CHAIN News

CHAIN Expansion Project 2007/08

During 2007/08 we aim to expand CHAIN to a number of new agencies, offering them access to view and share data on their clients. This page provides the information needed for agencies to find out more about using CHAIN.

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Uses and benefits of CHAIN

CHAIN is London’s most comprehensive and widely used database on homelessness, rough sleeping and the street population. It is used by dozens of agencies and projects who work with this vulnerable client group.

By having access to CHAIN, agencies and workers can find information about their clients which may help in support planning and linking clients in with available services. CHAIN presents the history of a client’s engagement with services such as outreach teams, hostels, day centres and resettlement teams. It also holds information about clients’ support needs.

One of the main advantages of CHAIN to frontline teams is that they do not need to start with a ‘blank slate’ when they meet a client for the first time. CHAIN data provides valuable background information which the worker can refer to in planning support for their clients.

Headlines Figures                              back to top ^

As of June 2007, 17 outreach/BBS teams, 55 accommodation projects (hostels, rolling shelters etc.), 3 resettlement teams, 11 day centres and numerous other agencies such as JHTs, advice services and medical services are linked in with CHAIN.

Approximately 4,000 clients on CHAIN are worked with every year and have information about the work carried out with them recorded by frontline workers.

Quotes from satisfied CHAIN users in our 2006 user survey:                                               back to top ^

“CHAIN is a very reliable source of information on the status of rough sleepers and is used to check a resident's past history or even current whereabouts.” (CHAIN hostel worker)

“Information from CHAIN gives a lot of detail about the clients we are working with. It helps to choose the right support to provide for the clients. It also gives history of clients’ rough sleeping and street activity.” (CHAIN outreach worker)

“The CHAIN team is a committed and professional group of people that always give their full support whenever I have needed it.” (CHAIN hostel manager)

Get Involved                                      back to top ^

As part of CHAIN’s strategy to continue to be a useful and comprehensive a tool for the whole sector, we are encouraging more projects to get involved by using CHAIN and providing information which will benefit other users. As present we are focussing on offering access to new agencies who may want to simply view CHAIN data or to also provide their own updates (e.g. arrivals and departures from projects) via email which will then be logged onto CHAIN on their behalf.

Case Study                                         back to top ^

This is an example of a client and the information recorded about them on CHAIN:

Dave was seen bedded down on the street in Westminster early this year by a Building Based Service (BBS) team, who verified him as a rough sleeper. With the Dave’s consent they input his basic personal information onto CHAIN. Dave was signposted to his local BBS, where he arrived a few days later. A project worker assessed his support needs and institutional history, identifying that he had previously been in prison and needed support around alcohol. This information was recorded on CHAIN. The BBS worker booked Dave into the rolling shelter in Westminster, but he did not arrive to take up his place there and continued to be contacted on the streets of Westminster for another two weeks.

Following this Dave was contacted by another outreach team, this time in Lambeth. After two street contacts he engaged with the team and agreed to go into the rolling shelter in Lambeth where he was successfully booked in. After two more weeks he was able to be referred to a longer-stay hostel in Lambeth which offers a specialist service for clients with alcohol support needs.

During his stay, the hostel workers were able to help Dave achieve a benefits claim and register with a GP. Two months later a resettlement worker assessed Dave as ready for move-on and submitted an application to the Clearing House for RSI property. Three months later he attended a property viewing and accepted the offer of a Studio flat in Hackney, where he had had a local connection. After Dave was resettled his case was handed over to a Tenancy Sustainment Team.

All of the key outcomes throughout this process were recorded on CHAIN. As Dave moved between agencies there was an accurate history of the work carried out with him as well as his support needs. This allowed workers and projects to direct Dave towards the appropriate services and a positive outcome was achieved.

For more information, please contact the CHAIN team:

chain@broadwaylondon.org
020 7089 9516