Life After Achieving National Homelessness Targets
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Transcript of Life After Achieving National Homelessness Targets
Peter Fredriksson
Senior Adviser
Ministry of the Environment
Finland
Bergamo 24.10.2014
Life after achieving national
homelessness targets
Can You Lead with Targets ?
1. Can you see any significant correlation between the process of target – setting and the results in a government – led programme ?
2. Is there a balance between target – setting of the new programme (2016 - ) and available policy, economic and social instruments ?
Government programme 1987 - 1991
• Target of the government programme (1987-1991) to abolish homelessness, formulated also in the national plans of housing and social and health care
BOTTOM – UP PRESSURE AND SUPPORT
• New law on the development of housing conditions contains first legal paragraph on the tasks and duties of the municipalities in dealing with homelessness
• More extensive and centralized role of the municipalities (obligatory local housing programmes)
• Catalytic initiatives of new actors – Y-foundation, Diaconia Institute, Church, A-clinics, Settlement movement, Associations (Youth housing, Mental patients, Homeless etc)
• New constitution (1995) – basic economic, social and civic rights including the right to housing
Continue
• TOP – DOWN PRESSURE AND SUPPORT
• Common definition, yearly statistical survey by responsible
authorities
• The new state finance system in the social and health sector
gave municipalities the right to set priorities instead of
earmarked money by the state
• New funding instruments: buying small appartments from the
housing stock and converting them to independent rented flats
for homeless ; targeted loans and grants to houses
accomadated only by homeless people
Continue
• HORIZONTAL PRESSURE AND SUPPORT
• Collective learning – developing of new concepts: division of
physical facilities and service provision, rerenting-model,
homebased care and support, housing counselling, self-help,
foyer etc.
• Competition - Municipalities were given right to use different
alternatives in providing support services:
• (1) own production
• (2) buying from private sector
• (3) buying from third sector
Conclusions
• Abolishing homelessness “earned” in the government programme
only one short sentence without any time limits or any quantitative
or qualitative subtargets
• Nonetheless, homelessness was decreased during 1987 – 1994,
under seven consecutive years from about 19 000 persons in
1987 into about 12 000 persons in 1994
• Homelessness was adressed by both general and special
instruments of housing and social policies
• The period started a structural change in the housing and support
services for homeless people and it led to a new system, which
lasted with minor adjustments about 15 years, until the middle of
the first decade of the new century
Government programme for longterm
homelessness 2008 - 2015
• Putting long-term homelessness down to half by 2011 and
ending it by 2015
• Need to address long-term homelessness, which has not
diminished along the general decreasing of homelessness
• BOTTOM UP – PRESSURE AND SUPPORT
• Reinforcing Housing first – approach as a mainstream
organizing principle for the accomodation and support services
of homeless people
• Letters of intent with 10 biggest cities: special status, right to
get state and Slott Machine funding and extra human
resources for support work
Continue • TOP – DOWN PRESSURE AND SUPPORT
• Increases in state expenditure (2008 – 2014):
• investment grants to construction and renovation projects
under the programme, €100 million, maximum 50 % of
approved costs
• state funding for personnel expenditure for the programme,
about €20 million
• Slott Machine Association: grants for acquiring individual flats
for homeless persons and project-funding, althogether about
€70 million
• State grants to local authorities for the development of housing
advisory services
• Letters of intent: municipalities are obliged to give sites to and
fund new housing units and support services to homeless
population
• Conversion of all shelters into supported housing
Continue
• HORIZONTAL PRESSURE AND SUPPORT
• Low threshold service centers established in several cities:
round-the-clock service, tailored evaluation of individual needs
for housing and support services, environmental work in the
surrounding areas with inhabitants, schools, day-centres,
business sector
• New concepts and new operators: preventive work for young
persons with multiproblems; supportive housing pathways for
ex-offenders etc
• National concept competition in 2009 to establish new types of
accommodation unit and services for the long-term homeless.
Conclusions
• Number of new flats built or acquired for longterm homeless single persons is 2300 (in 2013) – target is 2 500 (2015)
• Overal homelessness has decreased from 8 000 (2008)
to 7 500 (2013)
• Longterm homelessness has decreased from 2 900 (2008) to 2100 (2013)
• City of Helsinki has built about 1 000 new flats, but reduction of longterm homeless is in the same period only 176 persons > we need 5.6 new flats to accommodate one longterm homeless person !
• New support personal (social workers, housing advicers etc) has been recruited 350
• Main differences compared to previous programme: more multi-interest engagement, letter of intents replacing obligatory local programmes, huge input in horizontal diffusion and learning
Longterm homeless persons in
Letter of Intent – Cities 2008 - 2013
2008 2013
Helsinki 1591 1415
Espoo 385 223
Vantaa 140 150
Tampere 214 72
Turku 245 149
Lahti 108 57
Jyväskylä 55 33
Kuopio 33 13
Joensuu 85 21
Oulu 50 27
All together 2906 2160
IDEAS &
CONCEPTS
PILOTS &
TESTING
PUT TO
USE
SCALING &
DIFFUSION
P R E V E N T I N G H O M E L E S S N E S S
Housing First
Light support
Housing Advice &
Counselling
Outreach work,
Young persons
Housingsocial care &
Rehabilitation
Multisectoral local
Housing led networks
Funding models,
Public and private
Low threshold
Service centers
Letter of Intent
model
Housing related
Debt counselling
Housing included in
Youth guarantee
IDEAS &
CONCEPTS
PILOTS &
TESTING
PUT TO
USE
SCALING &
DIFFUSION
P R E V E N T I N G H O M E L E S S N E S S
Housing support
for immigrants
Network of
Useful Evidence
Experienced in
homelessness
Professional &
Voluntary training
IDEAS &
CONCEPTS
PILOTS &
TESTING
PUT TO
USE
SCALING &
DIFFUSION
P U T T I N G S T O P TO R E N E W A L OF H O M E L E S S N E S S
Housing First
Intensive support
Housingsocial work
Intensive support
Experienced in
homelessness
Flexible support
services
Work
Rehabilitation
Service centres for
Evaluation & Rehousing
Crises Housing
Models