Up to £160,00 will be spent on preventing ex-prisoners and other vulnerable people from sleeping on Nottingham's streets with the help of new specialist support workers.
The Government-funded 'navigators' will also work with those who have spent long periods of time in hospital or care, to ensure plans are in place for housing and support when they leave their institution.
The support workers will be based on-site in hospitals and prisons to direct people to the services they need, such as counselling, housing advice, mental health support or substance misuse services.
Nottingham City Council, an authority which has already committed around £4 million towards preventing and tackling homelessness and rough sleeping, made a bid for the extra funding amid evidence two thirds of rough sleepers have a history of being in hospital, prison or care.
A spokesman said: “This further successful bid for Government funding will see up to £160,000 spent on specialist navigators to prevent people from rough sleeping after periods of time in hospital or prison.
"Two thirds of rough sleepers have a history of being in hospital, prison or care and so the new navigators will be based directly in those institutional settings to help ensure plans are in place for housing and support when they leave.
“With around a quarter of rough sleepers in the city coming from the county, our bid on behalf of the city and county allows the navigators to work across boundaries and make sure people were supported back to their appropriate local authority area.”
Previous Government grants have helped pay for a new Somewhere Safe to Stay hub and a year-round night shelter in Nottingham.
The city is one of nine council in the East Midlands to be granted the money as part of Government’s £100-million backed Rough Sleeping Strategy, which sets out plans to end rough sleeping for good, with the aim of halving it by 2022.
Ten specialist support workers will now be created across the region.
Housing and Homelessness Minister Heather Wheeler MP said:“We are taking steps to ensure people the East Midlands never have to face even one night on the streets.
“These are vulnerable people, who may be dealing with complex mental health problems or addictions and require specialist support to tackle these issues and turn their lives around.
“The funding confirmed today will ensure those sleeping on the streets in the East Midlands have access to the professional help and guidance they need to get back on their feet – taking us one step closer to ending rough sleeping for good.”
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