Hutt St Centre funding injection to support our most vulnerable

The State Government has announced it will provide $852,000 in transitional funding to Hutt St Centre, to enable the organisation to take on up to an additional 80 people experiencing homelessness between now and June 2022, providing them with intensive, long-term case management based on the Aspire program, which fully supports clients on their journey to homefulness.

The Aspire program is a Social Impact Bond (SIB) developed by Social Ventures Australia, which has been operated by Hutt St Centre and supported by the State Government. The program is supporting nearly 600 South Australians to end their homelessness by assisting them to avoid hospitalisations, emergency accommodation or contact with police and correctional services.

Under the terms of the SIB, Hutt St Centre has been prevented from taking on any new clients since July 2021. A government-initiated independent evaluation of the program is expected to be completed by April.

The transitional funding will allow Hutt St Centre to take on the new clients for long-term case management services.  If the evaluation is positive, Hutt St Centre hopes the government will commit to an ongoing program based on the Aspire model and maximising the lessons learned through the Aspire SIB.

Hutt St Centre Chief Executive Chris Burns said the lessons learnt from Aspire had informed them on how to provide the best level of case management support for those most in-need on their journey towards homefulness.

“The Aspire program has been the pathway to homefulness for hundreds of our most vulnerable people – it’s about long-term, intensive case management and it goes beyond putting someone under a roof and leaving them there unsupported,” Mr Burns said.

“We are working with people who have significant challenges in their lives, particularly when it comes to mental health and wellbeing, and if we can support them into meaningful housing, provide employment support, put them on a healthier pathway and connect them to community, it makes a significant difference to their life over a long period of time.”

The fourth-year results of the Aspire SIB are yet to be released. However, Mr Burns said in its first three years to June 2020, the program had saved the government $5.69 million in avoided costs, with 1,288 hospital bed days avoided, 212 convictions avoided, and 453 emergency accommodation periods avoided.

Hutt St Centre Board Chair Tim O’Callaghan thanked the State Government for the transitional funding to allow more vulnerable people to benefit from the lessons learnt through the Aspire program.

“On behalf of people experiencing homelessness in our community, we thank the State Government for this transitional funding,” Mr O’Callaghan said. “We can now continue to take on more complex clients and maintain our case management capability, pending final evaluation of Aspire.  This is a great thing for Adelaide and we are extremely grateful.”