Heather reflects on the journey of setting up Housing First in Dumfries and Galloway
The Housing First Europe Hub is home to a European network of organisations, foundations, governments and experts working together to promote the scaling up of Housing First as an effective systemic response to homelessness across Europe.
The Hub supports this effort through:
- Training - for practitioners and Housing First service providers
- Research - as Housing First is strongly evidence-based, ongoing research and pilot testing are crucial to developing and improving the delivery of the approach
- Community of practice - where practitioners can exchange knowledge and experiences with one another to help improve outcomes for service users
- Membership network - consisting of Founding and Associate partner organisations, working together to advocate for and support the implementation of Housing First across Europe
The Hub was established in July 2016 by the Y-Foundation (Finland) and FEANTSA (European Federation of National Organisations Working with Homeless People), along with more than 15 partners. All of the Hub's partners and associate organisations have confirmed their commitment to the core principles of Housing First as described in the Housing First Europe Guide:
- Housing is a human right
- Choice and control for service users
- Separation of housing and treatment
- Recovery orientation
- Harm reduction
- Active engagement without coercion
- Person-centred planning
- Flexible support for as long as is required
In Europe there are eight principles for Housing First, but in Scotland we have seven. Harm reduction and recovery orientation are integrated.
Turning Point Scotland's Involvement in the Hub
Turning Point Scotland are co-founding members of the Housing First Europe Hub. Meetings are held across Europe periodically throughout the year. Our vision is for the Housing First Academy to act as a platform to connect people and develop best practice with the Housing First Europe Hub and partners across Europe and beyond.
