Housing First: A System for Combatting Marginality

Migrants are increasingly becoming “victims of collateral damage” due to the risks of urban marginalization (Bauman, Collateral Damage: Social Inequalities in a Global Age, Polity Press, Cambridge, 2011). Collateral damage is the result, on the one hand, of inequality and, on the other, of an increase in human suffering. Although discomfort and suffering are connected to the individual, they relate to place, and thus individual fragility becomes an expression of urban fragility. The condition of social fragility is, therefore, dictated by a combination of a series of elements that are not related only to housing but also to the absence of basic resources that might ensure decent material conditions of life (Townsend 1979). Many are the risks that can be identified today that accentuate collateral damage: the economic crisis, a change in values, inequality, the sense of insecurity and uncertainty, the “privatization” of existence, false fears. It is of primary importance to trigger considerations and interventions that may promote effective policies aimed at accompanying people at the risk of extreme marginality, starting from individual projects and taking overall charge of the individual; consideration should be taken of the varieties of autonomy in relation to the needs and desires of the individual, changing the paradigm of reference and focusing on the potential of people and the centrality of a right to housing as the basis for any potential intervention. Stability of accommodation is one of the conditions for guiding people towards self-sufficiency and the response should be geared towards the planning of case management (i.e. taking charge of the person) and the adoption of housing-led and housing-first approaches, based on the principle of swift rehousing, i.e.: housing first, as a basic human right. Housing First was launched as an innovative system to reduce homelessness for people with complex problems; it was initially developed by Dr. Sam Tsemberis in the USA. Today, HF is used not only as a strategy to combat extreme marginalization, especially for the homeless, but as prevention from potential marginalization situations. HF can trigger transformative resilience processes and European experiences of HF demonstrate the importance of the closest and most complementary services (often those of care) and the adoption of a community approach. The paper will focus on analysis of the housing-led and housing-first approach and analysis of experiences of HF as a possible strategy to reduce the risk of social marginality, e.g., for unaccompanied foreign minors who have become newly legal adults and consequently are leaving the reception system or for women, victims of trafficking. Housing First projects have also proven to be effective with people who do not have social ties, but receive help from friends or family, and who are not part of a community.