B Miles Women's Foundation

SHS provider

B Miles Women's Foundation

Objectives
B Miles Women’s Foundation is a Specialist Homelessness Service (SHS) that operates within the City of Sydney Local Government Area. BMWF supports women living with a mental illness who are experiencing homelessness, or are at risk of homelessness. The Foundation’s primary objectives are to resolve and prevent homelessness by providing flexible service delivery comprised of crisis accommodation, transitional housing and 
outreach support. B Miles Women’s Foundation works in collaboration with mainstream services and housing providers using an integrated, client-centred approach that is tailored in intensity and duration based on the particular circumstances of each woman, and her experiences and choices. The Foundation’s programs assist women to stabilise their circumstances, to build their capacity to maintain or progress to longer-term living arrangements, and to sustain mental health stability.
Description

B Miles Women’s Foundation is highly effective at resolving homelessness experienced by women who are impacted by mental ill-health. The efficacy of the Foundation’s programs is largely due to the Foundation’s specialisation in the domain of mental health. The Foundation is highly regarded by service users, health services and the SHS sector for its commitment to providing specialist care to women in recovery from homelessness/housing instability, trauma and mental ill-health. By working in partnership with local health services, clinicians and philanthropists, the Foundation ensures that clinical services are accessible for women in recovery from mental ill-health. The partnership between B Miles Women’s Foundation and St Vincent’s Mental Health Service ensures that women are clinically supported, particularly after admissions to inpatient mental health units. The Foundation provides a Clinical Services Program that makes both individual and group psychological therapy available to women in contact with SHS and housing providers in the Sydney Metropolitan area. The specialist Case Management provided by B Miles Women’s Foundation achieves excellent outcomes for women largely due to its biopsychosocial approach and focus on relapse prevention and early intervention. This focus has brought about not only reduced rates of acute care interventions and hospitalisations, but also increased rates of sustained tenancies. Moreover, client-focused wellness planning enhances sustainable housing outcomes by enabling women to maintain well-being and self-determination in their lives. The hallmark of B Miles Women’s Foundation’s service model is cross-sector collaboration with health and housing providers. This model ensures that women are best supported in their recovery so that homelessness is not only resolved, but is also prevented from recurring.

Good practice features

B Miles Women’s Foundation annual data consistently demonstrates excellence in ending homelessness for one of the most vulnerable groups in our community; women impacted by mental-ill health, with experiences of complex trauma, instability and housing crisis. See results below.

Outcomes

Case Management Results: 2016-2017 Financial Year B Miles Supported Accommodation Program accommodates women are who primarily assessed as having high and complex needs. 92% of women accommodated in the crisis accommodation program exited to transitional housing, affordable housing, a Housing NSW tenancy, or moved in with family or friends. This outstanding achievement is an indicator of the Foundation’s efficacious intake and assessment processes, risk management practices, and advocacy. Transitional Housing and Outreach Support: 84% of women accommodated in transitional housing moved into

Lessons learned

The services and programs of B Miles Women's Foundation are subject to continual quality improvement processes that involves stake holder and client feedback.

Timeframe
Evaluated
Yes
Client group
Aboriginal peoples
FaCS District
Sydney, South Eastern Sydney & Northern Sydney