THE ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PROGRAMS TARGETED AT PEOPLE BEING IN HOMELESSNESS CRISIS

This article discusses the issue of homelessness in Poland, highlighting its psychological, health-related, and systemic determinants. It focuses on analysing a summary of the literature on the effectiveness of programs targeting individuals experiencing homelessness and is a narrative literature review. It conducts a comparison of key solutions and indicates opportunities for increasing their effectiveness. It emphasizes the influence of traumas, mental health disorders, low self-esteem, and lack of trust on the effectiveness of support programs. The analysis of reports reveals systems shortcomings, limited to emergency aid without coherent evaluation and coordination. The author recommends a change in approach: deinstitutionalization, individualized support, interdisciplinary collaboration, and implementation of “Housing First” and “Job First” models. She believes that standardization, long-term strategies, prevention, and social and professional activation are also crucial in improving program effectiveness, as they increase the chances of sustainable exit from homelessness.