Rough Sleeping Initiative Takes over HUD
Haven’t heard of the Rough Sleepers Initiative (RSI)?
It was the United Kingdom’s answer to the large “chronically” homeless populations inhabiting its urban cores, especially in central London. It was translated into the United States through the Bush Administration’s emphases on the chronically homeless, city plans to end long term homelessness, and the bi-annual homeless point-in-time counts.
In Britain the number of street sleepers–those sleeping outdoors on a given night–was reduced by 73 percent from 1998 to 2003. This was achieved through:
- creating a variety of hostel beds, winter shelters, and permanent housing;
- coordinating multi-agency chemical, mental and physical health needs; and
- hiring outreach and support workers.
The Rough Sleepers Unit (RSU) gave local authorities the leadership role in implementing policies. The RSU believed that ending rough sleeping in London may look drastically different than ending rough sleeping in a rural area with few(er) resources.
The success of the RSI led to a greater recognition of the importance of prevention and social inclusion. The UK’s current plan is to create more housing for ex-offenders, for children and youth leaving (foster) care, and to help people stay connected to mainstream society through improved schooling, health care, and support for families.
In my dream world, the Bush Administration would decide next year to allow local providers to design the housing, services and solutions that meet the needs of the people they encounter, including those facing eviction, families, and people leaving institutions. Even more importantly they would be able to get a majority of their funding for both services and housing through the federal government.
If the Bush administration is choosing to follow the UK’s previous plan, we must push for them to follow aspects of its current plan including its emphasis on prevention … something many providers have been doing all along.
