Posted: June 11th, 2015

Housing, Professionalism and Troubled Families

Housing, Professionalism and Troubled Families

Report for your organisation of approximately 2,250words(excluding Bibliography)  on an analysis of housing as a profession in relation to the government’s ‘troubled families’ initiative.
2.  Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH)
An important theme of the Chartered Institute of Housing’s course requirements is a focus on the reflective practitioner in relation to the role of professionalism for housing policy and practice. The Chartered Institute of Housing requires that you have a critical awareness of:-
•    History of the CIH;
•    Current role and actions of the CIH; and
•    Professional code of conduct.

A key reference is the CIH website  – see, for example, http://www.cih.org/Home and  http://www.cih.org/whoweare
3.     Troubled Families
The UK Coalition Government has placed considerable emphasis on tackling the issues of ‘Troubled Families’. There is a specific section of the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) website covering this topic – see http://www.communities.gov.uk/communities/troubledfamilies/
http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/2158691
From a housing organisation and professional perspectives, the following points should be noted:
•    The programme centres on co-ordinated actions to join up specific initiatives such as tackling crime and anti-social behaviour, better partnership working and addressing worklessness. All of these are central to the agendas of housing organisations.
•    Housing organisations, thus, will already have a range of specific policies and procedures but they must be more effectively co-ordinated with partners.
•    There are a number of linked policy initiatives including community & neighbourhood budgets, restorative practice and payment by results.
•    The troubled families programme overlaps with other national and local policy initiatives and issues e.g. addressing the implications of the urban riots in summer .
•    From a housing professional perspective, these developments raise challenges and opportunities. For example, there will be a need to work more effectively with other professions e.g. education, health and social care. There will also be an increasing emphasis on pooled budgets rather than ring-fenced funding. Finally, there will be an even-greater focus on performance management and contracts
4. Task Activities

In order to successfully prepare for and complete the final report submission, you are strongly advised to adopt the following approach.
For this third year assignment, you are required to submit a report with an excellent structure and format along with high quality referencing in the text and in the bibliography.
•    Find out about the government’s troubled families initiative (see above) and yourHousing organisation’s policies and procedures around this topic. (Troubled Families)
•     Consider critically the relevance of community & neighbourhood budgets, restorative practice and payment by results.
•    Find out about the CIH (see above)
•    Analyse the implications of the troubled families programme and initiatives such as restorative practice for housing as a profession and for management and leadership in and between housing organisations.
5.  Assessment Criteria
•    These are:-
•    Adequate awareness of the troubled families programme and its implications for your organisation (20%).
•    Analysis of the implications of the troubled families programme for professionals working in the housing sector and the role of the CIH and its Code of Conduct (30%).
•    Analysis of the implications for the housing profession and your organisation of new policy initiatives (e.g. community & neighbourhood initiatives, restorative practice and payment by results) with particular reference to troubled families (30%).
•    High quality report including appropriate structure and format as well as identification, use and referencing of source material (20%).

6.  Additional Information on Troubled Families
Local Government Chronicle:
http://www.lgcplus.com/5051797.article

Inside Housing:
http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/tenancies/on-the-casey/6523962.article
Also search Inside Housing website on community budgets and troubled families
As well as the DCLG website, weekly local government magazines (Local Government Chronicle and Municipal Journal) frequently have news items on this issue as does the Guardian in its society section and the professional network section. In relation to the latter, see for example – http://www.guardian.co.uk/public-leaders-network/blog/2012/may/21/troubled-families-local-services?INTCMP=SRCH

Journals & Magazines
Harvard Business Review
Inside Housing
Local Government Chronicle or Municipal Journal
Public Money & Management
The Guardian: Wednesday Society Supplement

Websites
Chartered Institute of Housing: www.cih.org
Department for Communities and Local Government: www.communities.gov.uk
Guardian Society and Guardian Professional Network: www.guardian.co.uk/society, http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian-professional and http://www.guardian.co.uk/housing-network.
Homes and Communities Agency: www.homesandcommunities.co.uk
Parliament Libraries Briefing Notes and Papers: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/research/briefing-papers/
Inside Housing: http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/
National Housing Federation: http://www.housing.org.uk/

Useful and thought provoking material on housing professionals and working in housing include:
Aers R (2009): Enough’sEnough: Roof March / April, pp 26-8. A thought-provoking article by a disillusioned homelessness caseworker.
Casey R (2008): On Becoming a Social Housing Manager: Housing StudiesVol 23 No 5, pp 761-780. A useful article on how housing managers see themselves.
Furbey R et al (2001): Housing Professionalism in the United Kingdom – the Final Curtain or a New Age?:Housing, Theory & Society, Vol 18, pp 36-49. This a thought-provoking article on the future of the housing profession.
A key reference on collaboration & partnerships, contracts and performance management is:
Flynn N (2012): Public Sector Management; London, Sage, 6th Edition, Chps 6, 10 and 12.