Inter-Departmental Homelessness Action Plan Year 2

The Inter-departmental Homelessness Action Plan (IDHAP) is a rolling plan that will evolve over the five years of the NIHE’s Homelessness Strategy. The Department for Communities (DfC) has recently published the Year 2 Action Plan.

The IDHAP, published in November 2017, was developed to complement the NIHE’s Homelessness Strategy 2017-22. The plan focuses on “addressing gaps in those non-accommodation services that have the most impact, or have the potential to more positively impact, on the lives and life chances of people who are homeless and those who are most at risk of homelessness.”

This year 2 action plan was developed following mixed feedback from the homelessness provider sector on the year 1 action plan. They agreed that the plan was successful in that it brought together, for the first time, homelessness actions from a number of Government Departments into a coherent action plan. However, it was felt that the plan needed to do more to make a tangible difference in peoples’ lives. 

Priority areas

It was agreed that priority areas for year 2 of the IDHAP would remain the same as in year 1, namely:

1. Health and wellbeing, including mental health and substance misuse.
2. Education and awareness raising – children, young people, schools and providers.
3. Support for those leaving places of care, children’s residential and foster care, prisons, hospitals, mental health facilities.
4. Support for families including support for those experiencing domestic violence, and community support mechanisms.
5. Employability, financial capability and access to benefits.

A total of 13 actions from these priority areas were taken forward for 2019/20 with expected Outcomes and Milestones identified for each. In addition, responsible owners/policy leads were identified for each action. For further details of the year 2 actions and outcomes please see Annex A of the Year 2 Action Plan.