Block 1

Introduction to Homelessness & Homelessness Reduction Act

Welcome

Welcome to the Locata Academy – an eLearning training portal to help develop the skills and expertise of homelessness officers in England.

We have designed the Locata Academy for local authority officers who are tasked with working to deliver all aspects of an authority’s homelessness service including prevention casework for applicants from households who are or who claim to be homeless and temporary accommodation. The Academy also includes units on housing register applications and lettings and how to improve interview skills.

The Beginners Section will take approximately 47 hours to complete and will give a thorough basis for working on Homelessness cases.

Caseworkers are commonly described as Housing Options Officers or Housing Solutions Officers, though there are other variations regarding job titles.

Other groups that will also be interested in completing the Locata Academy course include:

• New starters and apprentices who are new to the role with no or little prior knowledge.
• Council officers working in complementary services such generic Customer Advisors, Children Services and Adult Social Care.
• People who wish to pursue a career in local authority homelessness work.
• Voluntary sector staff working in homelessness who want to learn more about the homelessness legislation and the Homelessness Reduction Act and Statutory tests.
• Experienced local authority caseworkers wanting to refresh and update their knowledge.

In Block 1 we will provide a brief introduction to homelessness itself and then we will delve into the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, which is a significant piece of legislation aimed at tackling the root causes of homelessness and preventing homelessness from occurring.