Resources: Review - Shelter's housing guide picks the right issues

It originates from a good practice working party convened by Shelter's Young Person's team and the intended readership is staff working in housing or housing-related services for young or vulnerable people, although it might equally serve as an introduction for service users with an interest in the subject.

The guide provides historical context for user involvement in services, concentrating on the impact of Supporting People funding and in particular the Quality Assurance Framework for prioritising the issue. It briefly makes the point that if user involvement is driven by external pressures, are we sure that service users want to be involved? The guide broadly defines different levels of user involvement, from basic information-giving, to passing over management decisions. Unsurprisingly, most organisations aim to arrive somewhere between these extremes, giving their service users a voice but not a veto in the decision-making process.