O retrato da pobreza em Portugal (em inglês) - HOJE

Relatório Conjunto sobre Protecção Social e Inclusão Social 2010 (28/06/2010)

O Relatório Conjunto sobre Protecção Social e Inclusão Social 2010 abrange uma série de áreas incluindo a política de inclusão social, habitação, cuidados de saúde, o impacto da crise económica sobre os regimes de pensões e de Governo.

O estudo analisa a situação social na UE27, antes e durante a crise económica e financeira e olha para as respostas iniciais dos Estados-Membros e as medidas tomadas para a recuperação. O relatório inclui também os perfis dos países em relação aos sem-abrigo e à exclusão habitacional de cada Estado-Membro.

Esta publicação está disponível no site da Comissão Europeia - Emprego, Assuntos Sociais e Igualdade de Oportunidades, em formato pdf e apenas em Inglês - AQUI

Para não perder a oportunidade, não houve tempo para fazer a tradução.

Se quiser ler apenas o que respeita a Portugal (em inglês)

PORTUGAL

1. Current situation

A national definition has been approved under the framework of the 1st National Strategy for the Integration of Homeless People (NSIHP), and concerns those who are in the following situations:

Rooflessness - without a shelter of any kind, sleeping rough.

Houselessness - with a place to sleep but temporarily in institutions or shelter.

The definition contained in the National Strategy is based on ETHOS categories (1, 2 and 3) but does not cover all the houseless categories in ETHOS.

It should be stressed that until March 2009 there was no official definition of homelessness in Portugal and the adoption of a national definition is a positive development in this field, even if all ETHOS categories are not covered.

In Portugal, an accurate number of homeless people is not known. However according to a study carried out in 2005200 the homeless people in Portugal are, above all, men of active age (30-70 years), single and divorced, Portuguese citizens, with basic schooling, distributed essentially throughout the large metropolitan areas (Lisbon and Porto), followed by the midsized cities of Setubal, Faro and Braga, Coimbra and Aveiro. Another emergent trend has been the growth of immigrants in their ranks, namely Eastern European migrants. Women are also affected by this phenomenon but are not as visible as they more often resort to other informal network support but also because institutional services for victims of domestic violence and for young mothers are not considered as services for the homeless.

The structural causes of homelessness seem linked to drug addiction, alcoholism and mental illness or family relationship rupture, often related to other causes like low levels of education, informal work market, unemployment, insufficient health system responses and difficulties in the individual's access to adequate and affordable housing.

2. Overall policy framework and governance

The Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity is responsible for the recent National Strategy on Homelessness, represented by the Institute for Social Security (ISS, I.P.). The Ministry responsible for housing policies is the Ministry of Environment, Planning and Regional Development (represented by the Institute of Housing and Urban Rehabilitation (IHRU).

Other Ministries involved in the National Strategy are: the Ministry of Health, of Internal Affairs, of Justice, and the Chairmanship of the Council of Ministers. In 2010, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Education and the National Statistics Institute will also sign a commitment to participate in the implementation of the National Strategy for the Integration of Homeless People.

The national strategy recognises the existence of local dynamics in the provision of services not only in homelessness, but also regarding the promotion of social inclusion and thus provides guidelines for the implementation of local homelessness plans, which will be defined and implemented within these local social networks. These entities are expected to present and implement local plans according to the strategy’s orientation. One of the challenges facing the implementation of the national homelessness strategy is the continued strong involvement of the wide range of stakeholders (public and private). The national level Group for the Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation of the Strategy is responsible for disseminating the guidelines, and for providing support to the local networks and units responsible for designing those plans.

The two main strategic axes comprise measures aiming at:

1) achieving more evidence-based knowledge on homelessness, namely by the use and dissemination of an agreed definition of homelessness, and of a shared information and monitoring system; promoting sensitisation initiatives addressed both at the school and the media environments to tackle the social stigmatisation of the homeless population;

2) promoting quality in the provision of homelessness services and responses, namely by eliminating the need to sleep rough, by increasing the quality of temporary accommodation, by preventing the lack of accommodation and support upon discharge from an institution, by reinforcing permanent housing solutions, by improving access to social benefits, by improving access to health care (namely to mental health care services), by promoting training and qualification opportunities for workers in this field, by enhancing the drafting of local homelessness plans, and by promoting the adoption of specific methodological orientations in intervention practices.

The strategy defines three specific areas to be tackled by the different measures proposed under the two strategic axes:

a) a focus on preventative actions in order to avoid situations of homelessness arising from evection or discharge from an institution;

b) direct intervention in situations of homelessness focussing on the clarification of procedures and responsibilities within a specific intervention model, and also on the experimentation of innovative projects;

c) and the follow-up of situations, ensuring the continuity – when needed – of support after resettlement.

Special importance is given to the implementation of:

a) an information and monitoring system, with service providers and clients registers

b) an integrated and client-centred approach , with individual insertion contracts

c) local diagnosis including risk indicators d) local homelessness plans within the social network program and homelessness strategy‘s framework

A budget of € 75.000.000 is dedicated for this Strategy. Nevertheless an identification of the costs related to many measures needs improvement.

3. Access to housing

The main objective in this area is to promote local diagnoses which include the identification of risks factors in order to prevent homelessness .The biggest challenge is to create efficient communication system with different bodies, namely the justice system.

In Portugal there are three main types of accommodation as follow:

1. Temporary accommodation;

2. Integration Community;

3. Reintegration Apartments.

To create professional support in the transition from emergency or temporary accommodation to more permanent solutions is one of the National Strategy specific goals. Emergency situations are covered by the existent measures but there is a lack of responses that give continuity to individual's trajectory of reinsertion, and it deserves a special attention. For the moment any assessment can be done in this area.

Supported housing – a Housing First Project is being implemented in Lisbon since September 2009 involving 50 homeless people with mental illness that are placed in houses for rent with permanent technical social support. However other examples of supported accommodation already existing in Portugal, addressed to people having drug addiction or HIV problems.

Access to independent housing – Programmes to facilitate access to independent housing have been carried out by the Public Services: programmes for supporting families facing serious housing problems (access to controlled cost housing, rehabilitation programmes, direct financial support in emergency situations); promotion of the rental market particularly aiming at young people; specific programmes in particularly disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

3.1. Affordability

For many years rents were frozen, promoting a non-competitive rental market and increasing considerably home owning. In the present days new rents are very expensive and this phenomenon leads people to buy accommodation instead of renting. There is no system to control rents. A housing allowance can be asked for by people under 65 if the family gross annual income is less than 3 minimum wages or by people over 65 having a family gross annual income inferior to five annual minimum wages. This allowance is decided by the IHRU.

3.2. Quality of housing

A specific programme – Prohabita (Financial Programme of Housing Access) – was created for those living in shanties or in buildings lacking adequate conditions and/or with no viable rehabilitation as well as situations of destruction of the dwelling and situations of overcrowding witch represented in 2007 15.5 % of the total population . The Program is executed through the establishment of cooperation agreements between IHRU and public regional and national services, such as municipalities or associations of municipalities, public institutes and the entrepreneurial public entities

4. Homelessness and access to services

Homeless people as any other vulnerable groups can benefit from the available measures/programmes of training and employment as well as the existent Portuguese National Health Care.

The direct engagement of the Ministry of Health and the Institute for Employment and Professional Training in the process leading to the conception of the Strategy and their commitment towards specific measures in order to promote access to opportunities and services which although existing where not reaching the homeless population may enhance improvement in these areas, depending on how these measures will be implemented.

5. Monitoring and Evaluation

Portugal is still in an initial phase of implementation of the national strategy. A first evaluation report is foreseen in December 2009. An intersectorial group, with representatives of the Ministries and other stakeholders is responsible for the monitoring and evaluation of the Na