1. ‘Cared for Enough to be Involved’
Client Participation in the Homelessness Service System
Bethany Johnson, Community Programs – Housing
North West Metropolitan Region

2. Jeremy
‘Empowerment and participation make sense for consumers, because when you’ve experienced rejection you can see it. You’re sensitive to it. It reminds you of stuff in the past. I’m not liked or loved, but I need to know that I’m cared for, cared for enough to be involved.’

3. LASN Client Participation Project
A working group was established in 2010 in order to
Research and model best practice relating to client participation and feedback in homelessness services
Develop mechanisms to channel client perspectives into NWMR homelessness service system (HSS) strategic planning
Evaluate client experiences of HSS, especially in light of recent reforms
Working group is a partnership between
6 homelessness services
Community Programs – Housing

4. Client Participation in the Homelessness Context
Client-centric service system
Great diversity amongst clients
Protracted states of crisis
Experiences of social exclusion
Feelings of vulnerability to homelessness assistance services
‘If you have any negative comments on the service it’s like, “There’s the door.” ’

5. Key Learnings
A range of client participation strategies are in place across the region, but these aren’t visible to clients
‘We don’t have the opportunity to be involved.’
Clients are eager to offer insights, especially on structural issues
‘Case management meetings are about how I’m going. I want to look at the bigger picture.’
The particular participation strategy is of lesser importance than the availability and accessibility of opportunities for client involvement
Meaningful client participation has a range of benefits
‘I really enjoy interviewing peers as it’s inspirational to me to know that I’m not alone in what I’ve been through.’
Individual client-worker relationships are of utmost importance in facilitating meaningful client involvement
‘I have a new worker. She doesn’t really know me. She sorta talks about one thing too far that I don’t need to know about. I wouldn’t talk to her.’
Barriers to meaningful client involvement currently exist

6. Approach to Enhanced Client Involvement
Encouraging a more client-inclusive culture
Implementation of a strategy that is
Multifaceted
Able to collect informal feedback
Highly visible
Regular and ongoing
Cyclical
‘It would be good if you fed back to management, then management fed back to you.’

7. Potential Expansions Embedding a client-inclusive practice approach
Client participation as everyday practice rather than an adjunct to service delivery
Delivering client-driven services
Enhanced responsiveness and effectiveness
Broadening the scope of client involvement
Skills acquisition, social inclusion, empowerment