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RESPONDING TO THE NEEDS OF OLDER HOMELESS PEOPLE

The article examines why the statutory and voluntary- (non-profit) sector services in Britain do not fully meet the needs of vulnerable older people or prevent homelessness among them. Britain has a relatively comprehensive welfare safety net for vulnerable people, and since the early 1990s central government has taken a more directive and strategic role in the development of services specifically for homeless people. As a result, service provision has greatly expanded, diversified and specialized, but nonetheless, many older people still become and remain homeless. An underlying reason is that there is a gap between the behaviour of some very vulnerable people and the general assumption of the welfare state services that people in need will request help. Some older people, through mental health problems, alienation or apathy, do not ask for help, and the lack of a duty among most statutory services to ‘seek out’ unmet needs means that this group is neglected. Outreach work or active case finding is not normally undertaken by mainstream health and housing providers, while its provision by voluntary organizations has until recently been limited to the largest cities. Moreover, government policies and many homeless services target the needs of young homeless people, and consequently the organization and ‘culture’ of many homeless services are unsuited to the problems and needs of older homeless people. The article concludes with a discussion of the uncertain future for services for older homeless people in Britain.