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