What is Floating Support?
Find out more about the Restricted Eligibility Support Service.
Floating Support refers to our work with people not currently living in Boaz houses. This support is for people living in unstable accommodation who are at risk of destitution, or those who are already experiencing homelessness because of their immigration status.
Our floating support work is holistic and includes (but is not limited to):
- Ensuring people have access to legal advice
- Offering practical help to relieve destitution
- Giving advice
- Signposting people to other services or organisations
With the relevant advice and information available, often people we support go on to access accommodation that they were previously unaware of being eligible for.
What is RESS?
RESS stands for Restricted Eligibility Support Service. Boaz currently delivers floating support as part of RESS, in partnership with the Booth Centre, and GMIAU (Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit).
The service supports people by offering immigration advice through Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit and floating support through Boaz and the Booth Centre.
As part of RESS, Boaz works with people with restricted eligibility from non-EU countries. The term 'restricted eligibility' includes people who have conditions attached to their immigration status that restrict their entitlements to claim benefits and access housing assistance (this can include those referred to as having No Recourse to Public Funds).
How did this work develop?
In 2019, we began to review our strategy, recognising that our waiting list was constantly growing, and that there were people on that list who might be eligible for accommodation elsewhere, if they just had access to the right kind of support and information. We therefore started to explore how we could offer support to people who weren't yet in Boaz accommodation.
This Floating Support model continued to evolve after the closure of the Boaz Night Shelter due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. At this point, we had some additional staff capacity and we were able to continue to support the men previously staying in the Boaz Night Shelter, who were given alternative accommodation in emergency temporary accommodation provided by the local authority.
Since then, thanks to some specific funding, we were able to continue piloting this work. We then received further funding to continue our Floating Support as part of RESS, working in partnership with the Booth Centre and Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit.
Refugee Floating Support
In addition to the floating support delivered through RESS, at the moment we are also offering floating support to people who are on our refugee housing waiting list. As a result of some specific short-term funding, we've been able to pilot this work from December 2023 through to the end of March 2024.