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https://theconversation.com/australia-needs-permanent-supportive-housing-to-end-homelessness-and-it-will-pay-for-itself-235411>
"Australia needs to provide permanent supportive housing for many reasons. The
most compelling reason is simple: it permanently ends homelessness for our most
marginalised citizens.
Permanent supportive housing combines affordable housing with health and social
services for people for whom mainstream systems do not work. It’s an
evidence-informed approach that ends homelessness for people who are so
excluded from opportunities and mainstream institutions that basic principles
of citizenship barely exist for them. They are people whose deprivation,
especially through generations, not only makes them sick, but also results in
premature deaths.
We saw short-lived COVID policy successes in housing the homeless. But we are
now seeing an increase in homelessness. It’s a societal failure that causes
great harm to people in our cities, suburbs and even towns.
The evidence shows that permanent supportive housing, by ending chronic
homelessness and rough sleeping, enables people to improve their health and
wellbeing. They can be safe and regain control over their lives.
Supportive housing also produces cost offsets for the state. This is because it
reduces costs for the criminal justice and crisis health systems. The security
and affordability that permanent supportive housing provides mean people spend
less time in ambulances, emergency departments, courts and prisons.
For instance, there was a study of Brisbane Common Ground permanent supportive
housing, using robust government-linked data. It showed an overall net saving
of $13,100 per tenant in the first year of being housed compared to a year
sleeping rough."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
