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LOW-THRESHOLD ACCESSIBILITY AND ADMIS- ADMIS-SION CRITERIA

«There are many, sometimes contradictory, cri-teria that can hinder access to (at least some) emergency accommodation in European coun-tries. These criteria may be established formally and legally by local, regional or national legisla-most is a suitable place to live – in winter more

than ever.»184 Sometimes, by reading local news or newspapers, it seems like homelessness starts to be taken seriously every year only in the same period: the cold season. From «November, the

‘measures taken’ and the ‘efforts made’ to tem-porarily increase the accommodation capacity for homeless people during the coldest months are reported in the media. In April of the following year, in the same media outlets, a variation on the following can be found: ‘End of the winter plan:

hundreds of people unable to find accommoda-tion’.»185

Winter plans are for sure a vital issue, especially when dealing with deaths caused by extreme con-ditions, but according to statistics, even summer is equally fatal. Reality is that homeless people, for several reasons, die all year long, and govern-ments cannot afford to play with lives for a lack of vision and strategy. «The ineffectiveness of se-asonal management is characterized by insuffi-cient reception over the long-term, beyond winter.

It constitutes not only a factor of insecurity for

186. François Bertrand and La Strada, Du givre sur les ronces - Évaluation du plan hiver 2017-2018, 2018, p. 71, https://www.lastrada.brussels/portail/images/PDF/

RapportHiver2018-Fr-05-BAT.pdf (translated from French)

187. FEANTSA and Abbé Pierre Foundation, Fourth Overview of Housing Exclusion in Europe 2019, p. 21, https://www.feantsa.org/download/oheeu_2019_eng_

web5120646087993915253.pdf 184. The Guardian, The Guardian view on rough sleeping: more than a winter crisis,

January 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/31/

the-guardian-view-on-rough-sleeping-more-than-a-winter-crisis

185. FEANTSA and Abbé Pierre Foundation, Fourth Overview of Housing Exclusion in Europe 2019, p. 20, https://www.feantsa.org/download/oheeu_2019_eng_

web5120646087993915253.pdf 3. the value of the home 90

tion or informally through practices and regula-tions specific to service providers.»188 (FEANTSA, 2019)

Another factor that prevents people from entering in housing programs is accessibility. Always due to high numbers of requests, even emergency accomodations are becoming more selective, and this is displayed by several admission cri-teria being set for acceptance.

The first is the small financial contribution asked daily, weekly or monthly according to the shelter’s policies, which should help the structure to run its services. In The Netherlands, for exam-ple, the average fee gravitates around €3.5 and €9 per night, in Czech Republic CZK 45 (€1.5-2) and in Hungary HUF 1283 (€4), but sometimes they can be free of charge. Even though shelters’ fees may look affordable, this is not always necessarily true for homeless people: in most of EU countries,

«Banning begging is gaining credence amongst policy makers as a way to ‘solve’ problems asso-ciated with homelessness and poverty»189 while, actually, for some accounts for the only source of

income.

Secondly, showing administrative documents has proven to be a barrier to emergency. «Some services require people to have no criminal convi-ctions, to be legally in the country or even simply to provide identification such as in Greece, where the majority of night shelters require a tax sta-tement and proof of identification»190. Local con-nection requirements are, in fact, becoming more and more common in the regions where services are being provided, as well as, at last, restrictions of age, gender and nationality.

In some cases, like Brussels, these criteria do not apply and access to emergency accomodation is regulated by a lottery system, with the aim of pro-moting low-threshold alternatives. Furthermo-re, In Finland, the Ministry for Social Affairs and Health in 2002, has expressed its willingness to open the access to drug and alcohol users191, who are usually the first to be refused, taking a step forward in favor of the fight against homeles-sness.

188. FEANTSA and Abbé Pierre Foundation, Fourth Overview of Housing Exclusion in Europe 2019, p. 23 https://www.feantsa.org/download/oheeu_2019_eng_

web5120646087993915253.pdf

189. FEANTSA, Criminalising homeless people – banning begging in the EU, February 2015, https://www.feantsa.org/download/2015-02-07_draft_criminalisation_

policy_statement-38703600034690521366.pdf

190, 191. FEANTSA and Abbé Pierre Foundation, Fourth Overview of Housing Exclusion in Europe 2019, pp. 23-25, https://www.feantsa.org/download/ohe-eu_2019_eng_web5120646087993915253.pdf

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ken. Some of the characteristics involved concern overcrowding, lack of private space and, as a con-sequence, respect for private and family life and security, the impersonal nature of communal spaces, the poor quality of facilities and internal regulations depriving people of their freedoms.193 Most of the time, individuals are not allowed to choose anything, but they simply accept what they are given. This is the main reason why ser-vices should be "humanised" (i.e. made and sha-ped for human dignity) and guarantee at least minimum levels of well-being for users without distinctions, making them feel secure and able to build and manage a life around other people in long-term housing solutions. Reception services, indeed, cannot be described as decent if they encourage worsening feelings of helplessness, insecurity, guilt and powerlessness. Unfortu-nely, the vast majority of night shelters in Euro-pe «reflect an image of exclusion and instability.

The buildings are often run down. There are often facilities designed for other functions. They are equipped with low-quality and second-hand fur-niture. They are lacking in space for socialising and privacy. Accomodation provided to people en-visages cohabitation among strangers and rarely guarantees space for storing personal belongin-gs safely while being protected against theft.»194 3. QUALITATIVE AND "HUMANISED"

ACCOMODA-TION SUITABLE FOR LONG-TERM TENANCY

«Emergency accommodation is the physical interface of the staircase approach for people experiencing homelessness, with a succession of preparatory interventions, from initial recep-tion to social rehabilitarecep-tion. Despite this key role, many emergency shelters are often rundown and poorly equipped, reflecting an image of exclusion and instability. They lack private spa-ces and there is an expectation that users should cohabit with strangers. Emergency accommoda-tion is supposed to be a temporary soluaccommoda-tion but, in reality, it prolongs precarious living conditions and rarely leads to well-being, recovery and social integration.»192 (Tilling, 2018)

One of the most impelling issues of emergency accomodations is the quality of the structures de-stined to host people. According to Ian Tilling, the President of FEANTSA, modern accomodations do not pay adequate attention to both the physical and psychological conditions of the measures

ta-192, 193. FEANTSA and Abbé Pierre Foundation, Fourth Overview of Housing Exclu-sion in Europe 2019, p. 32, https://www.feantsa.org/download/oheeu_2019_

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4. SUPPORT PROVISION ADDRESSING MULTIPLE