Assisted Housing Standard Models. Selected countries examples

Abstract

Supported housing is a social service that is slowly making its way into the reality of Polish social welfare. It fits in with all changes of a de-institutionalization nature. Experts are looking for the Polish specificity of this service by creating its standards, as well as various pilot programs implementing assisted housing at the local government level. In search of inspiration, it is worth reaching for practices used in other countries. In some of them such systems have been functioning for over a dozen years and may become a model and good practice. This article aims to provide a brief overview of selected assisted housing systems in Europe and beyond. It introduces the assumptions and understanding of assisted housing, as well as its addressees - including adults on the autism spectrum (ASD) - how it is organized and financed. The perspective of accompanying services and the scale of its dissemination are also shown. Introducing foreign practices, the article proves that assisted housing is not only a well-known idea in the world, but also has its social justification for benefiting its recipients, including people on the autism spectrum entering adulthood and independence.