When Lambeth police shut down local crack dens, four agencies united to stop the women who live in them from falling further into drug use and sex work. The innovative scheme they came up with has won this year's Andy Ludlow Award for good practice in tackling homelessness.
When police in Lambeth launched a drive to close down the borough's crack dens last November, there were concerns about what would happen to the evicted addicts – many of them prostitutes. The director of the Lambeth Crime Prevention Trust, Harriet Smith, was given just 24 hours to find a solution. Eight months on, the solution Smith and her colleagues came up with – the Working Women's Crack Project – has won this year's Andy Ludlow Award and £8000 in prize money.

The scheme turned a hostel into a place for the prostitutes to resettle and seek help for their addiction. Its success rate is impressive: of an estimated 102 prostitutes on Lambeth police's books, 56 have been helped by the project. Three are in second-stage housing (hostel accommodation for abused women who are not quite ready to move into independent accommodation), another three have started detox or rehabilitation programmes and seven have been encouraged onto a methadone programme.

The award judges were certainly impressed. Tony Newman, chairman of the panel and chair of housing for the Association of London Government, says: "It was a genuinely innovative project tackling some very bold and tough issues. There are very few projects tackling this problem, so for this team to make such a go of it in such a short amount of time is a great achievement."

Smith says this success is down to the scheme's partnership between four different agencies – Lambeth Crime Prevention Trust, the Stockwell Project, St Mungo's Housing Association and Lambeth council's substance misuse team. First, the Crime Prevention Trust, which is part of Lambeth council, joined up with the Stockwell Project, a direct-access agency that deals with substance users in the area – it is part of the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust. Smith and Mick Collins, team leader of the Stockwell Project, came up with the idea of giving the prostitutes a stable place to stay and, from there, helping them into rehab, detox, housing and education.

Last November, they linked up with St Mungo's, which now provides the scheme with a 10-bed hostel for the women to stay in and two staff to work with them, and the substance misuse team to help get the women off crack, assessing them for rehab and detox.

Of the initial £119,000 Home Office funding, £43,000 went to the trust, £20,000 went to St Mungo's and social services received £56,000 to cover detox and rehab services. The £8000 Andy Ludlow prize money will most likely be spent on supporting the outreach worker who works with the team. Now, the partners are waiting to hear if they have got a further three years' funding from the Home Office.

The scheme receives referrals from hospitals, general charities and care workers, or local charities such as Mainlines, Spires and Streatham Streetlink, which work with prostitutes and help them to deal with legal, health, housing and drug issues. The Stockwell Project then assesses the women's suitability for the programme and provides access to health and addiction treatment.

As well as providing accommodation, the programme helps the women to get medical treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, provides classes on a range of subjects from IT to cooking and has a programme to help them get into second-stage housing.

"Most of the women are very determined," says Sue Clark, manager of St Mungo's substance misuse team. "We don't push people. The human cost is far too great, because failure will result in the woman becoming more depressed as a result and may destroy any chance of rehabilitation."

One ex-prostitute who lives at the scheme says: "Coming here has been the best thing I could have done. My life has started to get better and I can take each day as it comes. Just having a safe place to stay is great."

Another woman who came from a crack house is now in detox, has been reunited with her son and has applied to do a course at university. "When she joined, she wanted to see her son again and she made sure she did everything she could," says Liz McDonnell, women's services co-ordinator for St Mungo's substance misuse team. "It was emotional when she saw him again. Another young woman saw her mother again for the first time in 10 years."

Yet working with such vulnerable clients presents huge challenges – about 26% have not been in stable housing for more than five years, 53% have been sleeping in crack houses at the time of referral and 45% have a history of depression. Staff are realistic about success rates and are aware that some of the women may well return to their old lives almost immediately after leaving the scheme. "It's hard, but it happens," says Clark.

Nonetheless, the team hopes more councils will work with local agencies to launch similar projects. "We want it to become bigger, with more local authorities taking up the programme," says Smith.

The Runners-Up

£5000 - prize St Mungo’s housing advice service for short-term prisoners at HMP Pentonville

Set up in November 2000, the service has given advice to 1900 remand prisoners and prisoners serving less than 12 months in the past year alone. Three workers help prisoners to maintain tenancies while inside, and to find accommodation on release. The prize money will go towards a skills training programme. £2000 - prize Mosada Centre for single women in east London

A self-help organisation for single and homeless women in hostels, Mosada was launched in July 1999 and offers one-to-one job searches, group support sessions and training programmes to help women develop writing and communication skills. There are also programmes on sexual health awareness and weekend trips outside London. The £2000 prize money will be spent on a confidence-building adventure weekend. £1000 - prize The London Refuge for Runaway Children

Run by the St Christopher’s Trust and the NSPCC since April 2001, this project is a direct-access emergency refuge for runaways and homeless young people. Last year, it helped 205 children – almost half of these were reunited with their families, a quarter found homes in local authority care. The eight-bed unit has 24-hour care and users can stay for up to two weeks while staff mediate with families or carers. The prize money will be used in the refuge’s outreach programme for children and their families after users go home. £1000 - prize Depaul Trust

Launched last July, the trust has helped 24 young homeless people learn web design and maintenance. The £1000 will go towards an online music station and securing free access for homeless people to the trust’s site at internet cafes and telephone booths across London.

Source

Housing Today

Postscript

The Andy Ludlow Award is run by the Association of London Government's London Housing Unit and sponsored by Housing Today. It recognises innovation and good practice in tackling homelessness. The awards are open to all agencies, public and voluntary. Andy Ludlow was a respected director of housing and social services at Newham council in east London. After his death in 1997, fellow directors of housing set up this award scheme in his honour.