Resources and Media
Denmark on the path to guaranteeing students housing in Copenhagen
Posted by Tristan Remple on May 1, 2024
Danish government works with other municipalities to guarantee housing to students and is currently working on a similar deal in Copenhagen.
Number of young homeless people falling
Posted by Tristan Remple on May 1, 2024
For the first time since 2009 the number of young homeless people has fallen in Denmark. Although the exact decrease is not revealed, a study carried out by VIVE attributes a general fall in the homeless total to a fall in the number aged between 18 and 24 in the city areas.
Housing First in Denmark: An analysis of the coverage rate among homeless people an the types of shelter users
Posted by Tristan Remple on May 1, 2024
A paradigm shift has taken place regarding the understanding of homelessness interventions in recent years as Housing First—early access to permanent housing in combination with intensive social support—has been shown to improve the chances of rehousing for homeless people. 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 homeless people in Denmark. Results show that in the municipalities that were part of the program only one in twenty homeless people were enrolled in the program. Moreover, following Kuhn and Culhane’s (1998) typology of shelter users, 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. Even in the primary target group for Housing First, the chronic shelter users, only 11% were included in the Housing First program.
Homelessness in a Welfare State: Perspectives from Copenhagen
Posted by Tristan Remple on May 1, 2024
The homeless population has not been caught by the Danish social security net. Homelessness is not easily defined, but can include individuals living in the streets, in shelters, in temporary arrangements with social contacts, or in various institutions including prisons and hospitals. The number of homeless people is not well documented and attempts at making an accurate census of homeless persons are complicated. Experts estimate that there are 10,000 to 15,000 homeless people in Denmark, about half of which live in the Copenhagen metropolitan area. The number of homeless persons continues to increase, but as the city has changed and areas in which the homeless used to “hide” have disappeared, the increase in the number of visibly homeless people has outpaced the growth in the homeless population.