Giving Voice to Homeless People in Policy, Practice, and Research
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Description:
Consumer involvement in programs that serve homeless people has been growing in the past ten to fifteen years. There is a growing body of literature that supports the benefits of consumer involvement on the programmatic, policy, and administrative levels. Consumer empowerment ranges from participation in a community meeting or on an advisory board, to hiring consumer staff, to completely consumer-run programs and organizations.
While there is resistance within any system to hand over power to a stigmatized group, once done, the system may find that it has higher quality and more responsive services. Research finds that consumers can perform as well as non-consumer staff and are especially skilled at engaging potential clients. Within consumer-run organizations, the focus of service delivery is on choice, dignity and respect. There are a number of things that federal, state and local governments can do to encourage consumer involvement in decision-making, staff hiring, and the creation and survival of consumer-run organizations. (Author)
Type of Resource:
Conference/Presentation
Organization:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Date Issued:
1998
Location:
Washington, D.C.