SOCIAL HOUSING ADVOCACY AND SUPPORT PROGRAM (SHASP) 

SHASP provides services that assist public housing tenants, prospective public housing tenants and Aboriginal Housing Board tenants to sustain their tenancies, with the aim of preventing homelessness.

The SHASP/ISHASP service has six main types of assistance for tenants:

• Establishing successful tenancies by providing new tenants, who have a high risk of tenancy failure,  with case support.

• Intervention, where a tenancy is breaking down, to resolve factors placing the tenancy at risk.

• The provision of advocacy for tenants experiencing major difficulties and who are unable to advocate on their own behalf in their dealings with the Office of Housing (OoH) or their social housing provider.

• Assistance to early housing applicants, who are not homeless, or receiving support from another program, in establishing eligibility when this requires advocacy and support.

• Providing support to tenants to participate in consultative forums on issues relating to their housing, and support existing public tenant groups and emerging tenant groups in their development as representative bodies of public housing tenants.

• Providing support to community facilities.

 Establishing Successful Tenancies (EST)

The EST component of the SHASP program provides for up to six months of case support for public housing tenants identified as being at-risk due to pre-existing or compounding social or economic factors. Clients who qualify for EST support are identified by the Office of Housing and referred to PACT Community Support prior to an offer of housing. Clients can also be referred by a community sector worker and if identified should be ‘flagged’ with the Office of Housing when they assist with the application process for housing.

The case support offered over the six-month period follows normal case management principles and practices including:

• Initial assessment

• Problem identification

• Goal setting and case planning

• Plan implementation and service co-ordination

• Exit planning and case closure

• Evaluation

A Tenancy Action Plan (TAP) is developed in conjunction with the client and forms the case plan for the support period.

 Indicators of SHASP support need may include:

• Eviction history due to previous tenancy breaches

• History of rental arrears

• Rental property abandonment

• Conflict due to communication issues between the tenant and the Office of Housing

• Previous neighborhood dispute issues

• Previous or current Centrelink breach issues

• Relocation from a metro to a rural area

• Applications approved for family reunification

• Applicants who have no support at the time of an offer of housing, other than Segment 3 applicants, who are identified as requiring EST support.

• Approved special accommodation requests based on substance usage, mental health, or domestic violence issues.

Intervention at risk tenancies (IART)

The IART component of the SHASP program provides for up to 20 hours of early intervention over a three-month period (negotiable) for those public housing tenants identified as being at risk of eviction and subsequent homelessness.

IART will work with tenants who have breached their tenancy conditions by:

• Being in  rent arrears

• Engaging in anti-social behavior

• Damaging or not maintaining property

• Any other significant breach which may lead to eviction.

A Tenancy Action Plan (TAP) is developed in conjunction with the client and forms the case plan for the support period.

Advocacy

The Advocacy component of the SHASP service provides direct advocacy for tenants in Office of Housing properties. Advocates assist tenants with the:

• Preparation of applications for VCAT hearings for repairs, compensation and any other Office of Housing breach of duty.

• Representation of tenants in these matters.

• Defence at VCAT hearings for evictions, rent arrears, compensation and anti-social behavior.

• Applying for VCAT re-hearings for MCAT debts when meritorious.

• Lodgment of internal appeals with the Office of Housing.

• Making applications for disability upgrades.

• Advocacy to prevent matters appearing at VCAT.