In 2008, you could see tent villages and huts standing between trees in the parks of Helsinki. Homeless people had built makeshift homes in the middle of Finland’s capital city. They were exposed to harsh weather conditions.
Since the 1980s, Finnish governments had been trying to reduce homelessness with the building of short-term shelters. However, long-term homeless people were still left out. There were too few emergency shelters and many affected people did not manage to get out of homelessness: they couldn’t find jobs without a housing address. And without any job, they couldn’t find a flat. It was a vicious circle. Furthermore, they had problems applying for social benefits. All in all, homeless people found themselves trapped.
But in 2008 the Finnish government introduced a new policy for the homeless with the ‘Housing First’ concept. Since then, the number of people affected by homelessness has fallen sharply.
And the policy is successful: Finland is the only EU country in which the number of homeless people is declining.
Housing First: How everyone is given residence in Finland
It is NGOs such as the Y-Foundation that provide housing for people in need. They take care of the construction themselves, buy flats on the private housing market and renovate existing flats. The apartments have one to two rooms. Further, former emergency shelters have been converted into apartments in order to offer long-term housing.
Homeless people turn into tenants with a tenancy agreement. They also have to pay rent and operating costs. Social workers, who have offices in the residential buildings, help with financial issues such as applications for social benefits.
Juha Kaakinen is head of the Y-Foundation. The NGO receives discounted loans from the state to buy housing. Additionally, social workers caring for the homeless and future tenants are paid by the state. The Finnish lottery supports the NGO when it buys apartments on the private housing market. The Y-Foundation also receives regular loans from banks. The NGO later uses the rental income to repay the loans.
That’s how the ‘Housing First’ concept works
The policy applied in Finland is called ‘Housing First‘. It reverses conventional homeless aid. More commonly, those affected are expected to look for a job and free themselves from their psychological problems or addictions. Only then do they get help in finding accommodation.
Housing First reverses the path. Homeless people get a flat — without any preconditions. Social workers help them with applications for social benefits and are available for counselling in general. In such a new, secure situation, it is easier for those affected to find a job and take care of their physical and mental health.
The result is impressive: four out of five homeless people will be able to keep their flat for a long time with Housing First and lead a more stable life.
In the past 10 years, Housing First provided 4,600 homes in Finland. With still about 1,900 people living on the streets in 2017, the program aimed to reduce this number to less than 1,000 long-term homeless by 2019 — but there were enough places for the people in emergency shelters so that they at least didn’t have to sleep outside anymore.
Providing people with apartments is cheaper than leaving them on the street
Creating housing for people costs money. In the past 10 years, 270 million euros were spent on the construction, purchase and renovation of housing as part of the Housing First program. Juha Kaakinen points out that this is far less than the cost of homelessness itself because, when people are in emergency situations, emergencies are more frequent, with assaults, injuries, and breakdowns. The police, health care and justice systems are more often called upon to step in, and that also costs money.
Housing First is cheaper than accepting homelessness: now, the state spends 15,000 euros less per year per homeless person than before.
No miracle cure – but a high success rate
With four out of five people keeping their flats, Housing First is effective in the long run. In 20% of the cases, people move out because they prefer to stay with friends or relatives — or because they don’t manage to pay the rent. But even in the latter case, they are not dropped. They can apply again for an apartment and are supported again if they wish.
Of course, there is no guarantee of success. Homeless women especially are more difficult to reach as they tend to conceal their emergency situation more often, they live on the streets less frequently, and they prefer to stay with friends or acquaintances.
This article is reproduced from Konstrast.at via Scoop.me.
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