Housing First - Provincie West-Vlaanderen

Housing First❱❱Engagement with work related activity, includingproductive activity that is similar to work,education and training as well as securing paidwork where this is possible and practical.PHF is a service intended to deal with theconsequences of repeated and sustainedhomelessness among people with high supportneeds in a number of ways. Alongside tacklinghomelessness through the provision of stablehousing, PHF is also intended to promote positiveoutcomes in terms of social and economic inclusionand in terms of health and well-being, using a harmreduction framework that separates housing andsupport and which emphasizes choice for peopleusing the PHF service.How is the PHF service accessed?The PHF service in New York takes referrals fromhomelessness services. There can also be referralsfrom psychiatric services and prisons, either whensomeone has been referred to those services from asituation of homelessness or seems likely to becomehomeless on leaving. There is also the capacity totake self-referrals from chronically homeless peoplewho decide they need help 29 . Each individual who isreferred to PHF is assessed individually.The process of ‘engagement’ with service users isnot something that PHF expects to be completedvery quickly. According to the PHF manual, trusthas to be established with service users who havesometimes become used to being promised suitablehousing by staircase services, only to find a greatmany conditions and requirements being placedupon them once they started using a staircaseservice. PHF therefore aims to emphasize serviceusers’ choice and control, seeking to give theservice user confidence in the service and adoptingan approach that is focused on asking service usershow PHF can help, rather than behaving like astaircase service which ‘tells’ people using serviceswhat to do 30 . For this reason, the initial meetingwith a potential service user is at a venue theychoose (within safety constraints) and there is arequirement to allow the service user to control thepace at which their engagement with PHF moves.Locating an apartment centres on taking intoaccount a service user’s preferences before makingan offer of an apartment. Service users are shownthe apartment, to check that it is acceptable to them,before they are asked to sign a lease. In the case ofthe New York PHF service, the process of securingsuitable private rented housing usually takes placewithin two to four weeks.PHF offers a full property management serviceto private rented landlords, meaning all aspects ofhousing management are handled by PHF, includingrent collection 31 . As noted, this enables access toprivate rented apartments because the lease ortenancy is often signed by PHF, not by the personusing the service and any issues with rent collectionor other housing management issues are handledby PHF. This means a private landlord need donothing but collect the rent.How is the PHF service delivered?PHF is not a very complex service. Essentially PHFimmediately places chronically homeless people inordinary rented apartments and provides themwith services that are delivered by a mobile teamof workers and professionals who visit them intheir apartments or another venue which they havechosen.PHF service users must accept a weekly visit,devote 30% of their income to paying rent, and signa lease or sub-lease agreement for their apartment.The three requirements of the PHF service are asfollows:❱❱A weekly home visit from PHF staff❱❱Signing a lease or sub-lease, which gives theservice user some housing rights alongsideresponsibilities for the apartment they live in.❱❱Signing rental agreements guaranteeing 30% ofavailable income be devoted to payment of rent.The core components of a PHF service are:❱❱Ordinary apartments. In the USA these areusually found in the private rented sector, but29 Tsemberis, (2010a) op cit.30 Tsemberis, (2010a) op cit, p. 41.31 Tsemberis, (2010a) op cit.15