Can global refugee resettlement practice learn from housing first? : how a U.S. housing programme transformed homelessness and the lessons it holds for refugee policy

Abstract

The number of refugees has doubled since 2010 and now exceeds 26 million worldwide. However, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) continues to promote the same three durable solutions—repatriation, integration, and resettlement. Refugee policy needs rapid innovation and drastic change. Solutions could lie in other policy initiatives such as those aimed at combating homelessness. Two decades ago, homeless service leaders in the U.S. proposed something seemingly radical: they could end homelessness. They implemented Housing First, a model that eventually transformed the entire system and changed how policymakers and practitioners respond to the problem. In order to identify opportunities to make large-scale systemic change in refugee policy, this case study conducts a comparative analysis and explores lessons that refugee policy can learn from the implementation of the Housing First model on homelessness in the United States. Key findings suggest that to be effective, refugee governance will have to transform rapidly along three pathways: refining a strategy, increasing investments, and implementing novel practices.