THE FUTURE OF HOMELESS SERVICES: AN EU PERSPECTIVE CONTRIBUTION FEANTSA SAD CONFERENCE – 18 SEPT – PRAGUE

SOME KEY PRINCIPLES Supporting people getting out of homelessness Too many people stuck/circulating in shelters system Empowering Too many rules Too little opportunities to participate In line with human rights Too many shelters with no privacy, little possibility to have a family life/social relations… Too many shelters with little respect for users – unsave, dirty… Evidence-based Too many services have no proof/info about their longer-term impact Accessible Too many shelters unaffordable Too many conditions Deserving – undeserving poor

SOME KEY PROBLEMS No policy or wrong policy framework Ending vs managing of homelessness Solving vs criminalising homelessnes No or not sufficient funding Common understanding of demand and quality Comprehensive cost-benefit Not enough spaces in homeless services Large unserved / invisible audience Focus on emergency support Night shelters No room for integration Too few professionals / professionalism Too dependent on volunteers No social work training on homelessness Dominance of charitable/confessional organisations Actual aim?! Concentration of services in urban areas Under-estimation of scale of rural homelessness

SOME KEY TRENDS Diversification Target groups Couples, Pets, Wet shelters,… Ladder of integration / continuum of care Short stay, Integration hostels, half-way houses… Increasing quality Quality guarantee schemes Single rooms More staff / Professionalisation of staff Beyond hostel/shelter Training, employment, health, culture Trans-sectoral cooperation Tendering Positive and negative impact Institutional support  Individual support Time limits Housing First

HOUSING FIRST Questions role of hostels in reintegration process Care is no condition to access housing Supported housing immediately Social support adapted to needs ACT, CTI, ICM Impact % success rate Housing stability Well-being Most vulnerable Cost-effective Esp when hostel system is expensive No Housing First in East Europe!! Origin USA

SERVICE DEVELOPMENT OVER TIME Inevitable development?! Small basic homeless service sector Increasing demand More beds in basic homeless sector Changing profile Diversification of the sector / more providers Demand more complex Increasing quality / more services Ever growing homeless sector with limited outflow and high cost Public investment required impossible More attention to prevention and more effective policies/services Is a focus on Housing First & Prevention possible in underdevelopped homeless service sector Political courage Expertise/knowledge

SOME EU OPPORTUNITIES EU quality framework for social services Sectoral framework homelessness Housing First Europe project Evidence Toolkits ERDF – ESF Infrastructure and social support Deinstitutionalisation EIB Housing First investment

Thanks for listening `