The BCRPs 12 crime prevention days of Christmas - day 3

It’s day three of our 12 crime prevention days of Christmas and on today’s agenda is Change Grow Live (CGL).

CGL Outreach are commissioned to provide outreach to rough sleepers across the city, their team is split into outreach workers who support locally connected individuals and re-connection workers who support those who do not have a local connection.

They provide a 6 day a week service of outreach, going out to individuals who need support Monday – Friday 06:00 – 09:00 and two / three evening shifts per week from 20:00 – 00:00. They also cover SWEP (Severe Weather emergency Protocol) when it is activated and are based at the hotel to support incoming clients, as well as providing outreach to those rough sleeping to notify of the weather protocol.

Their main role is support those who are rough sleeping to access accommodation and to signpost them into services that can support them, they work within a multi-agency framework to ensure a holistic and client-centered approach. Once a rough sleeper is verified by their team, they will get allocated a worker who will complete an assessment to identify what their housing options and needs are and refer into necessary services.

They provide ongoing support and assertive outreach to those who are rough sleeping. They do this by working in partnerships with other agencies to provide outreach including the Mental Health Homeless Team, Health Engagement and Drug & Alcohol service.

Within the team there are specialist roles which each worker is responsible for, they currently have an ASB & Criminal Justice lead, Young Persons and Domestic Abuse.  They offer one to one support, group work, clinical interventions and talking therapies. They also have dedicated teams of nurses, recovery coordinators, outreach workers, counsellors, peer mentors and employment support specialists to support clients towards their recovery. Clients can self-refer or be referred by professionals on their website.

CGL are one of the organisations that the BCRP work closely with to share information to ensure needs are being met and measures put in place to address any concerns, whether that be to the client or to the wider community.