3 Benefits of housing-led services in Ireland Introduction This chapter reviews the results of the fieldwork in Ireland, drawing on the consultations with people who were homeless, staff working in the Simon Communities and with other homelessness service providers. The chapter focuses on what were thought to be the likely benefits of housing-led approaches in Ireland and looks at the ways in which housing-led services’ emphasis on independence, harm reduction and ongoing support were thought to be beneficial in tackling homelessness. Overall views of housing-led services World seem a safer, more predictable place where there is a sense of continuity and order69. Having a home also Awareness of the housing-led concept was high among service reconnects someone with society, in the sense that everything providers. However, people who were homeless were not from registering with a doctor, to vote or opening a bank always aware of what was meant by housing-led services. account requires an address, both citizenship and economic participation are built around our all having our own home. “ There was a broad consensus that simply providing housing, particularly when someone had been homeless for a long time Having your own home would give you a lot of and had high support needs, was unlikely to result in a good confidence…It’d open a lot of other doors for outcome. Both support and a settled home were thought to be you. You start respecting yourself, you start needed together. Service providers and people who were respecting your home and you respect your homeless referred to the difficulties that someone with neighbours, because you’ve already been down problematic drug and alcohol use and/or severe mental illness and for people who have been there, a lot would have in maintaining their own home without support wouldn’t want to go back I expect. being available. Woman experiencing homelessness, 30s. “ Ifousesuoatewdiutlgthindbuielttong– hilwrtheyceeance of ofotme lcore eseaseoviheusriovi-ledsstervdces.to heremphasss veralnoeihtiweegaTdeineredgnpocfrssdinsseehHehtnirihr’httahteieganowttrniaiplprgssebadneogedlcuchctyemhtehht promoting choice and control, respect for service users and lives…but if you just put them into a house and the use of flexible, tolerant approaches when trying to meet then ‘ok, see ya’. That’s a very bad idea. the needs of people who were homeless were all widely seen Male, long term rough sleeper, 40s. as good practice. Two core elements of housing-led service philosophy were widely viewed as likely to increase the The idea of housing-led services was popular among people effectiveness of any form of homelessness service: who were homeless67 with an emphasis being placed on the attractions of having a ‘home’, rather than just a roof over your head. One of the key arguments presented for housing-led services in the USA is that they offer vulnerable people who are homeless a tangible, immediate alternative of a real home to either living rough or what can be a sustained stay in temporary accommodation68. 67 This group included some people who had long term experience of being homeless but who Housing-led services seemed an attractive idea to people who had been rehoused at the point the interviews took place. were homeless in Ireland because they offered them their 68 Tsemberis, S. (2010a) op cit. ‘own place’. Having a settled home of one’s own makes the 69 Padgett, D. (2007) op cit; Johnson, G. and Wylie, N. (2010) op cit. 16
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