In-Form: a system designed for the homelessness and housing sector

Blog: October 11, 2022


In-Form is designed by the sector, for the sector, and promotes a culture of collaboration and support in its customers.

In-Form is designed by Homeless Link, the national membership charity for organisations working directly with people who are experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness in England. Within Homeless Link there is a National Practice Development (NPD) team whose role is to capture, develop and promote new ideas and best practice. So, when In-Form was created and as it continuously develops, we deemed it important to involve our colleagues in the NPD team as a voice of the sector to ensure our system is not only a good fit for potential customers, but reflects and shapes good practice approaches and innovations.  

 

In-Form’s growth

Jo Prestidge, Head of National Practice Development at Homeless Link, tells us how the team have been involved with In-Form.

 

“When I started at Homeless Link in about 2015, we were in our old offices in Kennington, and there were just a few staff working in In-Form. The system was being used by a number of organisations, but was still being developed and shaped with the idea of it becoming the leading client relationship and case management solution for the non-profit sector.

 

“I sat with colleagues in In-Form, looking at the kind of language and terminology that was being used to describe people and their support needs, drawing on my own experience from frontline support work. Together, we were keen to ensure the system was relevant and appropriate for the intended customers, and ultimately improved the way services were delivered to those they support.”

 

Housing First

“Fast forward to 2020, just before the pandemic, we’re at Minories House, and it’s time to take the next step in creating a system that reflected the emerging innovations we had seen in the sector. 

 

“This is when we began working with the In-Form team on the development of the Housing First module. As Housing First is truly person-centred with goals set by the person, we needed a tool that reflected this. We worked with the team to elucidate Housing First in practice, to create something that was relevant to, and enhanced the work of, the organisations delivering Housing First projects.”

 

Outcome monitoring tools

“Since then, we’ve had increased contact with organisations wanting to understand different outcomes frameworks and how they align to relationship-based approaches like trauma-informed and strengths-based practice.

 

“Within In-Form, customers have a range of outcome monitoring tools they can choose to use. It is understood that one size does not fit all, so customers can choose from a variety of frameworks that best suit their needs.

 

“We conducted a listening project with In-Form customers to understand their experiences to help us understand how people use the system and potential areas of work for NPD to explore.”

 

Continuing development

The In-Form team is continually evaluating and adapting based on our customer’s needs. Requests and ideas come in from customers in a variety of ways; through cases, user groups, and at events; and our support team collates this in our “Product Development Plans” (PDPs) section of our own Salesforce CRM. PDPs are then regularly reviewed by our product team to determine new product developments.

 

In your organisation

We’re always trying to develop and improve In-Form, so we’re asking what you need. What would you like to see in In-Form, where do you think improvements could be made? Let us know on social media @InForm_UK.

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