The Health and Social Care Secretary has announced that £1.9 million will be given to councils by Public Health England to help improve the health of rough sleepers. The funding will be awarded to projects that improve access to health services and continuity of care for people with mental ill-health and substance misuse problems who are sleeping rough or at risk of returning to rough sleeping. 
This could include:
• ‘in-reach’ care models where specialist substance misuse or mental health workers run sessions in hostels or day centres
• ‘outreach’ models where specialist workers support rough sleepers at street level
• targeted interventions such as peer health advocacy that supports individuals to access and attend health appointments
Many people who are sleeping rough experience mental and physical illness and have substance misuse needs.
Rough sleepers face more barriers accessing health services, particularly those living with mental illness or substance misuse.
This can contribute to a ‘revolving door’, leaving individuals repeatedly in and out of stable accommodation.
The government’s Rough Sleeping Strategy was announced last August and aims to halve rough sleeping by 2022.
For further information and to apply, visit: www.gov.uk/government/news/funding-released-to-help-rough-sleepers-living-with-mental-illness, or email: [email protected].
Deadline: Friday 5 July 2019, 17:00