The challenge ahead
Ireland has faced very considerable change in both financial and human terms since the launch of Dublin’s last action plan on homelessness, A Key to the Door in 2007 and the subsequent adoption of our integrated model of services, known as the Pathway to Home model, in 2009.
This has led us to revise the Framework Homeless Action Plan for Dublin which was adopted in 2010 under the provisions of Chapter 6 of the Housing Act, 2009. The Act sets out a number of changes to how statutory and NGO actors now work towards the delivery of national strategy on adult homelessness
The Way Home, and the achievement of its desired outcomes. The most important of which remain the prevention of homelessness and the elimination of long-term homelessness and the need to sleep rough.
This revised action plan Delivering the Pathway to Home takes full account of recently changed circumstances. First is the immediate and pressing challenge of current social and economic circumstances, their impacts on our communities and on our standards and quality of living. Reduced incomes and rising costs (e.g. utilities and energy costs) have coincided with higher unemployment and reductions in public expenditure. These factors generate greater pressure on households trying to manage their way through this challenging period and therefore an even greater emphasis to be taken into account where the prevention of homelessness is concerned.
This is especially the case for heavily indebted and over-indebted households who are experiencing housing stress as a result of having to pay high housing costs on a mortgage or on rent. At the end of 2010, one in ten mortgages in Ireland was either in arrears or had been restructured. More recently, Irish Central Bank data released in September 2011 indicated that 12.24% - or nearly one in eight – mortgages are being rescheduled or in arrears, with more than 70% of those mortgages in arrears being so for more than six months.
It is recognised that the risk of homelessness is greater than heretofore for growing numbers of households and we must redouble our efforts to prevent homelessness and assist households in maintaining their resilience.
EC/ECB/IMF Programme
Secondly, there is the EC/ECB/IMF Programme of Financial Support for Ireland and the conditions of our programme and its specified targets. This dominates our ability to allocate resources to protect the most vulnerable in society and is bringing substantial change in the organisation and delivery of public services which requires an even greater need to expend resources in the most effective and efficient way possible.
Lastly, Election 2011 and the new Government for National Recovery 2011-2016 programme has brought about change to the policy frameworks and the decision-making environment impacting on our work, most recently the newly revised Housing Policy Statement (DECLG, June 2011).
These changes in government’s social and housing policy framework present new opportunities for us to broaden, deepen and strengthen our work to prevent and effectively resolve homelessness. Government emphasis is now on the housing first approach as the way to achieve maximum return for resources invested in our area of homelessness. The housing first approach is designed to offer homeless people a long-term housing in the first place and radically reduce the use of hostel accommodation and its associated costs The review of The Way Home, due to conclude in Autumn 2011, will result in an updated adult homeless strategy that introduces it to policy and into practice.
This is a very welcome change. It will help ensure that our Pathway to Home model of integrated service provision in Dublin remains central to the delivery of this overall housing first approach of national policy. Access to housing with support as required is core to our housing first approach under the Pathway to Home model.
Putting the Pathway to Home model in place has meant a substantial reconfiguration of services between and among statutory and NGO service providers in Dublin. This has resulted in considerable change management, the initial results of which are now established. Key milestones that have passed to date include:
- The development and implementation of a dedicated service user database called PASS (Pathway Accommodation and Services System) that provides real-time data on the progress of households through the Pathway to Home suite of services and towards an exit into independent living with support as required;
- The initiation of the local authority Assessment and Placement and Freephone service for homeless households and those at risk of homelessness across the four local authority areas;
- The configuration of all emergency accommodation into one of two forms of provision, thereby ensuring we have fit-for-purpose accommodation with on-site supports as required.
- The initiation of a unified contact and outreach service for the Dublin region;
- The enhancement of day services for drop-in, information and advice with longer opening hours and closer integrated working with specialist healthcare services;
- The start-up and expansion of the housing support service for formerly homeless households under the SLI initiative;
- The localisation of services across the Dublin region;
- The establishment of greater integrated working across housing, support, welfare, health, addiction and care services via formal inter-agency protocols and dedicated care and case management procedures, practices and resources;
- The delivery of improved competencies and skills among those working for homeless households via our certified training for homeless sector project staff and management;
- The maintenance of improved access to mainstream services for households at risk of and experiencing homelessness, especially to health, education, training, employment, welfare, family, addiction, advice and information service
Therefore, over the period of this action plan to 2013, the first fundamental driver of this revised action plan is ensuring we consolidate the suite of services we have established under Pathway to Home and invest in them to deliver more innovation, better problem-solving and greater cost-effectiveness.
Notwithstanding achievements to date, the greatest challenge we face to the successful and sustainable resolution of homelessness has been, and remains, access to quality, affordable housing in a sustainable community that is appropriate to the needs of a household.
Target for Housing Provision
We begin anew under this revised action plan to address the unmet housing need of households experiencing homelessness. We will do this by both revising our target for housing provision, and developing and adopting better procurement mechanisms that will succeed in opening up access to surplus housing that remains unused and unoccupied. This is the second of the fundamental drivers of this revised action plan.
Housing First
Lastly, we will ensure our housing first approach continues to deliver greater autonomy and resilience for the household as they move away from the experience and duration of living in temporary emergency homeless accommodation, and toward independent living with support as required. This in turn enables fuller participation in society for a formerly homeless household, and helps towards the realisation of their rights. This is the third fundamental driver of this action plan.
Key Assumptions
It is recognised that certain assumptions will be have to be made in the context of delivering this plan over the period to be agreed. The implementation of this Homeless Action Plan is therefore underpinned by the following key assumptions.
- That the Government will be in a position to provide the necessary resources required to enable the full implementation of this plans.
- That mainstream services will make the necessary changes to their provision of services so that people experiencing homelessness are not excluded.
- That barriers to an adequate supply of long-term housing are addressed and there is a commitment by all housing agencies to provide housing to homeless households.
- That the lead agencies identified as responsible for actions in the
- Action Plan will implement them in accordance with the timelines, values and principles set out in the plan.
- Implementing a timely Service Level Agreement process
- That the Consultative Forum and Management Group will be effective in driving the implementation of the plan.
- That there is not a sudden, unforeseen increase in the numbers of people becoming homeless.