| Popis: |
This research was designed to explore staffing practices in services for homeless people across Europe. The study is part of a series of comparative research reports, also exploring the range and extent of homelessness service provision and the regulation and quality of homelessness services across Europe. A standardised questionnaire was sent to experts in 15 current EU member states: Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and the UK. The 15 countries selected represent the major differences that can exist in housing systems and markets, welfare regimes, and economic prosperity across Europe. Staffing practices include how many staff work in services of different types, staff to service user ratios, staff qualifications, whether staffing levels are sufficient and the challenges that homelessness services can face as employers. The focus is on services that directly provide accommodation, ranging from emergency shelter and congregate supported housing with on-site staffing, through to the provision of ordinary, self-contained housing arranged by housing-led and Housing First services using a mobile support model. The report looks at the experience of staff working in homelessness services, the challenges they face and the ways in which they respond. The research was conducted as the COVID 19 pandemic struck and explores the initial impact of the virus on the staffing and delivery of European homelessness services and considers what the impacts of the virus on homelessness services may be. |
