Building a homelessness strategy: international lessons Nicholas Pleace

Successful Strategies Clear, simple goals Establish a political consensus Dedicated, ring-fenced resources Coordinated, shared assessment Prevention and evidence-based second tier services for complex needs Recognising Housing

Targeted long-term homeless people Prevention What can be done? Finland, very extensive welfare and social housing systems, not much homelessness But 45% of homeless people long-term, 2008 Targeted long-term homeless people Prevention Housing First and related service models Halve long-term homelessness by 2011, eradicate by 2015.

What can be done? Long-term homelessness fell in Finland by 26% between 2010 and 2014 Proportion of the homeless population who were long-term homeless fell from 45% in 2008 to 29% in 2014. 0.006% of the Finnish population living rough and in emergency shelters, 362 nationally, 2014 Finnish population is 5.48 million Only EU member state to report falls in homelessness in 2014, homelessness is a functional zero

What can be done? US Federal Strategy United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) Heads of every Federal department Opening Doors strategy

What can be done? Prevent and end homelessness among Veterans in 2015 . Finish the job of ending chronic homelessness in 2017. Prevent and end homelessness for families, youth, and children in 2020. Set a path to end all types of homelessness.

What can be done? Prevention Copied from England Housing First Critical Time Intervention An array of floating and fixed site services, though trend is towards Housing First and similar models

What can be done? 31% drop in long-term (‘chronic’) homelessness between 2010 and 2015 Veteran homelessness dropped by 36% Family homelessness by 15% 11% reduction in total homelessness in the USA since the Opening Doors Strategy was introduced.

Clear, simple goals Initial Finnish Strategy had one objective American Strategy has four The goals are very straightforward Easily measured Finnish target to halve long-term homelessness by 2011

Finns worked to coordinate national government departments Political consensus Finns worked to coordinate national government departments Then worked on the homelessness sector Then got the municipalities (local authorities) to sign a letter of intent Basic points of strategy Agree to monitoring Agree to devote resources

Political consensus USICH Built by the White House Brought together department heads, effectively the Cabinet Four times a year And built an infrastructure to track outcomes, ensure service fidelity and review strategy Funding with strings, around data etc.

Dedicated budgets Clearly demarcated, dedicated budgets are put in place Funding is sustained Services are not in an annual cycle of bidding for funds Less uncertainty Easier to plan and predict

Coordinated assessment, referral and outcomes monitoring Shared data is essential to being clear what is going on Who is homeless, what do they need, where are they? Needs to incorporate all services working with homeless people and use markers if possible Monitor referrals, service delivery and outcomes

Coordinated assessment, referral and outcomes monitoring Data sharing is longitudinal and continuous Allows accurate information on long-term and recurrent homelessness High need individuals can be found and targeted with support Targets can be set, e.g. around long-term and repeated homelessness Need to also estimate hidden homelessness and determine nature – gender and youth

Coordinated assessment, referral and outcomes monitoring CHAIN in London PASS in the Republic (Pathway Accommodation and Support System) Danish national level administrative data and surveys of homeless people using services Finnish annual data collection US annual data collection and monitoring

Services Prevention But do not try to target Blanket services which triage Housing First and Critical Time Intervention, other well evidenced services Targeted on high need groups only Lower intensity, tenancy sustainment focused interventions for lower need groups

Services Emphasis on high intensity one to one support Service user led models Active engagement and a recovery orientation Personalisation and co-production, not worker led or controlled Housing led or Housing First Harm reduction That’s the way the evidence points

Housing Recognition that affordable, adequate housing underpins everything Does not matter how coordinated, how user-led, how well resourced the support is Got to have places for people to live in Social integration means ordinary housing, living an ordinary life in an ordinary place, with support as and if needed

The American Strategy From years of practice and research, we have identified successful approaches to end homelessness. Evidence points to the role housing plays as an essential platform for human and community development. Stable housing is the foundation upon which people build their lives—absent a safe, decent, affordable place to live, it is next to impossible to achieve good health, positive educational outcomes, or reach one’s economic potential. Indeed, for many persons living in poverty, the lack of stable housing leads to costly cycling through crisis-driven systems like emergency rooms, psychiatric hospitals, detox centers, and jails. By the same token, stable housing provides an ideal platform for the delivery of health care and other social services focused on improving life outcomes for individuals and families. Researchers have focused on housing stability as an important ingredient for the success of children and youth in school. When children have a stable home, they are more likely to succeed socially, emotionally, and academically. USICH (2015) Opening Doors: federal strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness 2015 Washington DC: USICH, p.7.

Centre for Housing Policy European Observatory on Homelessness Thanks for listening Nicholas Pleace Centre for Housing Policy www.york.ac.uk/chp/ European Observatory on Homelessness www.feantsaresearch.org/ Women’s Homelessness in Europe Network http://www.womenshomelessness.org/