Housing First recognises that a stable home provides the basis for recovery in other areas. With Housing First, the priority is to support a person who has experienced homelessness into permanent housing as quickly as possible, without any preconditions around addiction or mental health treatment. Then, intensive work continues on these issues once they are housed. Housing First has been a key element of Government homelessness policy.
The Housing First approach to addressing homelessness places direct access to housing first and foremost for vulnerable individuals using homeless services consistently or intermittently over long periods of time, and those unable or resistant to accessing homeless services and who may then become habitual rough sleepers. These individuals often have complex high support needs such as mental or physical health problems, addiction issues or dual diagnosis (the presence of mental ill health and a substance addiction).
The cost of increasing the targets for Housing First would be dependent on the numbers of individuals requiring these supports, the level of support required and where the individuals are located. In this regard, it is important to note that the majority of individuals and families in emergency accommodation do not require the level of supports provided by Housing First. In terms of the costs of funding such an expansion of the Housing First programme my Department does not hold that specific data.