Policies and Realities of Homelessness in the Countries of the European Union

通过这个项目，在德国、英国、法国、美国和比利时进行了几项实地研究。我们走访了每个国家的10到15个机构、非政府组织和专家，对他们进行了访谈，明确了每个国家无家可归的特征和国家应对无家可归的政策。首先，我们发现欧洲国家的无家可归概念比日本的更广泛。因此，这些国家解决无家可归问题的政策重点不限于露宿街头的人，住在紧急收容所、社会福利机构、无父家庭宿舍或朋友家的家庭也包括在这些政策的目标范围内。这些帮助无家可归者的政策不是根据专门针对无家可归者的具体法律执行的，而是根据向所有有需要的公民开放的普遍公共援助制度执行的。然而，在美国，艾滋病是Prov…。第二，虽然在我们调查的欧洲国家中，基本的政策思想或观点是共同的(例如，“社会排斥”和“社会包容”)，但各国在政策执行方式上存在一些差异。由于德国是一个联邦制国家，地区差异突出。英国布莱尔政府组织了社会排斥股，将解决无家可归问题作为其政治优先事项之一。在法国，在1998年《反社会排斥法》颁布后，过去的政策正在得到系统的改进和发展。第三，也是最后一点，值得注意的是，非政府组织的援助活动在欧洲国家和美国都非常活跃。这将证明许多公民认为无家可归是他们自己社会的一个重要问题。我们已经发表了这项研究的一些结果，并将在未来进一步研究。较少

Through this project several field studies were made in Germany, UK, France, USA and in Belgium. We have visited 10 to 15 institutions, NGOs and experts in each country to have interviews with them and made clear the characteristics of homelessness in each country as well as national policies tackling with it.Firstly, we have found out that the concepts of homelessness in European countries have wider extension than in Japan. The focus of the policies tackling with homelessness in those countries therefore is not restricted to rough sleepers (people living on the street), and the households staying at emergency shelters, social welfare institutions, dormitories for fatherless families or houses of their friends are also included in the targets of the policies. Those policies to help homeless people are implemented according not to a specific law dedicated exclusively to them, but to the universal public aid system open to all the citizens in need. In the USA, however, the aids are prov … More ided within the framework of a specific Act addressed to homeless people, despite the wider conception of homelessness similar to the European countries.Secondly, although the basic ideas or viewpoints of policy are common in the European countries we have investigated (e.g., "social exclusion" and "social inclusion"), there are some national differences in their styles of policy implementation. Since Germany is a federal state, regional differences are prominent. The Blair government in the UK organized the Social Exclusion Unit to tackle homelessness as one of its political priorities. In France, after the enactment of the Act against Social Exclusion in 1998, policies in the past are being systematically improved and developed.Thirdly and lastly, it is remarkable that the assistance activities of NGOs are very active both in the European countries and the USA. This will be an evidence of the fact that many citizens regard homelessness as an important problem in their own societies.We have already published some results of the research project and will do it further in the future. Less