1. Providing culturally sensitive
housing services for BME
communities within the guidelines
of the Quality Assessment
Framework
Cashain David
Ujima Housing Group
Annual Conference 2006: Defining and delivering outcomes in
commissioning and providing housing-related support for BME communities

2. Working with ‘difference’ and ‘sameness’
Cashain David
Ujima Housing Group
Annual Conference 2006: Defining and delivering outcomes in
commissioning and providing housing-related support for BME communities

3. Starting points…
• When delivering support, being black is the both most
important and most unimportant thing at the same
time
• The general discourse around fair access, diversity
and inclusion is a discussion about cross cultural
practice
Annual Conference 2006: Defining and delivering outcomes in
commissioning and providing housing-related support for BME communities

4. Overview
• Understanding support in the QAF context
• Exploring racial identity development
• The commissioning dilemma
• What is quality for culturally specific services?
Annual Conference 2006: Defining and delivering outcomes in
commissioning and providing housing-related support for BME communities

5. How do we support people?
• somewhere to live
• emotional problems
• getting through a crisis
• a full life during the day
• making and keeping friendships
Annual Conference 2006: Defining and delivering outcomes in
commissioning and providing housing-related support for BME communities

6. more…
• getting and holding down a job
• getting a reasonable income
• Someone to speak on their behalf
• learning new skills
Annual Conference 2006: Defining and delivering outcomes in
commissioning and providing housing-related support for BME communities

7. QAF C1.5 Fair Access,
diversity and inclusion
• A focus on commitment to principles of equality of
opportunity
• Respecting difference
• Involving users
• Sees specific services as the ‘add on’
How does this framework recognise those who work
with ‘sameness’
Annual Conference 2006: Defining and delivering outcomes in
commissioning and providing housing-related support for BME communities

8. The mainstreaming case…
‘It should be commissioned only when it is
demonstrably clear that it would provide
‘added value’, beyond what could be
provided to Black and Minority Ethnic
users through culturally sensitive
mainstream provision..’

9. What does this mean ….
Support should be rooted in:
• An understanding of their culture or background
• An ability to relate to oppression
• A belief in the ability to transform or heal
Annual Conference 2006: Defining and delivering outcomes in
commissioning and providing housing-related support for BME communities

10. UJIMA's added value…
• Help to make/keep contact with people from their
own background
• Opportunities to explore who they are racially and
culturally
• Multi-lingual staff to explore ‘language codes’
• Knowledge of patterns of expression
• Commitment to development of the Black
‘community’
Annual Conference 2006: Defining and delivering outcomes in
commissioning and providing housing-related support for BME communities

11. Black Identity Development
Not everyone is born knowing that they are
black, some people discover it…
Annual Conference 2006: Defining and delivering outcomes in
commissioning and providing housing-related support for BME communities

12. Dr William Cross
• A clinical psychologist practicing in the USA
• Aim – to explain the need for psychological liberation
under conditions of oppression
• Central issues is IDENTITY and TRANSITION
Annual Conference 2006: Defining and delivering outcomes in
commissioning and providing housing-related support for BME communities

13. Published..
• Negro-to-Black conversion. 1971
• Models of Nigrescence. 1980
(Nigrescence – from the French ‘the process of
becoming Black’)
• Shades of Black. 1991
• His work has been modified and adapted to the
British context by Dr June Farrell
Annual Conference 2006: Defining and delivering outcomes in
commissioning and providing housing-related support for BME communities

14. Development of identity
• AUTOMATIC
– ‘socialisation’
– Early childhood
– Adolescence
– adulthood
• DISCOVERY
– ‘encounter’
– ‘the process of
becoming black’
– ‘nigrescence’
Annual Conference 2006: Defining and delivering outcomes in
commissioning and providing housing-related support for BME communities

15. Stages in Black identity development
• Pre-Encounter - Identifies with White culture,
rejects or denies membership of Black commuinty
• Encounter - Rejects previous identification with
White culture, seeks identification with Black culture
• Immersion/Emersion - Completely identifies with
Black culture and denigrates White culture
• Integration/Commitment - Internalizes Black
culture, transcends racism, fights general cultural
oppression
Annual Conference 2006: Defining and delivering outcomes in
commissioning and providing housing-related support for BME communities

16. A look at racial identity…why?
• Gives a framework for understanding of responses
and presentations
• Acknowledges the impact of racism and
discrimination on choices
• Help referrers to make more appropriate referrals to
services
• Assists commissioners to understand and value of a
wide spectrum of services
Annual Conference 2006: Defining and delivering outcomes in
commissioning and providing housing-related support for BME communities

17. In a word…
Some black people use our services because we are
Black like them, whilst others in our communities do not
use our services because we are Black’
Annual Conference 2006: Defining and delivering outcomes in
commissioning and providing housing-related support for BME communities

18. Making it real…
Involve the communities as experts in your
service delivery
Annual Conference 2006: Defining and delivering outcomes in
commissioning and providing housing-related support for BME communities

19. Why ?
• Ownership
• Relevance
• Source of knowledge
• Addresses the underlying contributing factors
Annual Conference 2006: Defining and delivering outcomes in
commissioning and providing housing-related support for BME communities

20. Be creative about who you listen to…
• Hairdressers and Barbers
• Street Cleaners
• Churches, Mosques, Gudwaras’
• Noise Nuisance – Environmental Health officers
• Shops who sell ‘exotic goods’ direct to the community
Annual Conference 2006: Defining and delivering outcomes in
commissioning and providing housing-related support for BME communities

21. Delivery – what’s in it for the community ?
• Our buildings stand empty, and are mythical places
• People always looking for venues for Births,
Marriages and Deaths
• ‘Venues that are known and used by the community
are not feared by the community’
• Get to know family, friends and peers – invite them to
your events
Annual Conference 2006: Defining and delivering outcomes in
commissioning and providing housing-related support for BME communities

22. Service Review – who’s the piper ?
Invite community to tell you how you are
doing… but only if you are going to act on
what they say
• Open lunches
• Entertainment events with feedback
• Paid rota visits by members of the community
• Committee of elders
Annual Conference 2006: Defining and delivering outcomes in
commissioning and providing housing-related support for BME communities

23. A focus on the Causes
• The real challenge is to deliver services that address
the causes of vulnerability and disadvantage
• Exclusion from education, employment, feeling
valued, social life, information, valued relationships,
good parenting, safe neighbourhoods etc…
Annual Conference 2006: Defining and delivering outcomes in
commissioning and providing housing-related support for BME communities

24. Critical Quality Questions
• What are you doing to prevent family breakdown?
• How are you responding to exclusions from schools?
• How are you preventing substance use/abuse?
• How do you help service users find and maintain
relationships?
Annual Conference 2006: Defining and delivering outcomes in
commissioning and providing housing-related support for BME communities

25. Thank you !
Anything you want to know ask !