EUROPEAN RESEARCH CONFERENCE Families, Housing and Homelessness Dublin, 25th September 2015 The Finnish National Homelessness Strategy Nicholas Pleace, Marcus Knutagård, Dennis P. Culhane and Riitta Granfelt

EUROPEAN RESEARCH CONFERENCE Families, Housing and Homelessness Dublin, 25th September 2015 About the Review Brought together academics from Finland, Sweden, the UK and USA: Riitta Granfelt, Marcus Knutagård, Nicholas Pleace and Dennis P. Culhane Two visits to Finland by international component of the team Talked to policymakers, central and local government level, homelessness service providers and homeless people Visited services Reviewed available data

EUROPEAN RESEARCH CONFERENCE Families, Housing and Homelessness Dublin, 25th September 2015 The Strategy Introduced in a context where homelessness had been reduced to comparatively very low levels from 20,000 in the 1980s to 8,000 by 2008 (approximate) in a population of 4.96 million But long-term and repeated homelessness persisted, 45% of total homeless population estimated to be long- term in 2008 So strategy targeted long-term homelessness, aiming to halve levels by 2011 and end it altogether by 2015 Expanded to address wider homelessness in 2012

EUROPEAN RESEARCH CONFERENCE Families, Housing and Homelessness Dublin, 25th September 2015 The Strategy Impressive political coordination, bringing together homelessness NGOs, Y Foundation, municipal and central government Response has also been comprehensive, alongside the focus on long-term homelessness : Development of successful preventative services Specialist services for particular groups, e.g. young people and former prisoners A range of supported housing services Innovative, but controversial use, of a Housing First model that looks to have been effective

EUROPEAN RESEARCH CONFERENCE Families, Housing and Homelessness Dublin, 25th September 2015 Housing First Exact Fidelity with US model is not possible in EU member states – too many differences - nor is it actually the norm in US or Canada. But some Finnish Housing First is congregate large, dedicated apartment blocks, 80+ apartments Criticised as not allowing social integration, separate blocks keep formerly homeless people separate from society, lots of high need people together means management problems Expected by some commentators not to work

EUROPEAN RESEARCH CONFERENCE Families, Housing and Homelessness Dublin, 25th September 2015 Key Findings Long term homelessness was substantially reduced Congregate Housing First services appear stable – though there was some churn and some management issues earlier on – most long-term homeless people moved in and stayed Significant resources were being put into these congregate schemes however

EUROPEAN RESEARCH CONFERENCE Families, Housing and Homelessness Dublin, 25th September 2015 Key Findings Finland is perhaps the best example of a truly coordinated homelessness strategy in the EU Highly coordinated Effective service mix to prevent and reduce homelessness, including congregate/scattered Housing First and housing-led services But ultimately reliant on getting enough suitable housing fast enough, still limitations Homelessness is changing, new issues, including migration

EUROPEAN RESEARCH CONFERENCE Families, Housing and Homelessness Dublin, 25th September 2015 Key Findings Source: ARA, 2015

EUROPEAN RESEARCH CONFERENCE Families, Housing and Homelessness Dublin, 25th September 2015 Report hdl.handle.net/10138/153258

EUROPEAN RESEARCH CONFERENCE Families, Housing and Homelessness Dublin, 25th September 2015 Thanks for Listening Nicholas Pleace, University of York   Marcus Knutagård, Lund University   Dennis P. Culhane, University of Pennsylvania   works.bepress.com/dennis_culhane/ Riitta Granfelt, Turku University  