Polish Commissioner for Human Rights on national homeless count in 2017

Adam Bodnar has adviced the Minister for Family, Labor and Social Policy on how to improve Polish national homeless counts. The counts are conducted biannually, next one planned in early 2017. Commissioner noted that lack of proper diagnosis of the scale and basic characteristics of homelessness phenomenon is a barrier to effective service provision and ending homelessness. He mentioned the need for a full diagnosis of homelessness and housing exclusion based on ETHOS and formulated five precise recommendations for the forthcomming national count.

1. Conducting sociodemogrpahic survey parallel to the count as in 2013.

2. Using ETHOS as definition of homelessness except of statutory definition from the Act of Social Welfare.

3. Including housing situations of living in the short term institutions for migrants, refugees and people dependent on drugs next to traditionally included institutions “for the homeless”.

4. Improving the organisation of the count by all stakeholders’ meetings on local level and guidelines for surveys.

5. Redrafting the survey form by adding the question on support needs (including substance dependency) and health condition, extending the cafeteria of housing situations and withdrawing from using alcohol dependancy as a cause to homelessness.

The statement was prepared by the Expert Commission for Preventing Homelessness established by the Commissioner at the beginning of his term in 2015. Eradication of homelessness is among Adam Bodnar’s priorities.

Full statement in Polish here.

Short history of Polish national homeless research and advocacy on time axis (in Polish) here.