Quality standards in social services from the perspective of services working with homeless people
Presentation of five services for homeless citizens in Denmark
This report is prepared for FEANTSA (the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless). The ambition is to make a Danish contribution to a general stocktaking across Europe on definitions, legislation, standards, methods of measuring and implementing quality in homeless services.
The Danish contribution presents five services to homeless citizens in Denmark, including description of the service and interviews with the professional service providers.
The five initiatives are
- Support- and contact person scheme - outreach work with marginalized citizens
- Outreach work by project UDENFOR - focused on homeless citizens with mental problems
- Alternative housing, so-called freak houses - housing for excluded citizens
- Health Team for Homeless - health care on the street
- Social Nurse at hospital - bridge building between hospitalized addicts and staff
The interviewees stated that the EU regulations have little or no influence on their work, apart from having resulted in more non-Danish citizens on the street. The informants generally expressed scepticism towards the idea of making common EU-standards for working with homeless people, based on the substantial differences between the countries, concerning culture, politics, economy, public services etc. All respondents report working towards meeting each individual on his or her own terms without predefined strategies and action plans. Flexibility, both on a personal and organizational level is put forward as the key to successfully meeting the needs of homeless people.
Look also the following links to PDF files: