Homelessness, Ageing and Dying 13 Local authorities also have Homeless Action Plans which ‘in the past’ have varied from authority to authority. These Plans were jointly reviewed20 in 2002 by Simon Communities of Ireland, Society of St Vincent de Paul, Threshold and Focus Ireland who concluded that ‘while the plans were a welcome development’ they did little for groups priced out of the housing market, with insufficient attention given to the provision of help for people to move into permanent accommodation. The plans did acknowledge the need for health and social facilities for people who are homeless but lacked specific proposals for their development. New legislative provisions in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 came into force on 1 February 2010 that put Homelessness Fora and Homelessness Action Plans on a statutory basis at regional or local level. The purpose of these Fora is ‘according to the legislation’ “to provide information, views, advice or reports in relation to homelessness and in relation to the provisions of the draft homelessness action plans and the operation and implementation of the action plans”. Homelessness is not a standalone issue and therefore other policies and strategies can have an impact including the National Health Strategy and the interim National Drugs Strategy, in place until the publication of the National Substance Misuse Strategy and “Vision for Change”, The National Mental Health Strategy. The National Health Strategy identifies a number of initiatives to improve the health and well-being of people who are homeless that include elements of Homelessness – An Integrated Strategy (2000) and the Youth Homelessness Strategy (2001) as well as the provision of medical cards for people who are homeless. The (interim) National Drugs Strategy 2009-2016 identifies the fact that a significant number of people who are homeless require access to treatment and rehabilitation services and advocates for increases in expenditure on homeless services specifically in relation to accommodation and on support services generally. The Strategy recognises that gaps in services persist, particularly in regard to attracting (and retaining) drug users with complex needs who are homeless into treatment. The Strategy also makes specific reference to the problems associated with people who present with dual diagnosis (i.e mental health and problematic drug and /or alcohol use). Research by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs in 2005 (Lawless & Corr) found that there was no systematic provision of care services for this group of people and that many services operate criteria that can exclude individuals from accessing services. While the prevalence of dual diagnosis is not known, as it is not recorded by service providers, the NACD study reported previous research in Ireland that indicated it could be relatively high. In addition, the NACD found that people who are homeless are more likely than the general population to experience mental health and problematic drug and/or alcohol use problems due to environmental factors, particularly the lack of supported housing. One of the central principles of a “Vision for Change” is that mental health services should be provided to an individual in the catchment area in which they normally reside. This presents difficulties, when people become homeless and move, often into the city areas. For this reason, and because the largest proportion of people who are homeless are in Dublin, the Strategy proposed the establishment of two multidisciplinary, community-based teams for the Dublin area. 20 Housing Access for All? (2002) Analysis of Housing Strategies and Homeless Action Plans undertaken by Simon Community, Threshold, Focus Ireland and SVdeP.
Homelessness, Ageing and Dying
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