I-SPHERE and GISS Bremen, have produced an Evaluation of the Institute of Global Homelessness ‘A Place to Call Home’ initiative which works with vanguard cities across the globe to set targets and support them in their efforts to end street homelessness.
Funded by the Oak Foundation this international comparative study explores the approaches of the first 13 vanguard cities in their efforts to tackle street homelessness.
The research found both successes and systematic failures and established a set of recommendations on what works and what does not in addressing street homelessness.
“Street homelessness is one of the most extreme and visible manifestations of profound injustice that our society faces today. Yet, it often struggles to achieve sufficient attention at an international level.
While there are clear country-specific challenges that need to be overcome, this first global initiative on tackling street homelessness has highlighted the need to move away from a one-size-fits-all approach, towards more specialised interventions that target specific subgroups. Appropriate services for women, children, older people and other vulnerable groups, as well as culturally sensitive responses to Indigenous people and other groups affected by racial and associated forms of prejudice are essential.
The overwhelming emphasis on emergency interventions was clear in our findings, with support applied only when people are already in crisis, rather than placing greater focus on preventative models. Even predictable pathways into street homelessness from institutions like prisons and hospitals have seldom attracted concerted prevention efforts and this needs to be urgently addressed.”
Professor Suzanne Fitzpatrick, Director of I-SPHERE and lead of the international research team
Click on the following links to read the full and executive summary and to find out more about this ground breaking research.