In 2008 Finland began to change how it approaches homelessness. The approach is called Housing First. Every homeless person is offered housing, and then supported to overcome issues and gain employment. Since then, Finland has seen a decline in homelessness and is the only country in Europe with homelessness statistics in decline.
Reading this article, it is obvious that the sequencing of the system needed to change. Finland had the courage to change the sequence and are reaping the benefits of lower homelessness and lower costs. When will other countries correct the sequencing of how homelessness support works?
I have taken away that sometimes we need to take a step back and change the system at a foundational level to resolve issues, making changes within a broken process will struggle to create meaningful change.
Creating housing for people costs money. In the past 10 years, 270 million euros were spent on the construction, purchase and renovation of housing as part of the “Housing First” programme. However, Juha Kaakinen points out, this is far less than the cost of homelessness itself. Because when people are in emergency situations, emergencies are more frequent: Assaults, injuries, breakdowns. The police, health care and justice systems are more often called upon to step in – and this also costs money. In comparison, “Housing First” is cheaper than accepting homelessness: Now, the state spends 15,000 euros less per year per homeless person than before.
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