ID: HR19-1417

Presenting author: Leon Garcia

Presenting author biography:

Brazilian psychiatrist with a PhD in Public Health by the University of London. Occupied managerial positions in mental health and drug policy at the national level between 2011 and 2016.

Housing as a harm reduction strategy for homeless people who abuse drugs in Brazil.

Leon Garcia, Adriana Carvalho, Milena Pacheco

Title: Housing as a harm reduction strategy for homeless people who abuse drugs in Brazil.

Issue
Drug abuse by homeless people is a growing matter of concern and a cause of social fear in many countries. In Brazil and abroad this fear elicits simplistic and repressive responses by government and society which not only put at risk civil rights of homeless people but also foster wider “war on drugs” inspired policies that affect drug users in general. This paper discusses an initiative by the Federal Brazilian Government to foster the development of local government housing responses to the necessities of homeless people who abuse drugs.

Setting
The interaction between poverty and drug abuse in homeless and other socially vulnerable groups requires the development of integrated social inclusion policies. This approach carries technical, managerial and political challenges: (1) integrating housing, health and social care programs tailored to a diverse and hard-to-reach population, (2) promoting collaborative work amongst staff from different institutional cultures, (3) prioritizing funds to stigmatized social groups.

Key arguments
In 2014, the Brazilian Government launched a strategy to fund locally run programs providing non-abstinence housing as a harm reduction strategy for homeless people who abuse drugs. This strategy allowed local governments to design programs adapted to their capacities and necessities while providing funds, general guidelines and ongoing technical support from Federal Government.

Outcomes and implications
Three Brazilian cities implemented programs inspired by housing first principles during 2017-2018 using federal funds. These experiences helped to demonstrate some of the political, technical and managerial challenges involved in the funding of non-abstinence housing programs for homeless people who abuse drugs in Brazil.