HAART

HARRT is a specialist team of four people who provide an intensive through-care service to high tariff offenders and long term rough sleepers in Westminster who are challenging to work with. As an outreach team we can meet and engage with people anywhere, from the street and day centres, to police custody and prison.

Our goal is to house clients who have exhausted all other services in the borough, either due to the nature of their offences or because their behaviour prevents them entering accommodation safely.

We offer an inclusive service for each individual, regardless of their offending history and behaviour. Each care package is tailored to the individual and addresses every aspect of their behaviour and support needs. We involve our clients at every step of the way, encouraging them to make agreements with us to address and change problematic behaviour. We work very closely with other agencies including mental health and substance misuse teams, probation and the police.

The service does not stop once people are housed. We keep close contact with clients and their support workers, offering them continued support in line with their individual needs. We help those who were firmly on the outside of community to re-enter it and maintain their place in it.

We house around a hundred individuals a year - most of whom were unhousable before our intervention.

BERT'S STORY
When 'Bert' used to visit the West London Day Centre 12 years ago, we could tell how drunk he was by which Elvis songs he sang. But over 12 years the affable drinker evolved into a brain-damaged and often violent man. Local services and housing providers withdrew services. When Bert was referred to HARRT, we embarked on the often arduous journey of developing a trusting relationship with him over a long period of time. By co-ordinating care services, they established an effective through-care package that has resulted in Bert now being safely housed for seven months, his longest period of sustained accommodation yet.

Article printed from hindestreet.org.uk at 06:00 on 10 September 2010