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Komisja Europejska The report on the National Expert Seminar devoted to the question of homelessness and house exclusion. The meeting took place on December 5, 2008 between 10.00 and 16.

Puławska 15, Warszawa) The seminar was organised by The University of Dundee (Scotland), RIS (The UK), GISS (Germany) and FEANTSA (the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the

Brother Albert s Aid Society, BARKA Foundation, The MONAR Association, CARITAS of the Kielce Diocese) and Polish National Correspondent in the European Observatory on Homelessness, Julia Wygnańska.

Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. Participants of the seminar: 1. Volker Busch Geertsema GISS Germany 2. Barbara Ilsley The University of Dundee 3.

1 Komisja Europejska The report on the National Expert Seminar devoted to the question of homelessness and house exclusion. The meeting took place on December 5, 2008 between and in the Conference Centre in Warsaw (CENTRUM KONFERENCYJNE CFP, ul. Puławska 15, Warszawa) The seminar was organised by The University of Dundee (Scotland), RIS (The UK), GISS (Germany) and FEANTSA (the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless Belgium) in cooperation with FEANTSA member organizations in Poland (The Pomerania Forum in Aid of Getting Out of Homelessness, St. Brother Albert s Aid Society, BARKA Foundation, The MONAR Association, CARITAS of the Kielce Diocese) and Polish National Correspondent in the European Observatory on Homelessness, Julia Wygnańska. The national seminar was organized within the Framework of MPHASIS Mutual Progress on Homelessness Through Advancing and Strengthening Information Systems financed by the EU Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. Participants of the seminar: 1. Volker Busch Geertsema GISS Germany 2. Barbara Ilsley The University of Dundee 3. Bogdan Aniszczyk Towarzystwo Pomocy im. Św. Brata Alberta/St. Brother Albert s Aid Society/NGO service provider/ database on services and client record system 4. Piotr Olech Pomorskie Forum na rzecz Wychodzenia z Bezdomności/The Pomeranian Forum/NGO 5. Beata Prusak Pomorskie Forum na rzecz Wychodzenia z Bezdomności /The Pomeranian Forum/NGO 6. Łukasz Browarczyk Pomorskie Forum na rzecz Wychodzenia z Bezdomności /The Pomeranian Forum/NGO 7. Maciej Dębski Uniwersytet Gdański/University of Gdansk/researcher specialized in surveys and headcounts 8. Julia Wygnańska Europejskie Obserwatorium Bezdomności/European Observatory on Homelessness/independent researcher 9. Ks. Stanisław Słowik CARITAS Kielce/CARITAS of the Kielce Diocese/NGO involved in researches, surveys and databases of organisations and services 10. Małgorzata Duda Papieska Akademia Teologiczna w Krakowie/researcher 11. Anna Wysocka GUS/Central Statistical Office Demographic Research Department 1

2 12. Alina Sobieszak GUS/Central Statistical Office Demographic Research Department 13. Paweł Korliński Stowarzyszenie MONAR/MONAR Association/NGO service provider and client register system in Warsaw 14. Mariusz Wachowicz Researcher 15. Andrzej Trzeciecki Ministerstwo Pracy I Polityki Społecznej/Ministry of Labour and Social Policy 16. Jacek Życiński Ministerstwo Infrastruktury/Ministry of Infrastructure Department of Building and Housing Strategy 17. Cezary Nowicki Ministerstwo Infrastruktury/Ministry of Infrastructure Department of Building and Housing Strategy 18. Dorota Wójcik CRZL/Government agenda responsible for some part of European Social Fund also connected with Homelessness 19. Lidia Węsierska Sieć BARKA/BARKA Foundation/NGO service provider, coordinator of Monitoring and Recommendation Institute 20. Jolanta Staniak Sygnity private company/delivery of POMOST client register system for social welfare in Poland 21. Irena Dybalska Centralny Zarząd Służby Więziennej/Prison Service Penitentiary Unit responsible for homelessness 22. Teresa Sierawska Biuro Polityki Społecznej Urzędu m.st. Warszawy/Social Policy Department Warsaw 23. Grzegorz Kowalczyk Millward Brown/SMG KRC, Research Unit Director Report Introduction by Bogdan Aniszczyk St. Brother Albert s Aid Society The aim of the meeting is to find the answer to the basic question how many homeless people are there in Poland? Helping the homeless in Poland is generally based on intervention. There is little or no information, however, on how to collect data on homelessness and there is neither a method nor any theory which would facilitate doing so. The diagnosis of homelessness and the phenomenon of homelessness itself are similar in terms of being marked with euphoria of helping. This resembles extinguishing fire instead of preventing it. What we re after is finding a method of cross sector and cross department cooperation in order to enable collecting data on homelessness. A number of organizations and institutions which deal with the homeless and register them as well as record instances of help provision may have an image of the phenomenon supported only by fragmentary data. Piotr Olech The Pomeranian Forum In Aid of Getting Out of Homelessness There is a common belief that it is impossible to measure and monitor homelessness. This may be perceived as a positivistic epiphenomenon no model (register) makes it impossible to grasp the phenomenon. One way of overcoming this obstacle when conducting the census was by realizing a full survey. Project MPHASIS: is the answer to the European report on homelessness is aimed at improving the skill and competence of national researchers as regards measuring homelessness is based on mutual development of the parties involved in the dialogue The object of data collecting is: homelessness prevention [evictions, staying in the institutions for the homeless no home], defining causes for homelessness [ways of entering homelessness], decreasing its level [scale of the phenomenon], decreasing the negative effect of homelessness [monitoring those who got out of homelessness and entered it again], trying to secure getting out of homelessness permanently [defining the number of those getting out of homelessness permanently.] Defining paths of homelessness by concentrating on databases as well as reasons, factors and conditions necessary but insufficient to enter homelessness. Some countries achieve good results in spheres connected with homelessness housing (shelter) or social assistance system. Other issues important for measuring homelessness are: input, system and output indicators; typologies of living situations (types of housing); operational definitions [ETHOS]; review of information sources 2

3 social assistance registers; defining key indicators (age, sex etc.); comparison of data from the registers with information from a complete survey of entire community; Framework of the meeting: expectations what can be done; barriers, gaps in the system; review of the methods; the aim of data collecting the definition of homelessness; Vilker Busch Geertsema, Barbara Ilsley GISS Gesellschaft für innovative, School of Social and Environmental Sciences The EMPHASIS Project realization is to enable carrying out the recommendations expressed in the document entitled Measurement of Homelessness at European Union Level. The meetings are to be a platform for development of 20 partners and an impulse to create new national methods of measuring homelessness without imposing anything from the outside. The method of data collection developed by each member country will form a part of a system aimed at measuring the phenomenon at EU level. Data transfer, knowledge of ways of dealing with homelessness and data collection systems are especially important in this respect because methods applied in some countries may also (theoretically) prove successful in other, where similar causes for homelessness and ways of measuring it are observed. Poland is a good example of the country where data on people leaving penal institutions and going to the street is effectively gathered. Julia Wygnańska (MPHASIS Project) is responsible for the analysis of data collection conducted by Prison Service. The aim is to study the strategy of collecting data on homelessness in different spheres (sectors, departments) and integrate it into a relatively unified system of measuring homelessness on national level. Suggested stages of data collection only suggest and indicate possible ways and do not impose any solutions. Differentiation of sources should be applied: methods of collecting data should be adapted to the forms of social exclusion. What is crucial here is the dynamics of the phenomenon. Working out the methods of data collection is not only aimed at capturing the image of homelessness but mainly focused on revealing its mechanism and the fact that this phenomenon lives and evolves. The question regarding homelessness tourism from the representatives of the Ministry of Infrastructure: is there such a phenomenon as a transfer of the homeless to different EU countries? And if so, do the homeless move in order to experience homelessness in different (better) conditions? There is no data on the subject but such a phenomenon seems non existent. What we observe, however, is the phenomenon of becoming homeless in a foreign country people leaving their home countries in order to earn money abroad, lose their home and become homeless. This category comprises homeless Poles in the UK it is not tourism but entering homelessness in another country. There is no such thing as social policy on the UE level. What we observe, however, is the support for social policies of the EU member countries. The digression of the Prison Service representative on the ID card exchange. In the last but one year of ID exchange, approximately 10,000 IDs were exchanged and in the last year the number rose to 27,000. We have to consider the fact that in the penultimate year the number of the homeless was proportionally higher but it needs to be emphasized that it was those who applied for a new ID that stated whether they were homeless or not (and at times what they stated differed from the factual data.) Such minor detail as the information on the place of registered residence on the ID may influence the way the ID holder is perceived, namely as homeless or non homeless. Sometimes people consider themselves to be non homeless even though it is impossible for them to stay in the place of residence found in their documents. Another issue that needs further discussion is personal data protection. A cohesive approach towards this question is vital for conducting the precise record of the homeless and efficient cooperation among the services dealing with homelessness. 3

4 Is there a need for a national system of data collection? A positive answer to this basic question justifies the purpose of the meeting. Andrzej Trzeciecki Ministry of Labour and Social Policy The department consisting of five people deals with homelessness and has administered the programme Powrót Osób Bezdomnych do Społeczności (Return of the Homeless to Society.) Combating the stereotypical way of thinking about homelessness (and being prone to homelessness) is one of the elements of this programme. One of the achievements of this group is the Information Guide for the Homeless available on the website of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. The head of department would also like the Information Guide data to be published on the websites of the regional Departments of Social Policy. MPiPS created the National Strategy for Social Housing and Getting Out of Homelessness (Krajowa Strategia Wychodzenia z Bezdomności i Budownictwa Socjalnego) and efficient measuring of homelessness is one of its elements. At present MOPS and statistics data from the Homelessness Programme are the two sources of information for MPiPS. The data, however, is inadequate and for this reason the Department opts for the introduction of the Socio demographic Survey as the additional source of information on homelessness in other regions of Poland. Another MPiPS activity worth mentioning here is an attempt to create the standard of services for the homeless. A word about registration which is identified with monitoring the trajectory. Access to POMOST is crucial in order for NGO s to sufficiently provide help to the homeless. Here Andrzej Trzeciecki mentioned certain conditions to be fulfilled by NGO s in order to gain access to POMOST. He also referred to the new law on social assistance being prepared by the department and limiting the role of money in social assistance. The representatives of the Central Statistical Office The next census to be conducted in 2009 will be based on registers of PESEL, POMOST and HOUSING and data provided by ZUS. The aim is to exploit the registers which are created and supplemented on a current basis. Information taken from the registers will be extended by data from the survey of 25 per cent of the population. National Census Law obliges resorts to transfer databases to the institution responsible for conducting the census. Central Statistical Office in Kraków was responsible for putting the registers in order last year (so as to prepare the databases for the next census.) Central Statistical Office wishes to obtain a coherent definition of homelessness (possible to accept by a number of entities concerned with the issue.) So far there has been a serious difficulty with grasping the phenomenon satisfactorily. Julia Wygnańska Polish National Correspondent in the European Observatory on Homelessness Julia Wygnańska mentioned: the question of conducting records of the homeless in Warsaw and studying the life trajectory of individual recipients of social assistance; Citizen Card studying the trajectory of the homeless in Warsaw; strategy (recommendation for Warsaw) as a result of establishing a strong cross sector and crossdepartment team; the review of field research studying social exclusion; Jolanta Staniak Signity SA SIGNITY is the provider of POMOST software, the system used to register instances of help provided by social assistance institutions. Rather than counting people, it records services (help provision) and counts money for the service (help=service=money.) 4

5 A number of difficulties created by the programme, observed at an early stage by the software provider, are mainly caused by different expectations of the users and the fact that there is no shared definition of the client registration. Thus we observe a problem even with data transfer among different public sector units due to personal data protection, or caused by the fact that these programmes are produced and delivered by a number of different companies. Other important questions are the definition of personal data transfer and specification of the institutions which may have access to personal data. It should be pointed out that personal data may be encoded in such a way that following the trajectory of the homeless may be possible without revealing the persons personal data. Grzegorz Kowalczyk Millward Brown SMG/KRC Commercial research of homelessness is practically non existent because no institutions ask for such surveys. It would be important to have information about those who got out of homelessness and where they are now on the social ladder. Unfortunately, questions on homelessness, unemployment or even such minor issues as flat renovation, are ignored when researching certain target groups. Jacek Życiński, Cezary Nowicki Ministry of Infrastructure The deficit of flats in Poland is estimated between 1,5 3 million. A quarter of flats is inhabited by more than one household. If we compare the housing situation in Poland with EU norms we will observe that housing poverty is a widespread phenomenon in Poland. There are two concepts housing in the EU. According to the first idea a flat may be occupied by more than one household whereas the second option states clearly that a flat equals one household. If we adopted the second option we would observe a great proportion of homelessness, or, in other words, we would face a major housing poverty problem. Grzegorz Kowalczyk Millward Brown SMG/KRC Conducting non profit research by a commercial company is theoretically possible. One way of doing so is adding the questions suggested by NGOs to the commercial surveys. What is especially important in view of the cost of research is the cost of reaching the respondents. Thanks to additional questions in commercial surveys the increase of costs connected with designing the research, and reaching the respondents in particular, may be avoided. Irena Dybalska Prison Service Central Management Prison Service has detailed information about the prisoners and reasons for their incarceration, and on the basis of this data it is possible to say where they would go after being released and how many of them will become homeless. What is more, Prison Service is also able to predict the potential trajectories of those leaving penal institutions. Data of August 29, 2008: convicts including 2582 women and men On the basis of data held by Prison Service it may be stated which of the women were incarcerated because they killed their spouse or common law spouse (between per cent of incarcerated women killed their life partner), but it is also possible to say which are not going to come back home and will probably become homeless. What needs to be pointed out is that these women feel guilty of what they ve done and after leaving a penal institution they do not come back home and become homeless. They search for a different place to live but they usually end up in the street. The prisoners awareness as to their homelessness is very problematic but it has no connection with the objective reality measured by the roofless category. 5

6 Central Statistical Office conclusion Cooperation with the public sector institutions requires actions and initiatives to be preceded by a formal application to the units governing particular resorts. It is done at the request of the concerned, usually NGO or some other institution (that needs the consent to appoint working teams or, when organizing an event or a meeting, needs to use one of the conference rooms.) The mobility of the homeless is significant and poses a great problem for the Central Statistical Office in terms of conducting the census. There is data on benefits but the access to the information is impeded due to personal data protection. Cooperation with the Central Statistical Office is crucial anything is possible (within the cross sector and crossdepartment cooperation) but any requests should be directed to the central management in advance. Vilker Busch Geertsema GISS Gesellschaft für innovative There is a number of small pieces of information which need to be gathered and examined in order to become a starting point for further study. Cross sector cooperation is essential to collect all the pieces of the puzzle which should form a whole. There is no coherent IT system which would allow for the exchange of information about the registered persons. Thus, paper data carriers should be used in order to present the image of homelessness in Poland. Lidia Węsierska Fundacja Pomocy Wzajemnej BARKA (BARKA Foundation) We should focus solely on help provision and in order to do this no additional and precise data is required. This opinion is supported by Grzegorz Kowalczyk. There are significant differences between the diagnosis of homelessness and market research. The former presents research conducted in order to use it later in practice whereas the latter is the example of research conducted in order to make profit. What seems obvious here is that only proper identification of the problem of homelessness and the knowledge how to help may result in sufficient help provision. The definition of homelessness creating a definition which would be the reflection of social awareness would be a good idea. But first we need to answer the question of what social awareness of homelessness really is. Ms Węsierska considered whether homelessness may be seen is an abstract notion which has no equivalent in the empirical world. She emphasized the fact that if a homeless person does not recognize their state as homelessness, such a notion does not exist. What we observe instead is social exclusion. This statement was followed by a discussion. When measuring homelessness one should consider the process and profile of homelessness. The scale of the problem is less significant than its precise characteristics and dynamics. There has been a suggestion of conducting a similar meeting with the same participants in order to prepare to the next census by answering one the most important questions: How can we measure homelessness in the next National Census? Summary of the meeting and determining what to do next The participants of the seminar were unanimous that the gathering of the organizations and institutions dealing with homelessness was a good idea. It was important especially in view of the fact that the meeting of so many different units was organized for the first time. The seminar participants have concluded that the next meeting in order to discuss measuring homelessness should be organized and they set the following tasks to be carried out. 1. There is a great need to work out the definition of homelessness in Poland. The definition may be based on the ETHOS typology provided by FEANTSA. The partakers of the seminar have concluded that the conference devoted to definitions of homelessness, conducted in cooperation with the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and gathering a greater number of participants, could be organized for this purpose. It is important especially in view of the fact that the definition of homelessness may be a crucial element while preparing to the next census. The conference is planned for winter 2009 (January March). 6

7 2. The seminar participants believe that the cooperation in terms of databases (registers) should be continued (initiated). The databases, so popular in Europe, are the future of gathering data on homelessness. The representatives of the Sygnity company have expressed their interest in further discussions over creating the system of the homeless registration. Other issues discussed during the meeting were connected with personal data protection, harmonization of the registers in order to facilitate information exchange and involve the Inspector General for the Protection of Personal Data (GIODO) into cooperation. 3. Another priority in the sphere of homelessness research is the next census, to be conducted in Recommendations to other European censuses mention the need for including the homeless in the study. Due to a lack of adequate registers, the methodology including the homeless population in the research needs to be worked out. The representatives of the Central Statistical Office have expressed readiness to cooperate with NGO s and public sector institutions dealing with homelessness. For this purpose a small group of experts will meet in order to define the scope of mutual cooperation. In conclusion, homelessness needs to be diagnosed in the context of social policy. The research is not simply art for art s sake but it is a crucial element of social policy, the policy which cannot be shaped without reference to social reality. And the reality may only be grasped by referring to the social study. Another meeting is planned for February Author: Łukasz Browarczyk The Pomeranian Forum In Aid of Getting Out of Homelessness Translated by: Monika Spanialska 7

HOW TO MEASURE AND MONITOR HOMELESSNESS AT EU LEVEL

March 2010 HOW TO MEASURE AND MONITOR HOMELESSNESS AT EU LEVEL This paper is divided into the following sections: I. The EU policy context for measuring and monitoring homelessness II. FEANTSA recommendations