Showing posts with label Housing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Housing. Show all posts

Friday, 24 May 2013

Carers or Captors?





Report to the Home Affairs Select Committee Inquiry on asylum
By Flo Krause, Farah Damji and Nanki Chawla

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1      This submission examines asylum through a gendered lens, with a focus on housing as a human right. Through our interactions with the women tenants of G4S  we propose policy recommendations with regards to both housing and the contracts and subcontractors in charge of this.
2      We conclude that the current asylum system fails women as a particularly vulnerable group, and must be overhauled in its entirety in order for gender mainstreaming to take place. We assert that housing contracts should only be given to housing associations, rather than corporations, and suggest the Housing First model as an alternative to the current system. We urge an immediate review of the current contractors, in order to assess their capabilities in fulfilling their current mandate, and to ensure that the vulnerable are not being ignored. We also point out that accountability mechanisms and transparency processes are vital to ensuring a fairer, more inclusive new system. We call for trauma sensitivity training for the officials which interact with this group of vulnerable people.


 “The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.”
Maya Angelou 

This is an extract from a report to the Home Afairs Select Committee on asylum, that will be published  in parliament on June 4 2013 at an event hosted by Jeremy Corbyn MP. For further information please email info@kazuri.org.uk

Thursday, 25 April 2013

Interns Ahoy!


Friday  26 April 2013

NEW VACANCY: Internships x 2  (London Office and Cardiff office)




 Interns ahoy! We need two interns, one based in Cardiff and one based in London. These positions are to support Kazuri staff and volunteers with the plethora of activities we are engaged in and we have coming up including our women in prison  sustainable housing program

our women's prison councils pilot 

and our event in  Parliament to mark the publication of our report  "Captors or Carers" questioning the role of  private sector security companies delivering housing for vulnerable women seeking asylum in June, hosted by three notable MPs.



Job title: 2 x Interns,  social justice and media  / policy
Location: London and Cardiff
Salary: Voluntary, although reasonable travel expenses are reimbursed
Hours: 4-5 days a week for 8-12 weeks (flexible)

Context

Our Mission: Kazuri is founded on the ethos that sustainable housing is  a basic human right, from which a traumatised woman can rebuild shattered social bonds and start to put some order into a chaotic lifestyle. We deploy the successful model known as Housing First, you house the person safely and sustainably then you build the bespoke  services around her that she needs.

 Kazuri gives a voice to the most marginalized in our society, women who have suffered trauma through domestic violence, incarceration or  as a result of multiple exclusion and by campaigning at the highest levels, we seek to challenge policy where it is unfairly biased against women and ex offenders. Our mission is to mainstream the  offender's resettlement experience, show the larger community that we are all responsible for successful reintegration,  so  she can embark upon her personal journey towards desistance.

 Why we’re effective:  Kazuri is effective because  it is founded on the principles of justice and human rights, fair access to services and sustainability  ours is not a model which engenders dependency but one which empowers  independence. We ask our service users to undertake a minimum of 5 hours of volunteering in the community with a social enterprise or charity to  strengthen their own community bonds.

Kazuri is a social enterprise founded by former offender Farah Damji, whose own experiences of the criminal justice system inform her approach to transforming justice and the experiences of women in prison.  A notable writer and journalist, Farah founded Kazuri to provide housing in the private rented sector for women leaving prison or refuges.  Kazuri  works in successful partnerships with third sector and private enterprise, for   innovative solutions  to entrenched problems: disrupt, challenge, transform. Today, Kazuri is supported by government departments, members of parliament and leading academics and thinkers, a testament to the resilience of the model and our "STICKABILITY" in a commissioning  landscape which has become  a byword for failed policy and dogmatic approaches which do not reduce reoffending rates .


Our impact:  Kazuri offers a model of support through resilience training, volunteering and engaging with the mainstream, our service users and tenants are expected to become stakeholders in society, thereby being part of the solution and no longer seen as the problem. Our report to the Justice Committee, "Sex in the System" was praised by MPs, policy makers and grass roots practitioners who commended the practical policy framework advocated by the leading thinkers such as Flo Krause, Julia Gibby and Imran Khan  who contributed to the  report. These  human rights practitioners  challenge injustice daily and have been instrumental in bringing about changes in prison reform and the police, and  understand first hand how law affects women. The report was also informed by a survey of 25 serving women prisoners who provided a very current snapshot of the state of the estate.


Person Specification 
We require two  female interns, with a passion for policy and change, who can  thinking on her feet and laterally.  You'll need compelling research skills, a flair for writing and the ability to be proactive and work in a brilliant, challenging, changing and inspiring environment.  We are looking for 2 high caliber graduates, ideally in Politics, Social Sciences  or Criminology, with excellent IT skills and a genuine interest in criminal justice and social policy to help with the burgeoning growth of this exciting and innovative organisation.

Key Responsibilities
• Communications, including PR, website maintenance and social media
• Research background material for projects
• Assist with funding applications
• Keep Kazuri  updated on relevant activity in Government, Whitehall, Think Tanks and the Third Sector in the media
• Assist in creating, updating and maintaining office systems
• Administrative duties, including some diary management and travel booking

What this role can offer 
• Invaluable experience working within a   social enterprise at the heart of reform in the criminal justice sector
• A chance to develop existing skills and gain new ones
• Work experience to add to your CV
• Support from a motivated and enthusiastic team

Interview & Start dates

Interviews will be on a rolling basis from 13 May  2013.
Closing date for applications is 30 May 2013, but note that we may appoint before the closing date.

Start date will be mid to late May 2013.To apply
Please send a CV and covering letter to Dianne Ramsay at info@kazuri.org.uk

Because this is a role  working on policy and with vulnerable women, we would ideally like to find two women candidates, as it fits our gendered approach to tackling inequality in the workplace.

Monday, 26 November 2012

New Government Fund for Redeveloping Empty Properties



Kazuri welcomes news that the government is to launch a campaign to refurbish empty homes in order to tackle the housing shortage. 

There are 1million empty properties in the UK and a third of these have been empty for six months or more. These long term empty properties need to be redeveloped in order to house those in need of social housing. 

The communities minister, Don Foster, announced today that government funds will be made available in order to redevelop empty properties. Local councils, housing associations and social enterprises will be able to bid for grants from the £300m fund. 

It is hoped that the redevelopment of empty properties will go some way to readdress the housing shortfall that currently stands at more than 100,000 homes a year. 

Saturday, 24 December 2011

Boost to the Private Rented Sector

The housing minister has revealed the person who will lead the government’s review of barriers to investment in rented homes.
Sir Adrian Montague, a former member of the Housing Finance Group, will examine how best to encourage greater investment in rental properties - helping support the rapid growth of the private rented sector by increasing the supply of affordable homes.


Sir Adrian Montague, one of Gordon Brown's City fixers

The government’s housing strategy published last month highlighted the range of steps being taken to increase the supply of new homes.
Mr Shapps said: ‘The sector has seen several years of strong growth and increasing standards, but in some areas rents have begun to rise faster than wages.
‘Over three million households live in privately rented homes, so it’s vital that we take steps to ensure the sector’s continuing growth and affordability.
‘Sir Adrian brings with him a wealth of experience and knowledge of the role of the private sector in boosting infrastructure investment and of housing policy, making him an excellent choice to lead the review.’
Sir Adrian said: ‘The private rental sector has gone through a period of rapid growth, and it’s crucial that the government does all it can to ensure that demand continues to be met. I aim to help remove barriers to investment, contributing to the continuing health of a sector that millions of people rely on.’