Housing Team Speak at The Shared Health Foundation’s Homeless Families Conference
On Tuesday 9th June 2026, Thea Grattidge from the Housing Team attended the Shared Health Foundation’s Homeless Families Conference: ‘Dare to Hope’ as a speaker on one of their panels.
The conference focused on the strategic next steps to influence homelessness policy, particularly as it relates to children in Temporary Accommodation (TA) locally, regionally and nationally. The conference was attended by those working in housing, education, healthcare and public policy, all with a common interest in improving the situation for the approximately 176,130 homeless children in England living in Temporary Accommodation.
The conference heard from various panels, including those discussing lived experiences in TA, how the private sector can assist with the housing crisis, as well as from the Minister for Homelessness, Alison McGovern MP, who discussed the plans for tackling the TA crisis moving forward.
Thea’s panel, which she shared with Leila Baker from Impact on Urban Health, discussed the recent guidance for neurodivergent families living in temporary accommodation. The guidance was co-produced by 30 parents living in TA with neurodivergent children. Thea and other members of the GT Stewart Housing Team also assisted in producing the document.
Thea and Leila outlined that the main aim of the guidance was to be an accessible and practical handbook, outlining tips and best practices for both families and council’s involved in the homelessness process with neurodivergent children. They discussed the importance of having a clear guide that explains each part of the homelessness process and gives pointers for families at the different stages.
They also discussed the importance of a lawful Housing Needs Assessment (Part 3 of the guidance) and gave tips for challenging homelessness decisions by councils (Part 5 of the guidance).
Finally, they made clear the 3 messages of the guidance:
There is not a ‘one size fits all’ approach to neurodivergence, so considering individual family’s needs is crucial.
Diagnosis can be slow and councils should still work with families to meet their needs in the interim.
Working with neurodivergent children can be challenging, so a collaborative approach between families and council’s is required to achieve the best outcomes and to ensure children’s housing needs are met.
If you are a family within the homelessness process who has a neurodivergent child, or work with a family that does, then please consider reading the guidance, as you may find it useful in navigating a very complex area of law.
Meeting the Needs of Neurodivergent Children Living in Temporary Accommodation