Evaluating a 'Housing First' programme: looking for a viable solution to transform the lives of homeless people

Abstract

Over the last three decades, the 'Housing First' methodology has spread from North America to other countries. In 2014, the Hábitat program was launched in Spain - a country that was still suffering a profound economic crisis - following this model. This study is part of the socio-economic evaluation carried out between 2015 and 2020 through a randomised controlled trial. The treatment group was compared with a control group by monitoring their evolution over 18 months. We verified that it achieved significant improvements in most of the areas analysed, beyond specific housing services. As regards costs, it is clear that the programme involves a large investment in terms of housing but manages to offset some expenses in other areas and, above all, generates very valuable improvements in the lives of the participants. To end our article, we discuss the scope of these results and reflect on the limitations to be overcome in future evaluations of similar actions.