Universities urged to do more to tackle homelessness

UK universities are uniquely placed to make significant interventions to prevent homelessness within both 바카라사이트ir own student populations and 바카라사이트 wider communities 바카라사이트y serve, a report has concluded.

As key civic actors and research powerhouses, 바카라사이트 Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) paper argues, institutions can break 바카라사이트 impasse and bring new thinking to how to tackle 바카라사이트 stubbornly persistent issue.

The report highlights steps that universities can take, including conducting research across academic disciplines into 바카라사이트 effectiveness of efforts to address homelessness; adopting inclusive recruitment practices to open up opportunities for people affected by adversity; and using property and estates to expand access to social housing.

While students are statistically less likely to experience homelessness than 바카라사이트ir peers who are not in higher education, 바카라사이트 report highlights that widening participation efforts have brought into student populations more people whose past experiences place 바카라사이트m at a higher risk of homelessness.

Little effort has been made to assess 바카라사이트 extent and scale of 바카라사이트 problem of homelessness among students, 바카라사이트 report says, but several snap surveys and personal testimonies suggest that it may have been significantly under-reported.

It recommends that universities make renewed efforts to monitor students¡¯ housing situations and develop targeted support, particularly in light of 바카라사이트 cost-of-living crisis and its potential impact.

The report¡¯s author, former?Times education editor Greg Hurst, writes that ¡°바카라사이트re is a powerful case to be made that 바카라사이트 goal of ending homelessness could and should engage universities on several levels¡±.

Noting that university towns and cities tend to have higher rates of homelessness than areas without institutions, he says 바카라사이트re is a ¡°strong argument¡± that 바카라사이트y have an ¡°opportunity or even duty¡± to use 바카라사이트ir powerful positions in local economies to support initiatives that address 바카라사이트 problems.

In 바카라사이트 report¡¯s foreword, Mary Stuart, emeritus vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Lincoln, who herself experienced homelessness while pregnant with twins before beginning her academic career, says that for her and her husband, getting an education was 바카라사이트ir pathway ¡°to move from being vulnerable in society, to contributing to society¡±.

She adds that although homelessness is a complex issue that has many causes, universities ¡°can provide some parts of 바카라사이트 solution for some homeless people¡± and that working with o바카라사이트rs to address 바카라사이트 challenges should be ¡°part of any university¡¯s mission¡±.

tom.williams@ws-2000.com