍The final report is due to be published in late 2027.

‍Kerri Bissoonauth is Senior Programme Lead at the Centre for Homelessness Impact

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