Presentation given by Ana Martins, AMI, Portugal, at a FEANTSA Conference on "Quality in social services from the perspective of services working with homeless people", Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, 2011

1. For an Humanitarian Global Action
Workshop Session 2
The role of quality in finding solutions to homelessness in emergency
and transitional contexts
National Social Services

2. Speak about:
 Quality requirements/standards defined for emergency services
Differences for non- emergency services
 Should the quality requirements/standards of services be different for
interventions of emergency character than the ones working on longer-term
bases?
 AMI Emergency Services
 Challenges to ensuring that emergency services meet their aims to respond
to users
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National Social Services

3. Quality requirements/standards defined for emergency services
Differences for non-emergency services
 In Portugal there are about 4000 social institutions and around 13.000 social responses
 Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Social Security that aims the social responses evaluation,
according to 2 main areas:
 Security and Building Quality (accessibility, hygiene, signage, etc.)
 Quality Management of the Social Responses (assistance, communication, trust, etc.)
• Quality Management System of the provided services
• Qualification System of the Social Responses (SQRS) – certification of the social
responses in order to grant citizens the access to quality services and equipments.
 There are specific social guideline-manuals for a few responses: Childhood and elderly
people (nursery/day-care center, temporary accommodation center, residential nursing home,
home support service, among others)
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National Social Services

4. Quality requirements/standards defined for emergency services.
Differences for non-emergency services
 On 2009 was presented by the minister of social security the “National Strategy for the
integration of homeless people” with a national homeless concept. (Roofless and Houseless).
 Since 2008, at AMI structures, there has been technical monitoring visits from the Ministry of
Social Security – the technical guidelines already refers to issues on quality of services.
 There are typologies for specific homeless services: Street Teams, Occupational Workshop.
 Besides these specific social responses, there are other social general typologies that support
homeless people like: community centers; refectory; insertion community; temporary
lodgment shelters.
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National Social Services

5. Should the quality requirements/standards of services be different for interventions of na
emergency character than the ones working on longer-term bases
The principles contained in EQUASS – European Quality Assurance for Social Services – are
common to all areas of intervention and as such should not be changed
(Leadership, Rights, Ethics, Partnership, Participation, Person
Centred, Comprehensivness, Continuos Improvement, Result Orientation)
 However, the indicators and evaluation criteria should be appropriate to the specific type of
response and the target population, especially when it comes to emergency services
Examples:
Participation of Users
More flexibility in particular in reference to emergency services to ensure that participation doesn t
become only a technical paper exercise
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National Social Services

6. Should the quality requirements/standards of services be different for interventions of an
emergency character than the ones working on longer-term bases
Partnership
 Very important to precise in order to ensure the applicability of the common European quality
standards. (The role of the Institutions at the local social networks must be clarified (ex: City Halls
and Social Security Centers and particularly Lisbon/Homelessness Strategy);
Training
 Most of the street teams, those who are supervised/financed by the Social Security, have
special training, and usually are inter-disciplinary teams: social workers, psychologists; nurses or
doctors. (ex. Inter and intra training, share information between university studies related with
homelessness).
 This practice should be done also to informal helping attitudes (Ex: give soup or bread in the
street, give the rest of the meals from restaurants or others goods on the street).
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National Social Services

7. Should the quality requirements/standards of services be different for interventions of an
emergency character than the ones working on longer-term bases
Person Centered
 According to the National Strategy signaling situations of homelessness can be made by
different types of services. This should be done to NPISA (local group of institutions working with
the homeless) that will decide who will follow up on the person. This is already happening in some
districts of Portugal but not in all.
 We think it`s a good way of working, because sometimes street teams who works in the field
(emergence) don`t have the means to resolve the situations.
 It’s very important to ensure the quality of services at the emergency level because this is the
most complicated and crucial stage of the process.
 In our opinion, all emergency institutions adequately financed (amount and on time) by the state
must predict costs related to human resources inherent to the adoption of this criteria and be
subjected to EQUASS. Those institutions with relevant and justified social work, even if they don’t
accomplished the quality criteria, should continue to develop their emergence actions to homeless.
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National Social Services

8. AMI Emergency Services
 Since the beginning of our social intervention, 17 years ago, AMI follow the FEANTSA European
definition and now ETHOS concept and its monitoring indicators.
We have a data base at national level which allows us to monitor and analyze the phenomenon.
This data base is shared by all our equipments and social projects.
 At AMI we have two specific responses for homeless: Street teams (2) and Temporary Night
Shelters (2). Those are funded and supervised by the State.
 Partnership work with other institutions and public or private social responses, is privileged (ex:
street teams from Lisbon and Oporto meet monthly in order to share and discuss cases).
The technicians who work directly with this population have continuum specific and proper
training, at internal and external level.
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National Social Services

9. Diagrame 1: Intervention
Social
Outreach Emergency Police Health
Other
Street Teams National Line (PSP+GNR) Services
(LNES)
1st Line
EMERGENCY
Signaling
Specialized Emergency
Street Team Centre
Identification
and
Multidisciplinary
Diagnosis
Follow-up
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NationalSocial Services

10. AMI Emergency Services
 AMI Street Teams
Multidisciplinary teams with specific training who meet the homeless population that stays on
the street. Their intervention aims to respond homeless needs and prevent future means of
exclusion;
AMI has two Street Teams composed by technicians who intervenes at Lisbon and Oporto;
These Street Teams are attached to AMI’s Social Centers (Centros Porta Amiga) which
complement their intervention through periodical meetings, cases follow up and routing and
made available other services.
On 2010 supported 262 (39% more than in 2009) homeless people (181 were supported for the
1st time, plus 24% than in 2009)
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National Social Services

11. AMI Emergency Services
 Temporary Night Shelters
Main Goal
 To provide temporary accommodation to working aged homeless men who have favorable
conditions for their socio-professional integration
 Provide a space for promotion, it is intended that the individual perceives the situation as being
of change and not something with a tendency to conformity and accommodation
There are 2 night shelters:
Lisbon (since 1997) – 27 beds
Oporto (since 2006)– 28 beds
- On 2010 were supported 131 homeless men.
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National Social Services

12. AMI Emergency Services
 Temporary Night Shelters
Dominat Profile
Men;
Portuguese;
Between 30 and 49 years old;
Are Alone (Single, Divorced/Separated, Widow);
Low qualifications;
Unemployed;
Physical health problems or mental;
Precarious economic problems;
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National Social Services

13. Challenges to ensuring that emergency services meet their aims to respond to users
Difficulty in finding answers after the emergency services;
Lack of adequate answers:
 Housing, (social houses, house first,led)
 Health care, (Hospitals, alcohol, drug reabilitation)
House First
 Psychological support
House lad
Link difficulties between formal and informal answers (ex: volunteers and private street teams)
 Urgent need to create housing led solutions.
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National Social Services

14. Planification Case Manager
and Intervention atribution
Core
2nd Line
Case
FOLLOW-UP
Other
Accommodation responses
Manager
(health; follow-up
employment;
SS)
Individual
Temporary Housing Insertion
Specific/non- Permanent Plan
specific accommodation
accommodation
3rd Line Social Action
Local Service
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National Social Services