Our work with Boarding House residents Boarding House Outreach Services (BHOS) supports occupants and owners of general boarding houses in six inner west Local Government Areas (LGAs), including parts of the City of Sydney, the Inner West (formerly Leichhardt, Marrickville and Ashfield LGAs), Canterbury-Bankstown, Burwood, Canada Bay and Strathfield.
The Boarding House Outreach Service which is funded as part of the NSW Government’s Specialist Homelessness Services reform program ‘Going Home Staying Home’. Newtown Neighbourhood Centre is the lead agency overseeing the service delivery, and we work in partnership with the Community Restorative Centre (CRC) and Women and Girls Emergency Centre (WAGEC).
BHOS provides ongoing case management support to occupants of boarding houses who are at risk of homelessness or those who have just become homeless and are looking to move into a boarding house. Case management support is tailored to meet the needs of individual clients and the staff work from a person-centred, strengths-based approach.
Case workers support boarding house occupants, within the context of an outreach model of service. The outreach model means that clients can meet with staff in a variety of community settings, rather than in one office setting. Our aim is to work in partnership with clients to address and resolve the underlying causes of their housing insecurity and work towards achieving ongoing housing security.
The Boarding House Outreach Service is staffed by a manager, and two team leaders who support a team of case workers.
As part of our case management support, clients are supported to access mainstream and specialist services.
