Transcript Slide 1

Overview of Housing First in Europe
Suzanne Fitzpatrick,
9th May 2014
Origins of Housing First
 First developed in New York, by ‘Pathways to Housing’, for
chronically homeless people with severe mental health
problems
 Bypasses linear model/transitional accomm; places street
homeless directly into independent tenancies with support
 ‘Housing first’ cf. ‘treatment first’ (or ‘employment first’)
philosophy
 Strong evidence base from US, especially on tenancy
sustainment
 Controversial initially; now widely endorsed
HF in European Context
• Rapid expansion of HF pilots/programmes
• Endorsed by FEANTSA
• Promoted by EU - Joint Report on Social Protection
and Social Inclusion (2010)
• Jury of European Consensus Conference on
Homelessness (2010) called for:
- shift away from use of transitional models
- towards increased access to permanent
housing (with support)
‘Housing First Europe’
Study
• Funded by European Commission
• 2 year project (2011- 2013) involving: a)
research; b) mutual learning
• Examined HF implementation and
effectiveness in:
• Test sites: Amsterdam (Netherlands), Budapest (Hungary),
Copenhagen (Denmark), Lisbon (Portugal), Glasgow (UK)
• Peer sites: Dublin (Ireland), Ghent (Belgium), Gothenburg
(Sweden), Helsinki (Finland), Vienna (Austria)
Robustness of Evidence
Base
 The case for HF – and de-institutionalising homeless
people – is now compelling
 We do not have ‘gold standard’ randomised control trial
evidence in Europe, but the sheer consistency
and 'weight' of evidence from HFE (and other studies)
is utterly convincing
 Most homeless people, even with very complex support
needs, can sustain ordinary housing if given the right
support
 There will always be a need for other approaches for a
minority, but there is an increasing view that the default
should be HF (or housing-led)
Scattered-Site Housing is
Best
 HFE adds to large body of evidence that scatteredsite housing is: a) what most homeless people want;
and b) what works best for most homeless people
 The negative impacts and institutionalising
tendencies of congregate settings are now well
evidenced, e.g. hostel closure evaluations, problems
with Common Ground in Australia, etc.
 There will, of course, be a need for (usually small)
group settings for a minority of homeless people, but
the evidence indicates that the default should be
scattered-site
Going Forward
 Basic case for HF, using scattered-site housing, is
now made. But there are important areas which
would benefit from future development/research:
 long-term sustainability
 cost-effectiveness
 Assertive Community Treatment – when
required/useful
 resolving neighbour disputes
 whether HF or transitional model most appropriate
for young people
HFE Study
www.socialstyrelsen.dk/housingfirsteurope