The Adapting Housing First project is supported by the European Union Erasmus+ Programme and is led/coordinated by Sophia Housing Association with a consortium of four partners (Sophia Housing Association, Ireland, Y-Foundation, Finland, Housing First Berlin, Arrels Fundació). It is a project in the field of Vocational Education and Training (VET) which supports cooperation among organisations to enhance the quality and relevance of VET across Europe.
The project aims to build on the Housing First (HF) model already in use by the partners involved. HF focuses on providing stable, permanent housing to people experiencing homelessness, especially those with complex health issues like mental health or substance abuse, without requiring them to meet specific conditions (such as sobriety or employment) beforehand. This model prioritises housing as a basic human need and foundation for improving health outcomes.
Despite the success of Housing First in achieving long-term housing stability, around 15% of participants return to homelessness. The project seeks to investigate adaptations of the model that could potentially reduce this percentage and improve outcomes across the EU.
The project describes a joint effort of the participating organisations to establish and advance their practices in Adapting Housing First Policy across Europe.
Following the 2021 Lisbon Declaration, which aims to end homelessness in the EU by 2030, there is a pressing need to train staff in effective strategies to break the cycle of homelessness. The Adapting Housing First project will contribute to this goal by sharing best practices and identifying effective approaches within the European context, which is especially critical given the current refugee crisis.The project aims to promote the best practices in Housing First Policy and is seeking to make a significant impact by using research methodologies that raise awareness and can deliver sustainable recommendations to policy makers.
The project is characterised by various phases and aims to raise awareness creating exchange and learnng visits, workshops, seminars, online webinars, research and policy recommendations aimed at the creation of sustainable outputs. It will provide opportunities for learning how Housing First can be adapted and developed to meet the needs of more people.
This initiative also seeks to raise awareness and foster a community of homeless professionals/stakeholders willing to adopt these practices and promote them. It will improve capacity through international expertise made available by the Partners in this project and through the exchange of good practices.
Objectives
The eight objectives of the project are as follows:
- Research how Housing First has been adapted in Europe
- Research staff training needs in these innovations in Housing First
- Hold a training seminar and workshops on innovations in Housing First
- Hold training webinars where best practices are shared.
- Target the training needs of Peer Support Workers
- Publish findings in a research paper
- Publish training guidelines for staff
- Publish a policy brief