Housing First: Children is a project that seeks innovative solutions to the societal challenge posed by homelessness among families with children. An increasing share of families are suffering from homelessness and consequences are serious: not having a home limits childrens’ opportunities to access education, create relationships and maintain routines for food, play and rest.
A bad start in life reduces opportunities for health and work in adulthood, stands in the way of growth and risks cementing a negative development. Thus, homelessness do not only create individual suffering, we see consequences in the form of greater inequality and increasing products for society.
Today, Sweden lacks the structures needed to address this complex problem. Neither public institutions, NGO’s, nor market actors have been able to solve the problem on their own. The starting point for this project is that societal actors must work together in a new way. The core of the project is the establishment of knowledge alliances between relevant actors and thus creating a platform where the actors in collaboration can test, evaluate and implement system-level solutions to reduce homelessness. In the initial phase, the actors will in Three so-called knowledge labs discuss problems, prerequisites and potential solutions to the social challenge.
The actors will examine previously existing models, eg Housing First, and evaluate how these can be adapted to the needs of families with children. The project group consists of representatives from business (ÅF), academy (Malmö University) and the non-profit sector (Save the Children and the Stadsmissionen). More actors are connected to the Three knowledge labs, where the public sector becomes an important part.
Collaborators: AFRY, Rädda Barnen, Skånes stadsmission.