Table of contents Introduction  Level and structure of homeless people exclusion  Causes and consequences of homeless people exclusion  Government role  Institutions and their actions  Other activities against homeless people exclusion  SAMUsocial Romania Conclusions

According to the Law Concerning The National Social Assistance System, homeless people represent a social category made of persons who:  live on the streets  live temporarily with their friends or acquaintances’ place  cannot afford to rent a place  are in danger of being evicted  those who are in penitentiaries or institutions

Other categories of persons who are at risk of becoming homeless or who live in inappropriate conditions:  people who live in shelters or institutions  those who have insecure tenancy arrangements or who face eviction  persons who live in caravans, campsites or in overpopulated improvised dwellings

Current typologies of homeless people from Romania take into consideration criteria such as:  Gender and age  Medical or social problems

5000 in Bucharest

The typology of homeless people according to Samusocial Romania:  Families with many members  Young people  The elderly The categorization based on a classification of medical or social problems:  alcoholism  drug addiction  mental disorders  poverty and urban vagrancy

Causes : The two types of causes which determine homeless people exclusion endogenous and exogenous. Under this heading one can subsume:  Family conflicts  The economic crisis  People with mental disorders  Physical illnesses  Frauds  The forced retrocession of nationalized houses  Evictions  Exclusion from economic, public, social life

Consequences  Alcoholism  Deviant behaviour: drug addiction, self destructive attitude  Homeless people can fall prey to robbery and sexual violence  Mental illnesses: anxiety and depression  Other health issues: skin conditions, tuberculosis

The state provides vulnerable individuals with access to fundamental rights such as:  a dwelling,  to medical and social care,  to education,  a job The local public administration authorities are responsible for:  social services for homeless persons  emergency shelters in winter time for the persons living on the street* * The Law Concerning The National Social Assistance System, Ch. IV, section 1

The National Action Plan in the Area of Social Inclusion  The National Programme for the employment of socially excluded people  The “Social sector development project” financed by the World Bank with USD 3 million in the field of social services development and diversity  The ‘Homeless children initiative’ project, financed by the Council of Europe Development Bank with EUR 5 million

The national interest program Eradication of the social exclusion of homeless people by creating emergency social centres.* Objectives : a) prevention of social exclusion of homeless people b) creation of emergency social centers c) identification and evaluation of the persons who live on the streets; d) survey, on the basis of real data, the number of homeless persons, as well as the percent of solving the existent cases. *The Government Decision No from 24 November 2010

The Ministry of Labor, Family and Social Protection  increase inter-institutional cooperation in the field of social inclusion  creates studies and researches in order to analyze the current situation  organization of training sessions for the personnel of the local and national administrations holding responsibilities related to the promotion of social inclusion.

Local city halls  one shelter dedicated to homeless people  provide accommodation in hospitals in emergency situations Bucharest City Hall  almost 1000 places in 15 shelters  the construction of a 600 places shelter (26 th of January 2012)

Non profit organizations  Concordia  Casa Ioana  SAMUsocial Romania

OTHER ACTIVITIES AGAINST HOMELESS PEOPLE EXCLUSION  Samusocial Romania: * night and day mobile teams : - provide medical care - help homeless people to obtain the identity card * a psychiatric mobile team offers: - psychotropic medicine and treatment - special counseling

* “ Socio-professional inset Workshops” :  offer the homeless people a job based on a contract concluded for a determined period  the job consist in collecting and reconditioning computers and printers. 

* “ Gazeta străzii “ – “The newspaper of the street” - the first publication from Bucharest where readers can find articles conceived by homeless people. The newspaper is distributed for free but has also one reserved place on the website of the organisation :

“ Ending Homelessness ”  a project run by Casa Ioana, a non profit organization from Bucharest  exhibitions of statues having the size of real human beings  AIM : raising awareness through art.

Apprenticeship schools  a project managed by Concordia, a humanitarian organisation from Romania  teaching young people different kinds of crafts  AIMS : providing young people with a diploma recognized in the European Union help them find a job

‘Samusocial Romania’ is the main non profit organization that has as an objective providing assistance to homeless people living in Bucharest who are facing social exclusion.

Samusocial Romania :  flexible structure of volunteers  a total number of 20 employees of different professions:  doctors  social assistants  psychologist  employment counselor  pharmacist  drivers

 Starting 2009 we can find the Romanian organization online on:  The NGO also has a blog :  Samusocial Romania Facebook page :

2010

Conclusions  A closer collaboration between the local and national authorities  To tailor the current legislative framework  More monitoring bodies which should survey the implementation of the strategies aimed at reducing homeless people exclusion  Raise awareness by means of campaigns

Thank you for your kind attention !