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Man with a plan

Councilor Jiří Janeček combats homelessness with new city programs

By Markéta Hulpachová
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
June 4th, 2008 issue

JAN PŘEROVSKÝ/THE PRAGUE POST
Janeček says the program will include medical exams and counseling.
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Whether they’re “brazenly drinking” in public areas, dirtying the city with “litter and excrement,” or “bothering residents by their behavior, appearance or odor,” Prague’s homeless are the top priority for City Councilor Jiří Janeček.
Vexed by the ubiquitous presence of more than 2,000 homeless in Prague, Janeček presented a new “action plan” May 24 to remove them from the city’s streets.
“The most important goal is to protect regular citizens from the negative phenomenon of homelessness as much as possible,” he said.
Drawing from the experiences of countries such as Ireland, Austria, France and Canada, the action plan puts a broad spectrum of resources into prevention and rehabilitation programs targeting the city’s homeless population.
According to Janeček, the plan represents the culmination of an ongoing effort by city officials and NGOs. It began with a 2004 census mapping out the city’s homeless, and continues with an ongoing consolidation of NGO and city homeless records to form a central registry.
“Right now, there is no system linking the records of individual organizations, which makes our efforts to provide effective aid that much more difficult,” Janeček said.
Aside from streamlining statistics, the city will pilot several new programs aimed at preventing future homelessness and integrating existing homeless back into society.
These programs include the establishment of the “mobile ambulance,” a traveling health clinic whose staff will stake out homeless people otherwise unable or unwilling to seek medical attention.
“Due to their poor condition, homeless are often turned away when they seek help at commonplace healthcare facilities,” said Janeček, who expects the project to cost around 3 million Kč ($186,800).
The ambulance will give clients the opportunity to receive basic care or obtain transport to clinics specializing in care for the homeless.
Aside from remedying ailments, the ambulance project addresses a public health hazard.
“Because of their poor hygiene, the homeless are often exposed to infectious diseases that could afflict the rest of the city’s population,” Janeček said.
In addition to physical illnesses, the action plan focuses on treating serious psychological problems, including drug and alcohol addictions.
“The mentally ill will be institutionalized in Bohnice,” the city’s largest psychiatric treatment center, Janeček said. “We already have an agreement with [the facility].”
Noting the dearth of available spaces in nursing homes, the plan also aims to help needy seniors. “Those who are over 65 and cannot afford regulated rent or depend on family support may be placed in one of the city’s 200,000 apartments,” said Janeček.
To make institutional care more accessible, the city also relaxed the requirements for nursing home admission, he added.
As an integral part of the action plan’s preventive aspect, housing allotment will not be limited to the elderly. Single mothers who find themselves in precarious financial situations will have access to apartments for up to three years, and those who cannot afford to pay their rents will have the opportunity to look for cheaper accommodation through a monitored internet portal.
 “We have also started a free consultation program for families who are in debt,” Janeček said.
Black list
While applauding the new healthcare program, some local NGOs remain skeptical of the action plan’s efforts to “clean up” existing homeless by placing them on a strict, multistep reintegration plan that often starts with a visit to one of the shelters, clinics or day centers run by various NGOs. “The moment a client enters one of these establishments, he is registered,” said Janeček. “From there, he is urged to consult social workers and lawyers who help him retrieve his identification papers, check his eligibility for [government aid] and register at the labor office.”
Because commonplace habits such as paying rent or going to work often need to be re-established, the action plan gives clients access to work training courses and “practice apartments” where they learn to manage a household, and it also provides a “job place” where they can seek short-term employment.
Individuals who fail this reintegration plan by ceasing to work are blacklisted and denied future access to any of Prague’s homeless facilities. “We want to help, but our generosity cannot be boundless,” said Janeček. “If the city spends all this money trying to get a person back on track and he just reverts back to his old habits, he is out of the game.”
For Petr Ondrák, director of a Salvation Army homeless shelter in Prague 7, the rigid “blacklisting” provision is the plan’s greatest weakness.
“It often takes three or five attempts before a client makes an effort to get back on his feet,” he said.
Compared with other European countries, the Czech Republic is far behind in its efforts to aid its poorest citizens, he added.
“Janeček believes that the action plan will solve the homeless problem, but I do not applaud it. Homelessness is a complex problem that no country has ever resolved.”

Markéta Hulpachová can be reached at mhulpachova@praguepost.com


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