Description
The Autonomous Province of Trento works with adults in situations of serious marginalisation in the province, who are homeless, in conditions of serious personal, economic, family or social hardship, at risk of isolation and social exclusion, in order to
- satisfy basic needs (canteens, personal care and hygiene services, distribution of food and clothing)
- guarantee minimum conditions of subsistence, dignity and social promotion (day and night accommodation)
- facilitating orientation and access to the service network and taking charge
- define and coordinate services and types of intervention integrated with the various opportunities to support autonomy and social inclusion
From a regulatory point of view, the Autonomous Province of Trento exercises its competence in the field of serious adult marginalisation by coordinating the system and entrusting the management of services to third sector organisations, while the direct taking on of people is the responsibility of the territorial social services.
Services and interventions are defined in coherence with the Ministerial Guidelines for combating severe adult marginalisation in Italy (available at the link), a summary and guideline document that offers practical applicative recommendations on the phenomenon of extreme marginality, services for the homeless and innovative intervention approaches.
The system of services for the homeless
In Trentino the service system is characterised by provincial programming and the collaboration of, in particular, the municipalities of Trento and Rovereto, urban centres in which the phenomenon of severe adult marginalisation is most concentrated, and third sector organisations.
The two main shared planning and management tools are:
- Tablefor social inclusion in favour of people in situations of marginalisation: a provincial table made up of public and private social bodies with the functions of observation, analysis of existing responses, detection of critical issues, identification of uncovered areas and formulation of improvement proposals
- Counters (men's and women's) for the reception of homeless people: they manage, through uniform methods and criteria, access to permanent and winter dormitories, men's and women's, through the allocation of beds, but they also represent listening and orientation points for services in the area. They also promote the collection of data for more effective planning of responses to needs and prevention actions
The differentiation of services includes
- night reception: permanent offer of beds, with an increase in accommodation in the winter season (indicatively from November to April)
- day reception at adult service centres with the activation of services geared towards meeting essential needs (canteen and socialisation, shower, luggage storage, laundry)
- street unit, a service with proximity functions on the territory, in places frequented by homeless people, with actions of listening, reception, awareness-raising, information, orientation to services and reduction of risks linked to life "on the street
- distribution of material goods for personal use and basic necessities kits (clothing, shoes, personal hygiene, etc.).
Service enhancement measures provided by ministerial funds
Within the framework of ministerial funding pertaining to the low-threshold area is the project approved and financed under the "INtegra" public notice for a total amount of €1,983,770.44.
With the resources relating to the"INtegra" Public Notice, it was possible to strengthen the Housing First model, already launched in 2018 through the Notices No. 4/2016 Pon and Poc Inclusione, based on the direct placement in independent flats of homeless persons for the purpose of favouring the regaining of a state of psycho-physical well-being and paths of social integration.
By the Decree of the Head of Department no. 275 of 4 September 2024, the Public Notice "INtegra" was approved for the presentation of intervention proposals aimed at the social inclusion of persons at risk of severe social marginality and at combating homelessness to be financed on Priority 1 "Support to social inclusion and fight against poverty" - Specific Objective l (ESO 4.12) - and on Priority 3 "Combating material deprivation" - Specific Objective m (ESO 4.13) of the 2021-2027 ESF+ NDP Inclusion and Combating Poverty.
The project activities concern:
- the continuity and enhancement of interventions according to the Housing First model;
- the hiring of a group of three professionals who will operate in connection with the pre-established teams and the working tables already active (in particular the High Vulnerability Table of the Municipality of Trento and the Severe Marginalisation Table of Rovereto), but also who can act in unstructured settings in order to favour the highest degree of proximity to people, the connection to the network and the usability of existing services;
- the provision of a dedicated space for the temporary residential reception of particularly vulnerable people;
- the involvement of experienced users in order to favour the approach and accompaniment to services through the building of relationships of trust, in the promotion of the health of people with differentiated cultural and ethnic characteristics;
- support for the activation of provincial cold plans governed by a document shared, among the various subscribers, also by the Municipality of Trento through the funding of expenses related to utilities and additional hours made available to operators dedicated to the allocation of beds.
- The purchase and distribution within the scope of material assistance of the following categories of goods: basic necessities, such as personal goods, food and first aid goods for people at risk of serious social marginality and homelessness, as well as other material goods for recipients, such as essential equipment for housing management and goods for the development of autonomy for Housing First project recipients.
Service strengthening measures provided for by the NRP
Notice 1/2022 regarding Mission 5 of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), provides for Investment Line 1.3 "Temporary Housing and Post Stations", aimed at strengthening the territorial systems for taking care of the homeless or in extreme poverty through two lines of activity.
The activity line Extreme poverty - Housing first (1.3.1) is developed through a project of Temporary Housing: this envisages the provision of temporary housing in public ownership in which to create forms of cohabitation for a limited number of people for whom to provide targeted and professional accompaniment towards the achievement of an economic-housing autonomy (total amount of € 710,000 financed by the European Union -NextGenerationEU).
The activity line Extreme poverty - Service Centre (1.3.2) instead concerns the strengthening of the system of day care services. In fact, it concerns the upgrading, restructuring and modernisation of public facilities to be used for Service Centre activities and the co-financing of management activities (total amount of € 1,090,000 financed by the European Union -NextGenerationEU).
The NRP also envisages the activity line Strengthening of home-based social services for early assisted discharge and prevention of hospitalisation (1.1.3) within which homeless persons are among the beneficiaries of care and home-based support measures in cases of protected discharge from hospital (total amount of € 330,000 financed by the European Union -NextGenerationEU).
Expected results of the approach to severe adult exclusion
- increase of people taken into care by the service network
- improved responses to the needs of people accessing services
- increase in the number of people "escaping" the circuit of night and day services aimed at responding to basic needs and in conditions of increasing personal and housing autonomy
- improvement of territorial governance and integration and connection between the various services involved
- qualification of service locations by increasing the level of reception, functionality and positive visibility of the contexts, favouring contact and awareness of the citizenship present in that area
- increasing the experience of managers, the professional skills of public and private operators and the involvement of volunteers
- increased knowledge and social observatory functions related to the phenomenon aimed at more effective planning, also in terms of awareness-raising and prevention