Social Action Models and Homeless Support Service Mapping for Some Major European Train Stations

EUROPEAN RESEARCH CONFERENCEHomelessness, Migration and Demographic Change in Europe

Pisa, 16th September 2011

Interdisciplinary Center 'Sciences

for peace’

Social Action Models And Homeless Support Service Mapping

For Some Major European Train Stations

Carlo Carminucci, Isfort

EUROPEAN RESEARCH CONFERENCEHomelessness, Migration and Demographic Change in

Europe Pisa, 16th September 2011

Contents

The HOPE project: an overview

The research process and the methodological approach

The network of social organizations: a brief description and comparative analysis

Emerging common issues



Contents







The “HOPE in stations” (Homeless People in European train stations) project aims at improving the organization of the service provided to homeless people in and around railway stations.

The global objective is to experiment train stations as places for organized services towards homeless people:

by setting up a reference authority in the railway stations of the project, in charge of the coordination between all interventions towards itinerant people in the train stations

by exchanging best practices and comparing different types of organizations among partners

by developing a shared core of knowledge on wandering people;

and ultimately by developing a consensus among the partners about what should be done on the local, national and European level to solve the problems of homeless people

The global framework (1)




The assumptions of the HOPE project to be tested are the following:

the difficulties that itinerant people must face imply the

intervention of various organizations: publics services (health,

employment, housing….), social organizations (NGOs) and railway

companies

the quality of the collaboration between very diverse stakeholders

in a determined place (here a train station) can be an important

factor in the capacity of a homeless person to get one solution to

his/her very need

therefore, the partners of the project should be of three types:

railway companies, public authorities and social organizations




Consequently, the partnership of the HOPE project has been formed by the following subjects: 3 active national project teams (7 active members): France (ANSA - Agence nouvelle des Solidarité s actives, coordinator of the project, SNCF), Belgium (Secretary of State for social integration and poverty, SNCB-Holding, La Strada) and Italy (Ferrovie dello Stato, Europe Consulting) 2 partners with an intermediate status: Germany (Bahnhofsmission) and Luxembourg (CFL) 2 associated national project teams: Poland (Polskie Koleje Pantswò we) and Spain (Fundaciò n de los ferrocarriles espa oles)ň 2 research centres (in charge of the evaluation): Centre for social inclusion, ZSI (Vienna) and ISFORT (Rome) 1 European representation: FEANTSA



A European-level partnership3 Partner countries2 Partner countries with an intermediate status2 associated countries


Global duration of the project

2 years (January 2010-December 2011)

Public fundings

European Commission (mostly), Department for Social Cohesion (France), High Commissioner for active inclusion against poverty (France), Secretary of state for social integration and poverty (Belgium)



The social mapping

Source: ANSA

Fig. 1

NGOsPublic

authoritiesRailway

companies

The reference authority

National project team

Evaluation of the impactZS I (via na tiona l researchers )

Socio-political Analys is & Social mappingJ . Damon & IS F ORT (via na tiona l researchers )

Global Framework of the HOPE in stations Project



Contents







The objectives of the social mapping

The main objective of the social mapping is to draw a quantitative and qualitative map of the social organisations that provide support and

assistance services to the homeless in the railway station or in the area around the station

In more general terms, the social mapping should describe, for each station, the profile of a model

that can be applied for intervention (assuming that there is one!) in situations involving social exclusion, focussing attention on the homeless

and highlighting the strong and weak points of the model in question



The railway stations involved

The survey concerned the railway stations in five European capitals partner of the HOPE project: the 3 active partners – France, Italy and Belgium – and the 2 partners with an intermediate status – Germany and Luxembourg.

The involved railway stations are the following:

Paris, Gare du Nord (including the nearby Gare de l’Est) Rome, Termini Station Brussels, Central Station Berlin, Zoo Station Luxembourg (main Station)



Located in the city center - I Municipality

After the refurbishment of 1999 the RTS increase its role as “city station”

Daily attendance of about 600000 people

The most important interchange of urban and metropolitan transport

Total average Station Platform

March 115 21April 90 26May 88 21June 92 30July 48 24August 40 26

The only quantitative data available on the presence of homelessness are those provided by the Help Center through its monthly monitoring report

Rome Termini Station: key figures



> 800000 passengers per day, this means that is one of the most important rail junction in the world

Paris Gare du Nord (and Gare de l’Est): key figures

Homeless at and near the station Permanent homeless in the station: >20 Homeless that pass regularly through in station : 150-200 Homeless around the station and on the whole in the Xè me

arrondissement: 600-800 depending on season



A central railway station strictly connected to the other railway stations (especially North and South)

140000 passengers per day

N° de zone femme homme Non précisé Enfant <18 SommeNord 4 50 0 54Central 2 16 0 18Midi 12 59 0 71

3 36 1 40Reste Pentagone 2 20 14 2 38En dehors du Pentagone (+Zaventem) 0 16 25 41

23 197 40 2 262

Centre Bourse Brouckère grand place

Homeless presence: a survey carried out by La Strada (nov 2008)

Brussels Central Station: key figures



120000 passengers per day

no longer a national and international railway junction, but the most important urban and regional junction (about 400 railway lines)

a station with a strong symbolic value: a meeting place for drug dealing and street prostitution in the 70s and 80s

it 'has been refurbished in the 90s, with an improvement of its security conditions About 400 meals distributed daily in the

station for homeless who hang up there

Berlin Zoo Station: key figures



it’s at the same time the national railway station and and an intenational railway station

from 2006 the station was completely refurbished, with a particular extension of the commercial area

About 200-250 homeless in the cityAbout 60 homeless around the station

Luxembourg Station: key figures



The research framework

2. Description of the “demand side” (homeless people), identifying needs of homeless people at the train stations

Methods:• Participant observation• Semi-structured interviews with service providers and other stakeholders • Framework to collect data and information

1. Description of the “supply side”: social services providers, showing a qualitative and quantitative map of their services and interventions with a specific focus on homeless persons

Methods:• Semi-structured face-to-face interviews with service providers• Analysis of available documentation (users’ monitoring, level of the services provided etc) • Evaluations (to be drawn with the agencies’ staff)

3. Stakeholders analysis (railway company staff, security staff shopkeepers/owners, administrative bodies): focus on relations with social services providers and homeless people

Method: semi-structured interviews



Two relevant methodological points

1) The target group (“Homeless”)

A person is said to be A person is said to be “homeless”“homeless” if during the month before the survey he/she if during the month before the survey he/she experienced one of the following situations:experienced one of the following situations:sleeping in an emergency or transitional shelter/hostel sleeping in an emergency or transitional shelter/hostel sleeping in a place not initially intended for living (streets, parks, railways, sleeping in a place not initially intended for living (streets, parks, railways, cellars, squats, etc.)cellars, squats, etc.)and at the day of the survey is and at the day of the survey is notnot an owner, occupier or tenant of a private, an owner, occupier or tenant of a private, independent dwellingindependent dwelling 2) The social organisations (“Core network”)

The general criteria adopted to identify the core network of the social organisations which are relevant for the purposes of the survey are the following: the organisations that provide “core” services for the homeless and operate directly within the station or have a location inside the station or provide some type of information inside the station



The research activity performed: a summary

Table 1. Summary of the research activities performed

Preparatory activities Research tasks

Training and

methodological workshop

Pre-testing

Observations of participants performed

Social organisations

surveyed

Stakeholders interviewed

Rome Termini Station

X X X 10 6

Paris Gare du Nord

X (no) (no) 15

(+ 3 “institutional”) 6

Berlin Zoo Station

X (no) X 10 -

Brussels Central Station

X (no) (no) 8 7

Luxembourg Station1

- (no) (no) 4 -

Total 47 19

1 The survey in the train station of Luxembourg was made later in comparison with the four other train stations; consequently an inferior quantity of collected data was taken into account, respecting though an adequate standard of improvement for the objectives of the study and the requirements of comparison.



Contents







(in brackets the number of organizations investigated)

Paris(12)

Rome (10)Brussels

(8) Berlin (10)

Luxembourg (4)

Type of organization

Charitable/informal organizations 4 0 6

Non-profit/Institutional

organizations12 6 8 4 4

Organizations of religious affiliation

4 7 1 6 1

Financial sources

Mostly subsidies 7 3 5 1 2

Mostly donations 6 1

Both subsidies and donations

5 1 2 9 2

Staff profile

Only volunteers 2 6 1

Only employees 4 1 6 6 3

Both volunteers and employees

6 3 1 4 1

The distribution of social organizations by type, financial sources and staff profile



Paris (12) Rome (10) Brussels (8) Berlin (10)

Listening and identifying homeless’ needs 9 4 8 10

Distribution of meals 6 7 3 7 (+3)

Ddistribution of blankets 3 3 5 4 (+4)

Distribution of clothes 2 3 4 7 (+3)

Temporary shelter to sleep and wash 2 3 2 3 (+6)

Permanent night shelter 1 1 (+2) 2 (+7)

Canteen 1 1 (+1) 3 2 (+7)

Medical assistance and infirmary 2 3 (+1) 6 (+1) 3 (+7)

Psychological assistance 3 1 4 10

Support/guidance for social inclusion 7 2 (+4) 6 10

Support / guidance to get a house 2 1 (+1) 5 (+3) 4 (+6)

Support / guidance to get a job 6 1 (+1) 2 (+3) 1 (+2)

General legal assistance 3 1 (+2) 1 (+3) 2 (+8)

Special services for drug/alcohol addicts/mental illness 1 1 4 (+3) 1 (+9)

Special services for specific sub-populations 7 5 3 (+7)

Other (access to internbet, phone, post address, safe deposit, public relations etc) ? 2 4 5 (+5)

*In brackets if the service is indirect or it’s only orientation

The distribution of social organizations by type of services provided *



The “Italian model”: Help Centers National Network (1)



The “Italian model”: Help Centers National Network (2)



Contents



The network of social organizations : a brief description and comparative analysis




Relevant trends

The sharp increase in foreigners (and irregular)

More residents who have suddenly become poor

The age is lowering

Mental health problems are much more frequent

Main new (and old?) needs

The housing problem is crucial

An increasing need for medical care

An increasing need for social inclusion

The access to the social service for illegal immigrants (in Berlin this problem is very complex)

About the beneficiaries of the services…



The effectiveness of the work of social organizations, The effectiveness of the work of social organizations, as well as the overcoming of the shortage of certain services, as well as the overcoming of the shortage of certain services,

depends on citizen welfare systemdepends on citizen welfare system......

…….. .. but also depends on the choice of the organizations themselves, but also depends on the choice of the organizations themselves,

such as the long-term work on the individual personsuch as the long-term work on the individual person 2

1

Key issues concerning of the social service network (1)

……and depends on the integration with the set of existing services in the city, and depends on the integration with the set of existing services in the city,

on the ability to work collaborativelyon the ability to work collaboratively , on doing more training, on doing more training3



Besides, shouldn't miss some attention Besides, shouldn't miss some attention

to the political commitment and to the promotion of voluntary workto the political commitment and to the promotion of voluntary work 4

Key issues concerning of the social service network (2)

Railway companies are doing much (although not everywhere Railway companies are doing much (although not everywhere in the same way), but there are still uncertainties about their real in the same way), but there are still uncertainties about their real

intentions; and stakeholders in general appear still little convinced intentions; and stakeholders in general appear still little convinced of the validity of the commitment to solidarity in the stationsof the validity of the commitment to solidarity in the stations

5



Social Action Models And Homeless Support Service Mapping

For Some Major European Train Stations

Carlo Carminucci, Isfort

THANKS FOR YOU ATTENTION!THANKS FOR YOU ATTENTION!

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Social Action Models and Homeless Support Service Mapping for Some Major European Train Stations