Housing First in Denmark: An Analysis of the Coverage Rate among Homeless People and Types of Shelter Users

There is a paradigm shift that has taken place regarding homelessness interventions in recent years with the Housing First program - early access to permanent housing in combination with intensive social support which has been shown to improve the chances of rehousing for people experiencing homelessness. One of the largest Housing First programs in Europe was established with the Danish homelessness strategy from 2009 to 2013 and a follow-up program from 2014 to 2016. Results from the Danish program showed similar positive outcomes of Housing First as documented in other countries. However, evaluation research also uncovered barriers to scaling up and mainstreaming Housing First into the general welfare system. This article analyses the coverage rate of Housing First in the overall population of people experiencing homelessness in Denmark. The study examines the proportion amongst the transitional, episodic, and chronic shelter users that were enrolled in the Housing First program during the program period. 

Publication Date: 
2018
Publisher(s): 
The Danish Center for Social Science Research, 1052 Copenhagen
Location: 
Denmark