New approach to tackling homelessness still not working years later, ‘not concrete enough’

New approach to tackling homelessness still not working years later, ‘not concrete enough’

Noos News

  • Issa Huizing

    Local editor

  • Issa Huizing

    Local editor

A year after the launch of the National Homelessness Action Plan, not much has improved for the homeless. This is what the relevant organizations told NOS. They developed the plan in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS), with the aim of no one being homeless anymore by 2030.

Anke Janssen of Housing First Netherlands, one of the organizations committed to ending homelessness, admits that the action plan is insufficient. “It has good intentions and in theory it is a step forward. But it is not concrete enough, which makes it difficult to achieve the goal of ending homelessness.”

While homelessness has long been viewed as a health care problem, since the Action Plan it has been treated as a housing problem. It focuses on the principle of “housing first,” in other words: the house first, then the rest. This approach has worked in Finland. It was introduced there ten years ago and since then the homeless population has halved.

delusion

But in the Netherlands, this approach is having difficulty taking off due to the housing crisis. The organizations involved also lack national guidance. “The plan aims to motivate and inspire rather than contain concrete goals,” says Willem van Sermond of Kansfonds, an organization committed to ending homelessness. “As a result, you cannot commit anyone to anything and you rely on ambitious advisors.” .

Theis Honig, director of the Den Bosch social shelter, focused on the “housing first” principle last year and helped 46 people find a home. “I thought you could solve homelessness with care, but that’s just an illusion. A home gives people a safe place and a future. So people can participate in society again.”

One of these people is Patrick:

Patrick became homeless, but the shelter helped him find a home

However, how homelessness is addressed still varies greatly from one municipality to another. This creates legal inequality, says Judith Fisher, spokesperson for SamenThuis 2030. “In this way, it is very crucial in any municipality that will become homeless.”

Outgoing Secretary of State Van Oijen says more emphasis should be placed on housing and less on shelter. “I expect all regions to bring their policies and implementation in line with the National Action Plan next year, with a focus on prevention and affordable housing. Discussions will be held with municipalities where this is not possible.”

More diverse picture

Figures released by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) last year looked hopeful. After years of rising, the number of homeless people fell to nearly 27,000 people last year. But in the shelter they saw the opposite. “It was as crowded as ever and continues to be crowded,” the Salvation Army says.

The census in a number of Brabant municipalities showed that young people and women are often homeless. The intention is to conduct this more specific census in more municipalities next spring.

“Long-term process”

Statistics Netherlands has adopted the broader approach, but this method is only an estimate. According to Janssen from Housing First Netherlands, it is important for the data to be more accurate. “It is not known how big the group actually is, who they are and where they are. Once there is a better picture of this, a better response can be given, for example, how many homes are needed.”

State Minister Van Oogen also wants to get better visibility into the homeless population. “We worked hard during the first year of the business plan to put this in place, but truly getting the national picture right is a very long-term process.”

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