Addressing older women's homelessness: service and housing models

There is limited understanding of the nature and extent of older women's homelessness in Australia and how it can be alleviated. The aim of this project is to ascertain the combination of program and housing models that is likely to be most effective in addressing older women's homelessness. The data comprise interviews and correspondence with 14 Australian and international stakeholders. The findings draw on insight from housing, gerontology and gender studies, and highlight the need to match welfare and housing programs with the diverse life experiences and current needs of older women. Alongside flagship models of practice in housing provision are assumptions within housing and homelessness sectors of what older women need. There is a lack of understanding that most older women in housing crisis have limited knowledge of the welfare sector, and with provision of mainstream housing (and community aged care if needed) will live independently. Traditional homelessness programs and specialised supportive housing, associated with both seniors and homelessness sectors, are appropriate for women who have lived with ongoing disruption and substantive health concerns. Addressing older women's homelessness in Australia requires a range of services and housing responses, with increased attention given to a discourse of housing – affordable, secure housing – rather than continued discourse of homelessness.     

Policies and programmes to end homelessness in Australia: Learning from international practice

Parsell C, Jones A, Head B. Policies and programmes to end homelessness in Australia: Learning from international practice. Many welfare states throughout the industrialised world have recently implemented policies to achieve targeted reductions in homelessness. These policy and welfare initiatives differ across national contexts. They are similar, however, in moving away from social programmes that have essentially ‘managed homelessness’ towards interventions that seek to permanently end homelessness. Australia has recently adopted similar homelessness policy objectives. This article examines the manner in which Australian homelessness policy has been converging with international policy directions. More specifically, the article scrutinises Australian social programmes adopted from the UK and USA as a means to achieve strategic goals of reducing homelessness. It argues that although Australian homelessness policy objectives are converging with international policy, Australian programmes modelled on international successes do not have some of the elements shown elsewhere to be crucial for achieving sustainable reductions in homelessness. This may become central to explaining programme outcomes in future years. Key Practitioner Message: ?Strategies aimed at permanently ending homelessness represent a significant shift to contemporary professional practice;?Homelessness programmes internationally are now characterised by their branding or identification with evidence‐based models;?It is important to critically scrutinise these models, examining their core elements and the manner in which they are appropriated and incorporated across jurisdictions.     

Houses with elastic walls: negotiating home and homelessness within the policy domain

Efforts to address homelessness in New Zealand are marked by competing discourses that construct it as a housing issue, or more radically, as an issue of social exclusion. This paper presents a case study that illustrates the difficulties of reconciling these discourses when framing homelessness policy. Research was conducted with a national organisation involved in advocating to the New Zealand government on homelessness policy. Members of this group participated in focus groups exploring the meanings of home, homelessness and their advocacy work. The paper traces the challenges presented to the politics of social action by recognising homelessness as an issue of social exclusion, but needing to frame it as an issue of housing to effect policy change. It argues that social activist groups must routinely make pragmatic and strategic compromises that challenge the integrity of their ideological positions and their conceptual understandings, and develop group practices that allow them to resolve the tensions that this can generate.     

When political values and perceptions of deservingness collide: Evaluating public support for homelessness investments in Canada

Citizen attitudes toward welfare state investments are often explained by their ideological values and their perceptions of deservingness of welfare recipients, yet recent experimental research has led to the theorization that clear deservingness cues can overwhelm otherwise strong ideological beliefs. We tested these claims with respect to homelessness in Canada using a vignette survey experiment and found evidence that citizens with very different political beliefs can support similar government investments, indeed from a shared sense of deservingness as suggested by recent experimental studies, but that support is anchored by rather different reasons. Key Practitioner Message: ? Citizen support for homelessness investments is jointly mediated by ideology and a sense of the “deservingness” of the beneficiary. ? Emphasizing the broader cost savings to taxpayers from “Housing First” does not make conservative‐leaning citizens more supportive of investments. ? Emphasizing the personal attributes of persons experiencing homelessness rather than abstract statistics may unite progressives and conservatives on “deservingness”.     

Social service professionals in Finland under the pressures of a depressed economy and European integration

The Nordic welfare states are known as women-friendly. However, during the last years their policies have been to turn the back on women. At least in Finland there seem to exist two powerful forces that have advanced the non-egalitarian development: the economic recession of the 1990s and the integration of Europe. The decline of the Nordic welfare states is going to have considerable consequences for social service professionals, the great majority of whom are women. Therefore, they should create new strategies and find new allies in order to defend their own as well their clients rights.     

Putting experts in their place: Achieving policy impact as an outsider-academic in civil service reforms in Slovakia

This paper studies two processes of civil service reform in Slovakia during the period of 2014–2015 in order to reflect on the involvement of an ‘outsider-academic’ and her strategies to achieve policy impact. The context of such involvement are multi-level processes permeated by political interests and poor on evidence, which favour strategic interests, bargaining and political pressure and contestation (the mode of ‘powering’) and a mode of legal-based ‘puzzling’ as opposed to a conceptual, intellectual search for solutions friendly towards outside academics—and achieving only incremental results. We theorise on the success of these strategies (including helping serendipity, throwing ideas to see what sticks, mobilising allies, anchoring a non-binding concept, and finding and developing long-term connections) and sketch analogies and differences between the position of an outsider-academic and a policy entrepreneur. We rely on auto-ethnographic data and documentation of the work of the committees involved and their outputs.     

Problematising aspects of evidence‐based policy: an analysis illustrated by an Australian homelessness policy 1985–2008

Although recently criticised in the academic literature, the past few decades have seen international demand for policies to be based on evidence. In this article three aspects of the process of evidence‐based policy (EBP) are briefly examined. They include: (1) how evidence becomes socially worthy of the title; (2) the problems which arise for EBP when there is conflicting or rival evidence; and (3) facets of the transition from evidence to policy – the evidence–policy nexus. After problematising evidence‐based research in this limited way, the issues are clarified and illustrated by reference to the history of the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP: 1985–2008), renown at the time as the major Australian program for people who were homeless. SAAP involved an agreement enshrined in legislation between the Commonwealth and all states and territories of the Federation. The argument is based on evidence from the four official national reports of the policy which, over the period of the program, evaluated SAAP and were commissioned and accepted as authoritative by federal, state and territory governments. In a nutshell, the argument is that, at each iteration of SAAP, subsequent policy discounted one of the sets of evidence in the official National Evaluations. This concerned the clear evidence of a lack of external, affordable accommodation options which, in turn, undermined the objectives of the program. The issue remains topical as more recent evidence substantiates the imperative for increased accommodation options for clients ready to exit agencies.     

Apprenticeships in homelessness: a quantitative study

Training and education are acknowledged routes into employment, but they also entail risks of contemporaneous financial loss, and economic and social insecurity. This paper explores the specific risk of homelessness among apprentices and trainees, drawing on a survey conducted in South Australia in 2013. Housing has been largely overlooked by studies of the wellbeing of apprentices and trainees, and by explorations of the drivers of attrition rates that continue to plague Australia's training schemes. The data examined here reveal the high proportion of income that trainees spent on their housing; home moves motivated by the desire to reduce rental or mortgage payments; and a small proportion of learners who experienced periods of homelessness. Closer statistical analysis reveals that apprentices and trainees with past experiences of homelessness were disproportionately likely to be pursuing courses in retail and personal services, or in transport. They were also likely to be receiving Youth Allowance or AUSTUDY payments. We recommend better recording of apprentices' and trainees' housing situations and greater use of administrative data to improve our understanding and reduce the incidence of homelessness among this population.     

Introduction to the special issue on welfare conditionality in Australia

Conditionality in Australia’s welfare state has sustained a significant academic critique, including the critique published in this journal. In this Special Issue of the Australian Journal of Social Issues, we contribute to the existing critical literature on welfare conditionality. This Special Issue aimed to provide empirical scrutiny into welfare reform and conditionality in Australia. The articles extend our understanding of welfare conditionality’s underpinnings and its lived effects. These case studies illuminate the aspects of welfare conditionality that have not received enough attention: the role of technology, the question of mobility, the relationship with housing and the little thought given to the state’s role in mutual obligation. What is clear is that the individualisation of structural problems is not just a theoretical and political misstep ripe for critique, but leads to the formulation of policies that impact marginalised people’s capacity to shape life on their own terms. Through different empirical foci, all papers in this Special Issue demonstrate how welfare conditionality is put forward as a solution to address the consequences of structural disadvantage.     

How many Australian veterans are homeless? Reporting prevalence findings and method from a national study

This article presents findings from an Australian study of veteran homelessness (Hilferty, Katz et al. 2019). The AHURI Inquiry into Homelessness Amongst Australian Veterans was funded by the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) to estimate the number of homeless veterans and to examine veterans' pathways into homelessness, service usage patterns and ways that service responses may be improved. This article presents the prevalence findings and describes the method employed by the research team. Drawing on primary data and extrapolating results to a larger sample of veterans, the researchers estimate that approximately 5,800 contemporary veterans experience homelessness over a 12‐month period in Australia. This estimate – the first ever to be based on primary data – indicates that veteran homelessness is a much larger problem than previously estimated and deserves priority attention from policymakers and sectoral representatives.     

Social service purchasing in China: Rationale,features, and risks

As part of a broader program of market reform, China's local governments are progressing an agenda of purchasing child welfare and other social services from the nongovernment sector, primarily to expand capacity and address vast unmet need. This paper draws on current research evidence to explore the approaches to purchasing emerging in China, examining the rationale for purchasing and models of supply, competition, and regulation. While some approaches are modeled on direct service contracting, direct purchasing of social service “posts” is also used, aimed at achieving goals of professionalization alongside service expansion. Overall, the review shows purchasing is helping to rapidly expand service scale and capacity; however, regulatory strategies for managing and mitigating risks to quality and access appear lacking. This highlights the need for further scholarship aimed at developing the robust risk management strategies which are required to support high quality, sustainable provision of purchased services.     

Homeless young people,families and change: family support as a facilitator to exiting homelessness

The families of homeless young people are most often portrayed as a precipitating factor in their homelessness. However, recent studies, particularly those taking a longitudinal approach, have drawn attention to the enabling role of family members and their positive influence on the housing trajectories of homeless youth. Drawing on selected findings from an ongoing longitudinal qualitative study of homeless young people in Dublin, Ireland, this paper aims to build on this relatively fertile area of research. We demonstrate the supportive role of the families of young people who experience homelessness (often as a consequence of difficult family environments) and specifically examine how family re‐engagement is negotiated and achieved. The findings highlight a number of dimensions of transition and change. Prominent among these is the importance of renewed trust and communication. Young people and their parents also had to accept responsibility for areas of life that previously served to undermine their relationships and were implicated in the circumstances surrounding a young person's premature home‐leaving. Tensions and resistances on the part of young people are highlighted, demonstrating the adaptive mechanisms at work as they attempt to re‐engage with family members. The implications of the findings for social work intervention with homeless youth are discussed.     

Anti-Oppressive Research in Social Work: A Preliminary Definition

In comparison with other helping professions, social work claimsto embrace a very distinctive mission: to oppose the roots andeffects of social oppression. This article examines social workresearch from an anti-oppressive social work perspective. Itargues that in order to match the liberating mission of theprofession, social work research should defy the dominant traditionsof social science research. The paper first outlines a definitionof anti-oppressive research in social work and then suggestsa relevant set of criteria for assessing it. A case study isdescribed and analysed according to these criteria, followedby a discussion of some ethical and methodological issues involvedin the development of a more inclusive inquiry in social work.     

关于整合海域为新板块纳入国家区域开发总体战略问题探讨

为了跟进经济全球化和区域一体化的世界潮流,跟从全国区域经济协调发展的现实进程,中国目前应当抓紧整合海域为新版块,并与东部、西部、东北、中部一起纳入"区域发展总体战略",为制定《中华人民共和国国民经济和社会发展第十二个五年规划纲要》以及海洋经济开发专项规划提供理论支撑。有鉴于此,必须对于整合海域为新板块纳入国家区域开发总体战略进行价值定位,并依据实施海洋区域经济开发战略的现实条件进行机遇认定,进而做出实施海洋区域开发战略的对策创意。本文通过构建海域开发体系,改善地缘经济关系,造就和谐海洋氛围,促进完善全国区域经济开发格局和总体战略,真正实现"经略海洋"的战略构想。     

Do housing regimes matter? Assessing the concept of housing regimes through configurations of housing outcomes

Based on a conceptualisation of de‐commodification as the right to decent and affordable housing, we assessed to what extent this right is realised for low‐to‐moderate‐income owners and renters across Western European housing regimes in 1995 and 2012. If differences in the social production of housing do matter (regardless of type of welfare state and the country's economic affluence), then distinct configurations of housing outcomes should exist. This was found to be indeed the case: More state intervention results in good housing conditions and low housing cost burdens across tenure‐age groups (but particularly for renters), although more so in social‐democratic than in conservative‐corporatist welfare states. A more important role for the family in housing provision is associated with higher subjective housing cost burdens and poor housing conditions. As housing regimes became more commodified between 1995 and 2012, it seems that configurations of housing outcomes have become less associated with the features of housing regimes, and more with type of welfare state and the country's economic affluence.     

Introducing a novel approach to the cross-cultural measurement of stigma versus social integration using methods from the field of cognitive anthropology

This study combines current theories and methods from the field of disability studies and cognitive anthropology in the development of a cross culturally replicable and comparative model for evaluating stigma toward, versus social integration of, people with disabilities in society. Weaknesses in previous ways of measuring and comparing ‘social integration’ are addressed, as well as known challenges of measuring attitudes and stigma toward disability, especially in a cross-culturally applicable and comparative way. A new application to previously existing methods in the field of cognitive anthropology is introduced which addresses these challenges. A case study conducted in Poland is described which illustrates the proposed methods. In conclusion, a roadmap for future research is provided which briefly reiterates the steps needed to replicate the study in various cultural contexts. Understanding the ways in which people with disabilities are perceived to deviate from culturally shared norms in a society may pave the way for the development of more effective and culturally targeted social policies in an effort to promote the social integration of all members of society.     

(Im)mobility: regional population structures in Aboriginal Australia

The socio‐cultural factors underlying contemporary Aboriginal settlement and mobility patterns are invisible to the categorisations that underpin both demographic modelling and policy that relies on that modelling. Taking the Yolngu people of north east Arnhem Land as a case study, this paper elaborates an anchored network model consisting of three tiers—an ontologically prior ancestral geography, with its associated contemporary settlements, to which kin‐based networks are anchored by nodal individuals. While the content of each tier may vary across the continent, this model can potentially be applied wherever Aboriginal Australians continue to live in kin‐based social universes. It is argued that constructing a ‘recognition space’ between conventional demographic categories and Aboriginal categorisations of their socio‐spatial universes would lead to more informed policy‐making on the part of government. Such policies would take account of the aspirations of Aboriginal people rather than imposing upon them the state's aspirations for them.     

Using Community-Based Participatory Research to Develop a Series of Core Competency Trainings Within a Developmental Disability Program

ABSTRACT

The New York State Talent Development Consortium at the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) mandated developmental disability programs to train and evaluate direct service providers (DSPs) on seven core competencies. Utilizing community-based participatory research (CPBR) – an approach where clients, providers, and researchers share their knowledge and experience to identify study areas, formulate research questions, and use results to improve practice – a needs assessment was conducted by a New York-based developmental disability program to inform a training curriculum. Six focus groups were conducted from a purposive sample of 14 DSPs, and 19 managers/supervisors. Staff identified skills that corresponded with six out of seven competencies. Staff recommended hands-on training on: appropriate communication to deal with individuals with severe disabilities; professionalism; person-centered care; and education on terminology in behavioral health plans, medication, and mental health illnesses. Empowering DSPs through CBPR allows for a training curriculum catered toward staff needs, which may be well-received and utilized. The CBPR process employed may be beneficial to other agencies within the intellectual and developmental disabilities field, particularly at a time when the demand for nonlicensure providers such as DSPs is increasing, and there is a need to train them to render quality and effective services.     

Integrating Social Work and Community-Development Practice in Victoria,Australia

Community development is generally considered to be a core component of social work practice and knowledge. Yet much professional social work literature and discourse seem to relegate community development to the sidelines. This article aims to address this deficit by interviewing six Victorian social workers involved in community-development practice. It documents the use of CD skills and strategies in social-work interventions, and the integration of the values, principles and frameworks of the two disciplines.     

Enhancing Social Support for Migrant Families: A Case Study of Community Services in a Shanghai Urban Village and Implications for Intervention

Recent years have witnessed the growing emphasis of the Chinese central government to develop community services as a method of building communities and strengthening social solidarity. With the increased involvement of multi‐generation households in China's internal rural‐to‐urban migration, however, little is known about what community services are available for migrant families. Nor do we know much about how such services can enhance social support for migrants, which is crucial for their psychological well‐being in managing the ongoing challenges that arise from migration and further integration into cities. This article presents a case study conducted in Shanghai where social services are emerging in a few urban villages. We begin with a brief background on China's rural‐to‐urban migration and the emergence of urban villages, followed by a discussion of community services and social support for Chinese migrant families. We then document existing services in an urban village to explore how they can influence migrant families' social support. Drawing on the perspective of service providers, we highlight the effects social work interventions can have on improving social support for migrant families. Finally, we propose an intervention framework based on multi‐dimensions of social support, emphasizing an integration of formal and informal social support through community services for migrant populations.