The document discusses Finland's national program to reduce long-term homelessness by building new housing and converting shelters to supported housing units. It provides examples of quality criteria used in Helsinki for services for long-term homeless people, including standards for staffing, qualifications, safety, and community engagement. The conclusions note that different criteria may be needed for different types of homeless services, and that defining and following up on criteria is as important as setting them.

1. Quality and the Finnish programme
to reduce long-term homelessness
1st Workshop Session: Quality criteria –
what level of prescription works best
Luxembourg 21st October 2011
Taina Hytönen / Y-Foundation

2. The framework in defining quality
• Homeless services?
The principle of universal benefits in welfare
services covers also homeless people living
permanently in the country. Only in a few of
the largest cities there are services targeted
especially for homeless people.

3. • National program to Reduce Long-term
Homelessness (2008-2011):
- By the end of 2011 about 1600 new dwellings built
or renovated for long-term homeless people
- State funding for construction + hiring support
personnel in 10 largest cities
- Conversion of traditional shelters into rented
supported housing units
- Housing first – approach

4. A challenge for the welfare services
• New service consepts matching the needs of
long-term homeless people.
• New work orientation and methods in support
services.
• How to guarantee client participation?
• How to define quality and measure it?
• How to keep the developmental process going
on?

5. Example: The city of Helsinki has used following criteria
in buying services for long-term homeless people:
• Security of the tenure: living in supported housing is based on a normal
lease.
• Staff resources:
– the minimum in supported housing is 0,12 workers / tenant
– in intensively supported housing 0,3 / tenant
– in service-accommodation 0,4 / tenant.
– 24 hour service is required except in the supported housing if specially agreed.
• Qualifications of the staff:
– the manager of the service provider must have a university degree in social
welfare or health
– one qualified nurse per team is the minimum
– other staff members must have vocational qualifications in social and health
care

6. • System of quality standards:
– quality is evaluated according to:
– The ability of the service provider to fulfill the duties mentioned in the service
agreement
– How the targets in the personal service plans of the clients are reached
– the service provider must have a documented quality control system.
– the service provider must define its values, policies and system of
management.
– the quality system must include a description on how the client feedback is
collected, processed and documented. This information must be utilized in
developing the services.
– besides regular reporting the service provider and the city social services will
have a follow-up meeting at least once a year to evaluate how the quality
standards are reached and how the mutually set developmental projects have
been carried out.
• Safety:
– in every supported housing unit there must be a written safety plan based on
a risk assessment of the activities.
– the plan must describe safety measures both in the premises and in the
neighborhood of the unit.
– A safety plan includes also a statutory fire and rescue plan.

7. • Neighborhood (community) work:
A supported housing unit must have a written action plan on how the
interaction with the neighborhood is organized (joint meetings,
informing and regular follow-up rounds). All feedback from the
neighborhood must be processed and replied immediately
• Quality of housing
The minimum standard for housing in supported and service accommodation
is a room with a shower, toilet and a kitchen. Most of the new housing stock
consists of fully equipped normal dwellings with room for services and group
work in the premises.
= prescriptive standards of quality in
services for a very vulnerable group of
homeless people

8. Single homeless people in ten largest cities in Finland
ARA 2011

9. Conclusions:
 Homeless services: different criteria are needed for different services:
preventive / emergency / supportive etc.
 The criteria used in Helsinki can not necessarily be applied everywhere:
more flexible solutions can be suitable is smaller cities.
 Defining criteria is important: how to include inclusion and guarantee the
supportive orientation in the work.
 It is not only setting the criteria: also the follow-up procedure and client
feedback are important.
 There is a lot of confusion and ignorance on the local level about the
procedure and (EU & national) regulations on public tendering , SGEI etc.
This makes choosing service providers difficult even though there are no
real markets in the field in Finland.