Homelessness is a lifestyle choice according to Suella!

CvD66 thank you. What an inspiring read.

CvD66

Thank you for that interesting and informative post.

Where there is a will, there is a way.

Government has found a better way - blame the victim.

For those who are genuinely interested in what works to help the homeless, here is a twitter posting from a MP that has handled this issue well:
5 years ago Milton Keynes was dubbed ‘tent city’ by the media. Today, no one needs to sleep rough on our streets. How did we do this?
For starters we didn’t make tents a civil offence. Tents are a symptom, not the cause. Firstly you need somewhere that people can go so we built a shelter on the top floor of the old bus station. On the ground floor we brought together all voluntary and statutory services
So everyone has a warm and safe bed for the night and in the morning, they have access to all the services they might need from a cuppa and a friend to a GP and mental health services. This was no easy feat to get all homeless services to work together but it creates success
People who sleep rough lead chaotic lives and are very vulnerable to exploitation. They often have mental health conditions and self medicate to survive. Having services under one roof means they do not fall between the gaps and are treated as a whole person
The hairdressers and laundry means they can regain self respect. The number of people who have gone on from the Old Bus Station into employment and their own place is incredible because of the hard work of staff and volunteers
We still get many who do not succeed but we are there to catch them again. If you have been living on the streets for years, one night in a shelter is not going to solve all your problems. It takes persistence, patience and understanding
We still have some people that refuse to come in. 16 at last count to be precise. They are well known to the Council and are visited everyday to ask if they will accept help. My hope is one day they will. But if we force them, we are setting them up to fail.
Instead we need to support them. We need to remain humble and not treat them like children. Homelessness can happen to any of us. We must not forget this
So making tents a civil offence, creating a record is not the way to end rough sleeping Suella Braverman. Bringing together services both statutory and voluntary to embrace someone and help them up is the only road to success.
Let’s talk more about the underlying problems: lack of mental health provision, cuts in addiction treatment, lack of affordable housing and many other issues this government has made worse over 13 years in power

Correction. It’s 18 but they can access support until they are 25.
Some of my friend’s foster kids have gone on to Uni and others have really been supported very well to find employment and nice, modern flats.

Dinahmo

silverlining48

Many homeless people were in care, I knew quite a number who joined the military at 16 when they were discharged from care.
It’s well known that children in care rarely succeed in the education system. This is often due to frequent moves to new areas and changes in foster carers. When care finishes there is little support and people often struggle for many reasons. Life gets chaotic and they may become homeless, or end up in and out of prison. It’s all very sad.
CvD66 I hope your son gets some help. Single adults have more problems with housing. The sale of council housing with huge discounts has a lot to answer fir.

It's appalling that children are discharged from care at 16. I left home when I was 19 to move live and work in London. I did in the secure knowledge that my parents were there in the bank ground to support me if I needed help. I didn't.

Many 16 year olds appear to be worldly wise, but they aren't. They're still children and need help and support.

It’s not 16 any more. My friend fosters teenagers and pretty sure it’s 19 now.

Braverman is a disgrace.

Not sure deciding to be homeless is something some people actively choose, , it’s more that life gets in the way, things happen including mental health and drug issues.
Some people with a bad start cope better than others,

But Braverman has sowed the seeds now. Homeless people aren’t homeless because society has failed them. It’s their choice. Or they’re foreigners.

CvD66

Germanshepherdsmum & grannygravy - to dismiss 271,000 people as having addiction problems or not wanting to be part of society, are both sweeping generalisations. This problem cannot be dismissed merely as being the homeless person's fault although that is what Ms Braverman would have you believe!

I said that for some homeless people it’s the way to choose to live. Do you not understand the word ‘some’?

Not such a mess MayBee but we were lucky, some aren’t. I left home at 17 to live in London too, but wasn’t alone in the world, not that I had or expected any help from family . I coped, if I had no money left for gas or electricity I went without.

To be fair I stopped work 20 years ago, so maybe, hopefully, children have until 18, but so many can’t/don’t cope and given the frequent changes in their childhood it’s not surprising.

I did wonder about children in care because I was of the opinion that they were out on their own once they reach a certain age. I left home at 17 and made a right mess of my life. It’s pure luck that I ended up with a house, husband and children. I went into town with some lads that, unknown to me were shoplifting. That could have ended badly. Pure luck that I didn’t get pregnant during my hippy years. Ok that might have been my lifestyle choice but I was just downright naive. Wonder how many homeless men are the result of marriage breakdowns? And I thought ex servicemen don’t get the support they need when they leave the army? Is that another life choice?

silverlining48

Many homeless people were in care, I knew quite a number who joined the military at 16 when they were discharged from care.
It’s well known that children in care rarely succeed in the education system. This is often due to frequent moves to new areas and changes in foster carers. When care finishes there is little support and people often struggle for many reasons. Life gets chaotic and they may become homeless, or end up in and out of prison. It’s all very sad.
CvD66 I hope your son gets some help. Single adults have more problems with housing. The sale of council housing with huge discounts has a lot to answer fir.

It's appalling that children are discharged from care at 16. I left home when I was 19 to move live and work in London. I did in the secure knowledge that my parents were there in the bank ground to support me if I needed help. I didn't.

Many 16 year olds appear to be worldly wise, but they aren't. They're still children and need help and support.

MayBee70

She’s comparing the UK with San Francisco which does have a problem with rough sleepers. But the problem with San Francisco is it’s part of a country that doesn’t have a NHS or, from what I can gather, a social care system. Has it occurred to her that this country, thanks to her government, is going the same way as America. I still can’t get my head around her comments. As Home Secretary she’s making Priti Patel look like Mother Theresa. I was told recently but haven’t checked the validity if it that, when a refugee is granted settled status they then have 7 days to find new accommodation etc. I don’t know how much help (if any) they receive. As James O’Brien said, there’s a problem with homeless people living in tents so this governments solution is ‘take away the tents’! Almost unbelievable. And this woman is a Buddhist!

I know that was the case some years ago.
I was in the room with the asylum seeker when he was told you have to find your own accommodation now

Grantanow

I doubt Braverman is motivated by concern for tent dwellers. I think she is throwing 'red meat' to the Tory faithful, blimpish half-Colonels, blue rinses and the like. Most of her controversial pronouncements are to keep immigration, rough sleepers and similar issues to the forefront of Tory voters' minds for the General Election, to attract far-right voters who otherwise vote for Tice's Party and for her Leadership bid thereafter. I doubt Sunak will sack her because she says the things to keep the faithful interested which he doesn't want to say so as not to put off swing voters.

Yes

I doubt Braverman is motivated by concern for tent dwellers. I think she is throwing 'red meat' to the Tory faithful, blimpish half-Colonels, blue rinses and the like. Most of her controversial pronouncements are to keep immigration, rough sleepers and similar issues to the forefront of Tory voters' minds for the General Election, to attract far-right voters who otherwise vote for Tice's Party and for her Leadership bid thereafter. I doubt Sunak will sack her because she says the things to keep the faithful interested which he doesn't want to say so as not to put off swing voters.

Maybe it's a "lifestyle choice" in the sense that if you have no home and no friend or family's sofa to sleep on - it's the only choice left?

Many homeless people were in care, I knew quite a number who joined the military at 16 when they were discharged from care.
It’s well known that children in care rarely succeed in the education system. This is often due to frequent moves to new areas and changes in foster carers. When care finishes there is little support and people often struggle for many reasons. Life gets chaotic and they may become homeless, or end up in and out of prison. It’s all very sad.
CvD66 I hope your son gets some help. Single adults have more problems with housing. The sale of council housing with huge discounts has a lot to answer fir.

JaneJudge

I want to post what I want to post without minimising homelessness as I think rough sleeping and being homeless or being in inadequate temporary housing is a massive issue BUT I think there is a percentage or proportion of people who live in their cars/vans and wash at service stations etc and it is a choice so they can make money/work cash in hand and then move back to their own countries with their money (I know a few people like this through my own work and previous work, they are/were all men) that's the only people I know who do it as a choice and I don't think it is ideal

Oh, so it is down to foreigners again …Of course…

CvD66

Germanshepherdsmum & grannygravy - to dismiss 271,000 people as having addiction problems or not wanting to be part of society, are both sweeping generalisations. This problem cannot be dismissed merely as being the homeless person's fault although that is what Ms Braverman would have you believe!

Sorry, but I didn’t dismiss 271,000 people.

I merely pointed out a fact that hostels will not take addicts.

There are many homeless who are on the streets through no fault of their own, loss of jobs, marriage/relationship breakdown along with teenage runaways.

There should in the 21st Century be help available, I do not want to see tent villages in and around our towns like they have in the USA and France to name just two countries who also have a problem.

I have a son who is one step away from the streets. At the moment he is sofa surfing. He has just had a serious back operation and is awaiting a gastric op for complicated diverticulitis and other problems. His doctor and advisor at the benefit’s office are trying to get him some accommodation. He was a gardener by trade. Not an addict and pretty much teetotal. But…. Male, single and sick… not a chance of any sort of help from anyone in the housing department. It’s a very short step for all of us from a home to the streets.

P.S if people can't access it I'll copy & paste it

Very interesting twitter thread here about what Milton Keynes has done to help homeless in their area:

twitter.com/emily4MK/status/1721149388582531093

Clue; It wasn't by taking away their tents

Germanshepherdsmum & grannygravy - to dismiss 271,000 people as having addiction problems or not wanting to be part of society, are both sweeping generalisations. This problem cannot be dismissed merely as being the homeless person's fault although that is what Ms Braverman would have you believe!

I want to post what I want to post without minimising homelessness as I think rough sleeping and being homeless or being in inadequate temporary housing is a massive issue BUT I think there is a percentage or proportion of people who live in their cars/vans and wash at service stations etc and it is a choice so they can make money/work cash in hand and then move back to their own countries with their money (I know a few people like this through my own work and previous work, they are/were all men) that's the only people I know who do it as a choice and I don't think it is ideal

There are some homeless people who don’t want to be part of society or claim benefits MayBee. They want to live life on their own terms. Just some, not all of course.