Outcomes for Māori participants in Housing First

Abstract

Indigenous homelessness in settler-colonial societies is determined by the ongoing impacts of colonization. Therefore, policies to address homelessness need to be effective for Indigenous populations whilst supporting ongoing systemic decolonization. Like other settler-colonial states, homelessness in Aotearoa New Zealand is disproportionately experienced by Māori, the Indigenous Peoples of Aotearoa. In Aotearoa NZ, Housing First has been funded by government to address chronic homelessness. Housing First is a rights-based approach to homelessness, centering around providing permanent housing and wraparound support, without preconditions such as sobriety or treatment compliance. As Housing First is a non-Indigenous North American model, the efficacy of the policy for Māori has been the subject of considerable discourse. In this paper, we present a pre- and post-housing analysis of outcomes for Māori clients of a Housing First programme in Kirikiriroa-Hamilton, using integrated government administrative data across health, justice and social welfare. Existing and systemic inequities are apparent in our results, but overall, the trajectory for Māori in Housing First is positive. Our findings support the efficacy of Housing First for Māori, if this occurs within the context of enduring systemic change.

Keywords:

• Housing First,
• Māori,
• Homelessness,
• Linked data,
• Settler-colonial,
• Policy,
• Indigenous homelessness,
• Aotearoa,
• New Zealand

E whakatauhia ana te kore-kāingatanga o ngā iwi taketake i ngā porihanga kirinoho-tātāmi e ngā pānga mauroa o te taipūwhenuatanga. Nā reira, me whaihua ngā kaupapahere hei whakatau i te kore-kāingatanga ki ngā taupori iwi taketake, i te wā hoki e tautoko ana i te wete-tāmitanga ā-pūnaha e haere tonu nei.Pērā ki ētahi atu whenua kirinoho-tātāmi, ko te nuinga o te hunga kore kāinga i Aotearoa he Māori, arā, te iwi taketake o Aotearoa. I Aotearoa, e tautokotia ana a Housing First e te kāwanatanga hei whakatau i te kore-kāingatanga tauroa. Ko Housing First he huarahi ā-motika ki te kore-kāingatanga, e aro ana ki te whakarato kāinga tūturu me te tautoko kauawhi, me te kore herenga tōmua pēnei i te tautuku haurangi-kore, maimoatanga rānei. I te mea he tauira a Housing First nō Amerika ki te raki, ā, ehara i te tauira iwi taketake, he nui ngā whakawhiti kōrero o te hua o te kaupapahere mō te Māori. I tēnei tuhinga, ka whakaatu mātou i ngā tātaritanga rapu whare tōmua, tōmuri hoki o ngā putanga mō ngā kiritaki Māori o tētahi hōtaka Housing First i Kirikiriroa, e whakamahi ana i ngā raraunga ā-whakahaere kāwanatanga pāhekoheko puta noa i te hauora, te tika me te tokoora. Mārakerake ana te kite i ngā tautika kore o te wā nei, ā-pūnaha hoki i roto i ngā hua, engari i te whānuitanga ake, he pai te huarahi mō te Māori i roto o Housing First. E tautoko ana ā mātou kitenga i te whai hua o Housing First mō te Māori, ki te pēnei tonu te āhua i roto i te horopaki o te panoni ā-pūnaha mauroa.