Reconnection is the process by which services enable people sleeping rough who have a connection to another area where they can access accommodation and/or social, family and support networks, to return to this area in a planned way.

Many people who are rough sleeping in central London and other cities around the country do not originate in these areas and have moved away from another area where they have had accommodation and support networks in the past.

Reconnection interventions should take place for rough sleepers, particularly new arrivals, who have a link with an area where they have accommodation, employment, support networks (friends or family) or another connection. In this context reconnection of single homeless people is likely to be an intervention outside of statutory homelessness legislation and should not be confused with referrals made under the legislation for those in priority need.

It will not be appropriate to apply reconnections policies to every rough sleeper or single homeless person with out-of-area connections. An individual not having a local connection with the area where they present should not be an obstacle to being assessed and offered advice and assistance which may include support with a referral to services in their local area.

As part of a range of measures to tackle rough sleeping, reconnection plays an important role in reducing rough sleeping and it helps to:

• prevent people rough sleeping at an early stage becoming entrenched with all associated health and other problems
• support people to successfully move away from the street through accessing accommodation and support in a known area
• ensure agencies provide a coordinated multi-agency approach to support
• make sure that there are enough resources for to meet local need

Statistics
Statistics for reconnections of rough sleepers in London shows that in 2009/10, outreach teams reconnected 326 people to a home area or an area where they would be able to access services (Source: The CHAIN database that records all work done with rough sleepers by outreach teams, day centres and hostels). 61 people were reconnected in the quarter July – Sept 2010.

The Homeless Link site has further information about Reconnection, including examples of good practice from around the country, click here for more information.