Approaches to Homelessness Policy in Europe, the United States ...

642 Minnery and Greenhalghof its prevalence. This is one of the ways in which a clear connection can bemade between research and policy. It is also helpful for policy-makers to have asatisfactory concept of what constitutes “good practice” in homelessness policies.An understanding of the policies in place in other relevant countries and of howthey are implemented supports both these goals.This article reports on a project that reviewed approaches to homelessnesspolicy, and updates and extends an earlier baseline study completed in 1998 (Manicaros& Lanyon, 1999). The project compared approaches taken in Australia withthose in the U.S., the U.K., and the European Union (E.U.) member states as a wayof advising the Australian Government, and particularly its Supported AccommodationAssistance Program (the principal program through which national-levelfunding to address homelessness is made available) on the current state of homelessnesspolicies. The investigation explored definitions and concepts of homelessnessand whether they had changed since 1998, the changes to legislation andpolicy over that period, and analyzed what could be considered good practice inalleviating homelessness.The research was completed in early 2003 (see Greenhalgh, Miller, Mead,Jerome, & Minnery, 2004), but for the current article some of the more recentpolicy literature has been included or previous references updated. The scope ofthe review is limited to literature about policies and applied social policy documentsin the English language, but includes publications from government agenciesand nongovernment organizations as well as the available academic and researchliterature.The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the main issues to emergefrom the review and to compare recent advances in the homelessness debate and inpolicy responses with the expectations emerging from ideas about “good practice.”Although such a comparative overview can be helpful in identifying problems andpotential solutions in any arena of substantive policy concern, the interpretationof specific policy approaches to homelessness needs to be seen within a widersocial policy framework. The major differences between the Australian and U.S.policy environments and how these might impact on policies concerning AIDS riskbehavior among homeless youth, for example, is clearly identified by Milburn andher colleagues (2007). The complexities of the overarching policy environments ofthe different countries referred to in this article are not canvassed, but nonethelessthe overview does identify some important policy approaches and points to somepolicy-related research gaps.Homelessness: Recent ConceptualizationsAs identified in other contributions in this issue, ideas about homelessness—what it is, what leads people to homelessness, who constitute the homeless, andwhat kinds of policy response are most effective—have been the focus of considerableand ongoing debate. Although a number of different views of homelessness