Homeless hostels still need independent inspections, charities have been saying

People experiencing homelessness have long complained about what can happen when they enter the doors of a homeless hostel.

They can face bullying by staff, rules that stop those booked in from talking to each other, or being robbed and assaulted.

Those who don’t take drugs routinely complain about being placed sharing rooms with those who do.

But those entering Dublin’s homeless services in the coming months – just like those already stuck in them – will find that there is still no independent body that inspects the places they end up.

In July 2022, the government’s National Homeless Action Committee met to discuss whether HIQA should inspect homeless services, show records released under the Freedom of Information Act. But that idea has been shelved.

The committee includes representatives from homeless charities, councils, and central government departments. It is chaired by the Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien.

Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act, in response to a request for correspondence and submissions relating to the decision not to mandate HIQA, show that homeless charities said that inspections are still needed.

Depaul Ireland suggested a new agency could be established under the Housing Agency to do inspections.

Meanwhile, housing charities also raised wider concerns around standards within homeless services.

Pat Dennigan, the CEO of Focus Ireland, wrote to the Department of Housing in August 2022 to flag, among other issues, the need for drug-free beds.

“There is a growing level of homelessness among households with no pre-existing support needs,” he said.

“These individuals and families repeatedly call for some emergency accommodation to be ‘high threshold’ or ‘drugs free’,” said Dennigan.

“Dublin Simon noted that some PEA [private emergency accommodation] services are of a lower standard and this is affecting the reputation of homeless services,” says the report about the committee’s discussions.

Not HIQA

In July 2021, an interim report by a cross-party committee of senators and TDs, called for changes in the oversight of homeless services.

National standards should be fully in place in all hostels, it says, and independent inspections should be carried out by HIQA. (Also, the reliance on private hostels should be phased out, the report says.)

But the Department of Health hasn’t wanted to expand the remit of HIQA, says the report summarising the National Homeless Action committee’s July 2022 discussions.

“DoH is concerned to ensure the continued effectiveness of HIQA as a health and social care regulator and to avoid its effectiveness becoming diminished by overextension of its regulatory role,” they said.

In the run up to the meeting, David Carroll, CEO of Depaul Ireland also wrote to the committee to say that HIQA has a medical focus and standards for homeless services should be housing-led. Service users should be involved in drawing up standards, he said.

Still Missing Standards

The National Quality Standards Framework for homeless services is a comprehensive document that lays out the standards of care and rights that people living in emergency accommodation should enjoy.

It covers the standards of staff training, complaints and feedback, risk management as well as support to find a home.

However, the quality standards are not in use in the majority of homeless services in Dublin, which are run by private companies.

In January 2023, there were 5,946 adults in emergency accommodation in Dublin, shows data from the Department of Housing. Of those 2,335 were in hostels run by charities, where the national quality standards apply.)

“There should be a common standard across all funded service models, NGO or Private providers,” wrote Carroll to the Department of Housing in the run up to the July meeting.

Depaul Ireland also works in Northern Ireland, where the Northern Ireland Housing Executive is the main funder, wrote Caroll.

“I would reference the Supporting People Accreditation process that is operated by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive,” he wrote. “This is a process which evaluates whether organisations are fit for purpose to deliver housing led services, i.e a passporting system.”

The Northern Ireland Housing Executive examines financial standards as well as social care standards, he said. “If independence is an issue the Housing Agency may be the more appropriate agency to establish a National Oversight remit,” said Caroll.

Dennigan, CEO of Focus Ireland welcomed the fact that the Department of Housing has provided some guidance on standards, and recognised the hard work that went into it.

“We particularly welcome the guidance about separate youth/young adult facilities and the need for space where young people can interact with their families,” he said.

But, Dennigan wrote that he was disappointed that the Department of Housing’s guidelines for emergency accommodation only looked at building standards.

There is “no reference to practice, staffing levels, staff training/skills or even support to move on out of homelessness,” he said. Those are the issues people experiencing homelessness raise most often.

There is also a need for drug-free beds to cater to those people entering homeless services who do not use drugs, said Dennigan.

A spokesperson for the DRHE didn’t answer a question about whether it plans to increase the number of designated drug-free beds in emergency accommodation.

Those living in emergency accommodation have also flagged concerns about fire safety and staying in bedrooms with no windows.

A spokesperson for the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) said that in October 2022, it hired a company, Eamon O’Boyle and Associates, a fire-safety consultant, to carry out inspections of homeless hostels.

It will publish the inspection reports on its website in the coming weeks, it says.

Indicators

The DRHE spokesperson said that it has put in place training for staff in private hostels and introduced key performance indicators.

The performance indicators for private hostels are aligned with those of charity-run hostels “to ensure that standards are as consistent as possible across different accommodation types,” says the DRHE spokesperson.

Homeless charities provide support to people living in private hostels in line with the national quality standards framework, said the spokesperson for the DRHE.

To find out what standards are really like in a hostel, you need to talk to the people who live there, said Fr Peter McVerry, the anti-homeless campaigner, in January.

Inspection should focus on the quality of care in hostels and whether people feel safe in them.

“They really need to talk to the residents,” he said. “Did they find the hostel to be a place where they could live safely?”