10088807Share Once - Allowing those facing homelessness to quickly and securely share personal information across support servicesClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKShare Once is a 'tell it once' service which allows those facing homelessness to overcome the currently fractured third-sector safety net and benefit instead from easy and consistent access to support services when it is needed most. Over recent years, the UK's third sector has shifted from supporting the state's social safety net to being, in many cases, its core component. For example, between 2016 and 2020, charities and other third-sector organisations won over two-thirds of the total value of contracts for homelessness services and support for victims of domestic abuse. Yet over 95% of the UK's voluntary sector is made up of small charities, with around 45% having an annual income of less than £10,000\. As a result, the sector is characterised by a granular, highly localised approach which makes navigating and accessing support incredibly challenging for vulnerable service users, and management of the process increasingly difficult for service operators. Each separate organisation requires different information from the user to confirm eligibility, demonstrate a referral, and evidence status. What should be an accessible experience instead requires exhaustive levels of duplication, with those in need of support being forced to provide different combinations of the same documentation multiple times and disclose difficult vulnerabilities repeatedly. This leads to high levels of disengagement from services. Those who might have otherwise got back on their feet with a little early support are instead left to become entrenched in the situation and develop more complex and care-intensive needs over time, while the services themselves are unable to reach them to offer encouragement. Share Once brings clarity to the situation. By collecting the user's information just once, their credentials can then be safely shared with multiple organisations with no further effort. Information shared is limited to that which the user has explicitly consented to - and restricted to only that which is relevant to each service. Based on pre-determined eligibility criteria, each service can now be made immediately available, speeding up access to support and saving the service operator's time. In addition to sharing information externally, it can also work the other way, with the user able to be reached for support no matter how often they move, change email address, or change phone number.