For seven years there has been a special office for the prevention of homelessness in the district - and the need is increasing. The district has now extended the relevant cooperation agreement with Caritas and increased the payments from 180,000 euros per year to 230,000 euros.
District - The idea behind the position is less to help the homeless, but rather to prevent impending homelessness in advance. The Caritas department, in cooperation with the AWO, recently advised 296 households, as can be seen in the 2019 annual report. Most of the people at risk of homelessness lived in Bruck (96), followed by Puchheim (61), Germering (46) and Olching (29).
Not just in cities
Consultations were also necessary in smaller towns, for example in Gröbenzell, Emmering and in some western district villages. It's not just about adults: children under the age of 18 live in almost 30 percent of households. The vast majority of those affected are between 30 and 39 years old, with all age groups appearing in the statistics.
The reasons
But what was the reason for a consultation? There are various reasons here, some of which overlap. 82 households, for example, were facing eviction proceedings, 54 were affected because they were in arrears with their rent. Others were given notice of termination of their apartment without notice, and in some cases they were terminated because of personal needs. However, some also flew out of their apartment “due to behavior”.
This is how we help
In 82 cases, the department managed to keep the apartments. This was achieved through the assumption of the rent by the job center or the social welfare office, through installment agreements with the landlord or through mediating discussions. 19 households were able to move into new apartments, eight had to be accommodated in emergency shelters. In some cases the contact was lost, other cases are considered to be ongoing.
In some cases, the specialist agency also brokered special aids such as legal advice, debt counseling, social psychiatric help or asylum and migration advice. In particular, issues relating to immigration law in connection with the threat of homelessness increased, according to the annual report. In addition, more and more people are in "multi-problem situations". Socio-educational support is often necessary here.
The aftercare
The intensification of the aftercare offer has proven to be very effective. In other words: If a case seems to be resolved, the experts still stay on the ball. The specialist department also has contact with the local court: If an eviction action is pending due to arrears of rent, the department is informed and can proactively approach the person concerned. Experience also shows that telephone and email advice is being used more and more frequently. That creates new temporal possibilities. Five socio-educational specialists work part-time for the Housing Department, three from Caritas, two from AWO, and one full-time employee.
Open consultation hours without registration are offered in Bruck, Germering and Puchheim. The specialist office can be reached by telephone on (0 81 41) 8 89 94 60 (every Monday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. and every Thursday from 12 a.m. to 1 p.m.). The department can be reached by email at fachstelle-wohnen@caritasmuenchen.de.
Further news from the Fürstenfeldbruck district can be found here.