Guest blog: New Housing Related Support system launched

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Locata is ready to roll out its new Housing Related Support (HRS) system across the country.

The new launch was created in partnership with housing practitioners from Cheshire East who wanted a way to link applicants directly to support services.

The system went live in Cheshire East four weeks ago and acts as a referral portal for 10 services from four different providers.

It has already processed almost 500 applications for supported services (189 accommodation units and 155 floating support units) and placed more than 360 service users in support.

“HRS does exactly what we needed it to do by giving referring agencies one portal for applications for accommodation or floating support,” said Nic Abbott, Cheshire Homechoice Team Leader.  “It means we can clearly monitor our service providers contracts and report on their performance.

“Locata worked closely with our team to ensure that the system met our requirements and in true Locata style it has provided a simple solution to a complicated problem.

“We are quickly informed of voids and can in turn quickly fill them again taking account of our own priorities.  We are already saving time and money and seeing a more fluid turnaround of supported units in Cheshire East.”

The cloud-based software is available through G-Cloud and uses the successful HPA2 framework as its foundation, ensuring officers and clients enjoy a familiar and intuitive online experience.

The system seamlessly passes clients to the right support provider which can then give them the service they require. Each local authority can have as many providers as they wish on the platform and registrations can be accepted from multiple sources.

The HRS system is configurable so that potential partners can use the in-built flexibility to create a version of HRS that suits their needs.

The next system to go live will be in Monmouthshire.  They took a slightly different approach and wanted a time recording element incorporated so they can track the time a customer spends in support and the time that a support worker spends supporting customers.

Thanks to the inherent flexibility in HRS, this function is being built and will be delivered soon. One system, two very different partner outcomes.

To find out more, please contact Locata at info@locata.org.uk