Emergency shelters ‘ineffective’ for long-term homeless, says charity

Emergency shelters are “an ineffective last resort” for people experiencing long-term homelessness, a report from Cork Simon Community finds.

It was based on 69 interviews conducted with 24 men and 12 women staying at Cork Simon’s emergency shelter over a year and a half.

Author Joe Finnerty, senior lecturer at the School of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork, said the report paints a “bleak picture” of the issues facing the men and women.

Every member of the group was in private rented accommodation before becoming homeless.

Almost half (47%) were aged 25 to 34 and almost a third (31%) were in the 35 to 44 age bracket. Two-thirds are Irish with the remainder from other countries in the EU.

“There were high levels of vulnerability among participants, particularly around lifetime heavy use of alcohol or drugs, low levels of educational attainment, high levels of social isolation, poor mental and physical health, low morale and a deep sense of their being little hope for the future,” he said.

While many of the vulnerabilities identified in the study fit traditional routes into homelessness, they were exacerbated by more recent factors such as the precarious housing situation and the labour market.

“Insecurity of tenure, lack of affordability, and poor quality in the private rented sector feature prominently in their routes into homelessness and contribute significantly to their inability to exit.”

It emerged that more than half of the men and women were staying in the shelter for more than six months and that one in four had been in State care. Men made up two-thirds of the group.

Almost 60% of the study group were rough sleeping before they started staying at the emergency shelter.

Mr Finnerty said the research emphasises the resilience of the group, despite multiple vulnerabilities and deep social exclusion.

“The participants have good levels of engagement with addiction and other services, with many lifetime heavy users of drugs and alcohol now either abstinent or in treatment,” he said.

Most of the current and heavy drug users in the group are seeking or receiving services for their addiction.

In another research study published 12 months ago, people who had moved out of the shelter into rented accommodation with support from Cork Simon said their mental and physical health had improved. One in four had stopped using drugs and one in five had stopped drinking.

Cork Simon’s director Dermot Kavanagh said it is clear that long-term stays in emergency accommodation are not good for anyone.

“The vulnerabilities that pushed people into homelessness in the first place are exacerbated further by being stuck in emergency shelters for far too long and with no way out,” said Mr Kavanagh.