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Looking for P3 Housing Association?
Go to P3 Housing
Navigating the Third Sector can often be a challenge, particularly if you’re in crisis, looking for immediate support or are new to the not-for-profit sector and the terminology that comes with it.
While there’s lots of help available for people in need, the language used by the charity sector can sometimes be a barrier for people accessing support. The use of niche terms can make it unclear what charities and housing organisations can offer and while we’re actively committed to removing jargon from our own communications, we recognise that it may be helpful to explain some of the terminology used by the sector as a whole.
Support should be for everyone, so it’s crucial that the key terms we use are accessible for all those who work with us, seek help from us and support us.
Legally, all homeless prevention services across England must carry out an ‘assessment’ when someone applies for support. Unlike an exam, there are no right or wrong answers, it’s an opportunity to be completely honest about your situation so we can get a clear picture of what support you could benefit from and provide you with a support plan or accommodation that meets your needs.
Accommodation-based support is a safe space to live for people who need additional support to live independently. Typically for people who have mental health needs, disabilities or faced trauma, ABS combines housing help with support tailored to an individual’s needs. This can include a range of practical and emotional help to support people to rebuild, stay steady and move towards independence.
At P3, this involves us working directly with the people we support to create a tailored support plan that is trauma-informed and co-ordinated by a designated, trained support worker.
At P3, we don’t use ‘othering’ labels to define people, as these words and phrases carry a lot of unsaid meanings that contribute to the oppression and discrimination of people, adding to the stigma and barriers to seeking support.
Instead of labelling people by their experience and letting that define them for life, we recognise that it’s just that, an experience.
So instead of using words like ‘addicts’, we say ‘people with experience of addiction’, ensuring we don’t define the person by their experiences or circumstances. When searching for support, you might find it referred to as ‘addiction support’, ‘12-step programme’, ‘support groups’, ‘Alcoholics Anonymous’ or ‘peer support groups’.
Community-based support is help and advice delivered in local community spaces and places that people know and feel comfortable in, including people’s homes. This means offering flexible, person-centred support that fits into their daily lives and connects them to local services. Often community-based support is delivered as ‘peer support groups’, ‘talking circles’ or ‘self-help groups’, where people can get support and build friendships.
Community-based support can also be delivered on a one-to-one basis, such as through drop-ins or advice centres.
This is a broad term that refers to any type of support that benefits a local community and the people living in it. Homeless prevention support, wellbeing services, mental health support, accommodation-based support, supported housing and local community support hubs are all included in this catch-all phrase.
Community Mental Health Services provide flexible support for people experiencing mental health difficulties. These services deliver support in people’s homes or in local community spaces, rather than in hospital or formal settings. As well as emotional support and coping tools, community mental health services can connect people with specialists, activities and community networks.
At P3, we don’t use the term ‘clients’ or ‘customers’ as it takes the human element out of what accessing support is, people helping people. For this reason, we say ‘people we work alongside’, always putting the person first.
‘Early intervention’ is providing support before a problem gets bigger. It means spotting early signs that someone might be struggling and offering the right help at the right time. At P3, this can look like advice, drop-in sessions, floating support services that provide guidance before a situation escalates into something more serious, such as homelessness, eviction or personal debt.
‘Emergency accommodation’ is short-term housing provided to people who are homeless or at immediate risk of homelessness. This type of accommodation gives people a chance to find their feet while getting support to secure long-term housing options, as well as support for any mental wellbeing or health needs. Depending on a person’s circumstances, this support can be in place for a single night or continue for several weeks.
‘Entrenched homelessness’ is when someone has been without a safe, stable place to live for a long time, often going between the streets, temporary accommodation or crisis services.
While someone is considered legally homeless in the UK after 56 days, ‘entrenched’ or ‘long-term’ homelessness refers to situations where a person cannot settle into accommodation or repeatedly returns to homelessness after only short periods of being housed.
At P3, we don’t use ‘othering’ labels to define people as these words and phrases carry a lot of unsaid meaning that contributes to the oppression and discrimination of people, adding to the stigma and barriers to seeking support. Instead of labelling people by their experience and letting that define them for life, we recognise that it’s just that, an experience. So instead of using words like ‘ex-offender’, we say ‘people with experience of the criminal justice system’, ensuring we don’t define the person by their experiences or circumstances.
‘Floating support’ offers a broad range of support to help people live independently. Offering advice and guidance on everything from housing and employment to personal budgeting and wellbeing, floating support is a type of community support that helps people maintain their current housing and avoid homelessness. Floating support helps individuals who may be vulnerably housed, in temporary accommodation or transitioning from settings like hospitals or prisons.
Hoarding support offers bespoke support for people who experience difficulty in managing or letting go of belongings to the point that it affects their health or wellbeing. Hoarding support offers understanding and practical help. Based on trust, a support worker helps people experiencing hoarding can create a safer, more comfortable home environment at a pace that feels right for them.
At P3, we don’t use ‘othering’ labels to define people as these words and phrases carry a lot of unsaid meaning that contributes to the oppression and discrimination of people, adding to the stigma and barriers to seeking support. Instead of labelling people by their experience and letting that define them for life, we recognise that it’s just that, an experience. So instead of using phrases like ‘homeless people’ or ‘the homeless’, we say ‘people experiencing homelessness’ or ‘people with experience of homelessness’, ensuring we don’t define someone by their experiences or circumstances.
Homelessness prevention services offer a range of early support, advice and practical solutions to overcome challenges that could lead to homelessness. These services aim to keep people in safe and stable housing and are often delivered through community-based support or floating support services.
A hospital discharge service supports people to return home safely after a stay in hospital. Support could include helping to source safe accommodation or offering temporary accommodation if they have nowhere safe to return to for their recovery period. Hospital discharge services provide practical assistance and advice that fuel recovery and wellbeing. Hospital discharge services may also be called ‘intermediate care’, ‘reablement’, ‘discharge to assess’ or ‘community support’.
‘Local authority’ refers to the local council that runs public services for a specific geographic area. These services include hospitals, schools, council-funded housing, parks and social care.
A mental health crisis line offers immediate support to anyone experiencing mental distress or a mental health crisis. Providing a safe, confidential space to talk, a mental health crisis line offers guidance and access to help 24 hours a day. Someone might use a crisis line instead of 999 because they need urgent emotional support from mental-health professionals, but they aren’t in immediate danger and want a private, non-emergency way to talk things through.
Mental health support is support that helps people look after their emotional wellbeing and build the skills and resilience to cope with life’s challenges. It can include guidance, practical help and a plan created by a trained mental health professional.
At P3, we don’t use ‘othering’ labels to define people as these words and phrases carry a lot of unsaid meaning that contributes to the oppression and discrimination of people, adding to the stigma and barriers to seeking support. Instead of labelling people by their experience and letting that define them for life, we recognise that it’s just that, an experience. So instead of using words like ‘the mentally ill’ or someone is ‘mentally ill’, we say ‘people experiencing or with experience of mental ill health’, ensuring we don’t define someone by their experiences or circumstances.
A ‘Personal Independence Payment’, otherwise known as a ‘PIP’, is a benefit that helps people who have long-term physical or mental health conditions to manage the extra costs of daily living. It’s based on how a condition affects someone’s life, rather than the condition itself.
At P3, the term ‘people we support’ refers to individuals using our services. The words we use matter, so unlike common labels such as ‘clients’ or ‘customers’, this term reflects our belief in using respectful, neutral language that recognises that someone’s situation or experience doesn’t define their identity. This term is interchangeable with ‘people we work alongside’, something that emphasises collaboration, dignity and empowerment.
At P3, we don’t use ‘othering’ labels to define people as these words and phrases carry a lot of unsaid meaning that contributes to the oppression and discrimination of people, adding to the stigma and barriers to seeking support. So instead of using words like ‘poor people’, we say ‘people experiencing poverty’, ensuring someone is not defined by their experiences or circumstances.
Creating a ‘psychologically informed environment’ means seeing someone beyond their current circumstances. Taking a PIE approach means recognising that past trauma and difficult life experiences can shape how someone thinks, feels and behaves. Support is then tailored to meet that individual’s needs. PIE is one of the founding principles of our approach, alongside trauma-informed care.
Outreach teams are skilled at locating and engaging individuals who are visibly homeless, often on the streets in urban centres or people who are hidden in woods, parks and shelters. Outreach teams focus on providing immediate relief and crisis support to prevent further deterioration of a person’s situation, which could include offering emergency accommodation, support with seeking health checks or regular check-ins until someone is ready to receive support.
‘Safe Spaces’ is a term used to refer to safe, emergency accommodation that also provides advice and support for people who may need additional help securing long-term housing. Alongside housing support, this can include benefits support, homelessness prevention and mental health support.
While ‘Safe Spaces’ differ by regions and charities, at P3, this type of accommodation is in Gloucestershire. Usually, people accessing these services will come directly from rough sleeping and are then supported before moving into temporary accommodation.
Safeguarding refers to the actions we take to keep people safe from harm. It’s supported by many things, including our systems, policies, procedures and training. Safeguarding means noticing when someone may be at risk, listening to their concerns and acting quickly to protect them and ensuring that our own actions don’t put someone at harm. Upholding safeguarding is a legal obligation of all charities and statutory services (those provided by the government).
Substance-misuse support is specialist support that helps people who are struggling with drug or alcohol use. This support helps people to make positive, long-term changes, offering understanding and practical help. Recognising that substance misuse and addiction are often long-term, these specialist support workers support people with experience of addiction or substance misuse at a pace that feels right for them.
Supported accommodation provides a safe place to stay with a tailored support plan to help people access the resources and develop the skills and confidence needed to live independently.
Supported accommodation for young people provides a safe place to stay with a tailored support plan to help young people access the resources and develop the skills and confidence needed for their future.
At P3, our young people’s services support people between the ages of 16–25, with service design varying by accommodation type and individual needs. Some of our young people’s accommodation services also offer accommodation and support for young families.
A ‘support plan’ is a person-centred roadmap created with the person being supported and either a trained support worker or social worker. It captures someone’s goals, needs and anything in their past that they might need help overcoming or that might pose a challenge for them. A support plan also identifies what steps or milestones have been agreed to help the person achieve the goals they’ve set.
‘Temporary accommodation’ provides a short-term, safe place to stay for people who have lost their home or are waiting for more permanent housing. Often, people seeking temporary accommodation will need to be declared homeless by the local council before a community organisation or charity can house them.
While at P3, our ‘short-term’ places typically last up to 16 weeks, but like all housing support charities, this can vary widely, from just a few days in emergency accommodation to up to a year.
‘Tenancy support’ is a kind of practical support that helps somebody to manage and maintain their current housing, whether as a renter or a homeowner. Tenancy support can include helping people to understand complex paperwork, support with personal budgeting and bills, support managing neighbour relationships or help with repairs, whether that’s knowing your rights as a tenant or advice as a homeowner.
A ‘trauma-informed care approach’ means recognising the impact of trauma in shaping a person’s behaviour and choices, acknowledging that trauma looks different for everyone. This could be acute trauma from a single distressing event, chronic trauma from repeated exposure to stress or complex trauma resulting from multiple traumatic experiences over time. Embedding TIC into our approach is the foundation of our work, alongside working in a psychologically-informed way.
If there is a term you need help to understand or you are looking for support, visit our get support page, where we can help.
Used our services? If you think there is something that is missing from our list, please get in touch with us via email: comms@p3charity.org
