Final conference of Housing First Europe in Amsterdam 13th - 14th of June 2013
The Programme
The seminar will last one and a half day (Thursday 9h00-17h30 Friday 9h00- 13h00) and will be divided into different plenary sessions and 2 workshop sessions discussing aspects of the broad themes referred to above. See full programme and speakers biographies:
Terms of registration
Deadline for registration is Friday 24th May 2013. Your registration is not valid until the entry cost is paid.
Please note that places are restricted to 200 participants and registrations will be accepted on a first come basis. An invoice will be send for payment after the deadline for registration.
You must consider the following before you enter the registration module:
- Participation in the conference
- Participation in conference dinners
- Choice of workshops
- Need for accommodation
- Participation in the activity Friday afternoon
Further information:
Contact Birthe Povlsen
Fees
Conference fee: 150 €
This includes all conference materials, lunch and refreshments
Conference dinner 13th June 2013: 40 €
Accommodation (Hotel Casa 400, Eerste Ringdijkstraatvej 4, Amsterdam) and breakfast:
Wednesday, 12th June 2013 to the 13th June 2013: 125 €
Thursday, 13th June 2013 to the 14th June 2013: 125 €
Note that Wednesday 12 June 2013 there is a seminar on "Tackling homelessness as a social investment for the future: Looking at the bigger picture" organized by FEANTSA and HABITACT.
http://www.feantsa.org/spip.php?article860&lang=en
Housing First Europe
Housing First Europe is a Social Experimentation project funded in the framework of the PROGRESS programme of the European Commission. It aims at evaluation and mutual learning of local projects in ten European cities. The projects provide homeless people with complex needs immediate access to long-term, self-contained housing and intensive support.
The plight of homelessness exists across the EU, even in developed welfare states. The need for innovation in the homeless sector is therefore crucial. Housing First approaches are thought to be effective in tackling chronic homelessness, which is why they have received broad interest in Europe. The approach was originally developed in the United States and has been used predominantly to tackle chronic homelessness, especially of people with mental illness and co-occurring substance abuse.
In contrast to ‘staircase’ approaches, which predominate in many European countries, Housing First projects do not require homeless people to show evidence of being ‘housing ready’ before they are offered long-term stable accommodations. Housing First projects place homeless people directly into long-term, self-contained housing with no requirement that they progress through transitional programmes.
However, Housing First does not mean "housing only": Substantial and multidisciplinary social support is provided to the re-housed homeless people assertively, though it is not a condition for them to participate in and comply with therapies or show sobriety and they cannot loose their tenancy for failing to do so.
In Europe, the Housing First approach to homelessness is currently tested in a number of cities and some evaluations are going on at a local level. The Housing First Europe project started 1st August 2011 and is planned to last until July 2013. It is implemented through a work programme which has two principle strands: A research and evaluation strand and a mutual learning strand.
In five European cities Housing First projects are tested and evaluated from a European perspective, leading to greater clarity on the potentials and limits of the approach and its impact on homeless people’s lives. These five "test sites" cities include: Amsterdam, Budapest, Copenhagen, Glasgow and Lisbon.
Housing First Europe facilitates mutual learning with additional partners in five “peer sites” cities where further Housing First projects are planned or being implemented and with a steering group whose job is to to steer the project evaluations and to monitor and evaluate the action. "Peer sites" include: Dublin, Ghent, Gothenburg, Helsinki and Vienna.
