Housing First - Provincie West-Vlaanderen

The second goal of the Finnish strategy was veryclose to the goals of CHF services in the USA 78 .Finland sought to alter the way in which existingcommunal homelessness services worked by usingthe PHF philosophy as a reference point. However,while some US service providers sought only tomodify the operation of existing staircase services,Finland embarked on an extensive programme ofrefurbishment and new building that was designedto deliver one person apartments for chronicallyhomeless people. There has been some policywithin debate in Finland as to how far an approachlargely based on a CHF model can fully reflect thephilosophy of PHF 77 .Delivering a Communal HousingFirst ServiceUnlike PHF, there is no standardised or agreed setof guidance on how to deliver a CHF service. Thisis because CHF services vary in the detail of theiroperation.This section looks at the operation of CHF in sixrespects:❱❱Which groups of homeless people is a CHFservice designed to help?❱❱What are the aims of a CHF service?❱❱How is the service accessed?❱❱How is a CHF service delivered?❱❱What does a CHF service cost?❱❱Risk managementWhich groups of homeless people isa CHF service designed to help?Like PHF services, CHF services in the USA aredesigned primarily to help chronically homelesspeople (see Chapter 2). In Finland, the term ‘longtermhomeless’ is used to describe the group ofhomeless people that CHF services are designedto help, but this group is defined in a very similarway to ‘chronically homeless people’ i.e.people withmental health problems, problematic alcohol/drugconsumption and other complex support needswhich mean they could not access housing withoutsupport 79 .Sometimes, as in Finland, the main target group forCHF services are chronically homeless people whohave been in the homelessness shelter system fora long time. CHF services may also be targeted onindividuals who are judged to be at risk of chronichomelessness, such as people with a history ofhomelessness who have high support needs andwho are about to leave psychiatric hospital or theprison system without any home of their own to goto. Some CHF services in the USA are focused onchronically homeless people with the very highestsupport needs only. In practice this means that CHFservices are designed for:❱❱Chronically homeless people who have beenusing homelessness services for a long time.❱❱Chronically homeless people with high levels ofneed associated with mental health problems andproblematic alcohol and drug consumption.❱❱People thought to be at risk of chronichomelessness because of their history and/ortheir characteristics.What are the aims of a CHF service?The key aim of a CHF service is to provide stablehousing that will reduce the harm that chronichomelessness has caused to an individual. Alongsideproviding a stable and secure place in which to live,CHF services are intended to help minimise and wherepossible reduce mental health problems and the useof drugs and alcohol that are strongly associatedwith chronic homelessness. In the USA and Finland,services are being used as a replacement forstaircase and emergency accommodation servicesthat were found not to be effective in ending thehomelessness of most of the people who used them.In both countries, CHF services are primarily used2677 Larimer, M.E. et al (2009) op cit.78 Social Innovation Europe interview with JuhaKaakinen 2011 http://www.socialinnovationeurope.eu/magazine/localdevelopment-and-communities/interviews/ending-homelessness-finland79 Busch-Geertsema (2010) op cit.