Problems like poverty are often generational, meaning they get passed down from parent to child. This is because homelessness tends to occur as a result of the resources or protective factors people start with in life. These factors make all the difference when hard times come along. They are important enough to decide whether someone can bounce back after a setback or become homeless.
The presence or absence of trauma also plays a significant role in generational homelessness.
The nature of the trauma could include psychological, physical and sexual abuse and neglect as children, familial addiction often resulting in bereavement or being taken in local authority care, being victims and witnesses of domestic abuse or violent attacks, sexual or criminal exploitation, the removal of children, bereavement, physical pain and injury, serious illness, disability, incarceration, fleeing to the UK from abroad to escape persecution and war, prolonged separation from family and homelessness.
Before we get started
Before we get started
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What are generational causes of homelessness?
What are generational causes of homelessness?
There are various factors that could influence whether someone becomes homeless when they face other challenges in their life. These include having support they can call upon for help including somewhere to stay, being in general good health and access to medical support if required.
Parents who do not have these types of resources available to them could end up not being able to support their children face similar challenges as they grow up.
A report from Oasis Community Housing highlighted that trauma was extremely prevalent for 92% of people facing homelessness.
Almost all respondents said trauma had negatively impacted their life. In 70% of cases, the impact was reported to be significant. The most prevalent impact, affecting 82% of respondents, was poor mental health. In many cases, this had resulted in self-harm. Other widely reported impacts were relationship difficulties, poor emotional regulation, low self-esteem, substance use and a limited sense of hope about the future.
With trauma and homelessness being so intertwined, is important that any support provided to people experiencing homelessness is trauma informed.
Trauma-informed approach to tackling homelessness
Trauma-informed approach to tackling homelessness
Trauma-Informed Practice is a strengths-based framework grounded in an understanding of and responsiveness to the impact of trauma. Central components of Trauma Informed Care are the creation of physically and emotionally safe environments for service users, the development of trusting relationships with services through clear communication, working with service users collaboratively thus giving them a sense of choice and control over their support journeys, and empowering service users through a focus on their strengths and resources
It is important to establish processes and training that enable organisations and staff to meet the needs of trauma survivors and avoid situations which are potentially uncomfortable or triggering for their clients.
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Trauma-informed practice training and resources
Trauma-informed practice training and resources
There are several organisations who offer trauma informed training for staff working on the homelessness sector including BGPS, ThriveLDN, one small thing, Respond, and the Association of Psychological Therpies.
St Martin’s Charity’s Frontline Network offers a training programme, where individuals and teams can access free training or apply for a grant to enable them to receive training to ensure their clients are well supported. Gary, Director of Care and Support and his Team at Druglink benefited from the programme and participated in training on Trauma Informed Practice, provided by Hilary Betts.
Homeless Link, a membership charity for organisations working with people experiencing homelessness. Have developed a toolkit to support homelessness services to become trauma informed.
