This Monday, the Council of Ministers approved the National Strategy for Homeless Integration 2025-2030, which focuses on prevention and creates a warning system for risk situations, the government announced today.
“The new strategy introduces a set of measures aimed at preventing and creating an integrated risk warning system,” the Council of Ministers said in a statement about seven hours after the meeting briefing.
According to the same note, the strategy calls for “personalized case manager interventions at the local level,” as well as an increase in “housing first” solutions and shared apartments.
Housing First originated in the United States about 20 years ago and was introduced in Portugal in 2009, with 90% of people who supported the initiative not returning to homelessness.
In this project, people are integrated, usually into individual houses, and are supervised by technicians who teach them how to manage the house with the aim of their social integration.
Tailored interventions for particularly vulnerable groups and increased monitoring of local support networks for people at risk or experiencing homelessness are other measures included in the strategy approved today.
At the end of the meeting of the Council of Ministers this Monday, in which the President of the Republic took part, Prime Minister António Costa already announced the approval of the resolution, stressing that it is an issue that the Head of State “particularly cherishes”. “
The head of government explained that this was “the only diploma” that the retiring executive director “even had the competence to approve.”
Also speaking to reporters following the meeting, the President of the Republic noted that this was the “only issue” on which he spoke to the government team.
“Because on the issue of homelessness strategy, it was an overwhelming desire for me not to speak out,” he said.
The previous National Homeless Inclusion Strategy, which ended at the end of 2023, was extended on December 21 until the end of 2024.
More than 10,700 people were homeless in 2022, according to the latest official data, which for the first time surveyed all municipalities in mainland Portugal.
Over the past three years, according to the coordinator of the National Homeless Inclusion Strategy, about 2,500 people have stopped living in this state.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.