Beyond social housing policies: how to promote acceptance and inclusion of the beneficiary population in new communities and in the labor market? An analysis based on the Reencontro Program, of the Municipality of São Paulo

• Grant number: 23/09666-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: September 01, 2023
• End date: December 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Administration - Public Administration
• Principal Investigator: Ciro Biderman
• Grantee: Camila Costa Magalhães
• Host Institution: Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (EAESP). Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/11959-3 - CITIES: Center for Innovation in Urban Public Policies, AP.CCD

Abstract

The government of the city of São Paulo established in 2019, through Law nº 17.252/2019, the Municipal Policy for the Homeless Population. In 2023, the Policy was regulated through the publication of Decree No. 62,149/2023, which created the Reencontro Program for planning, implementing and monitoring actions related to the Municipal Policy for the Homeless Population.The Reencontro Program has the general objective of removing people from homelessness in a qualified manner, with a strategy based on three axes: I) Connection Axis, which comprises actions aimed at rebuilding or strengthening family and community ties of homeless people, and the qualification and integration of the work of the various agents of services and public policies that work in public places that serve the homeless population; II) Axis Care, which encompasses the integrated management of care for the homeless population in the areas of housing, assistance and social development, human rights and citizenship, health, work and income, education, food and nutrition security, culture, sports and leisure and III) Opportunity Axis, which aggregates actions of productive inclusion and income generation aimed at the autonomy of the citizens benefiting from the Program.Bearing in mind that the provision of housing is only the starting point of the policy, the research aims to identify which services, equipment and public power actions are necessary to maximize the impacts already estimated in the literature. To this end, three analyzes are proposed, which are connected to the Axes on which the Reencontro Program is organized.The first investigation is connected to the Care Axis, starting from the premise that the homeless population that will be beneficiaries of the program in the municipality of São Paulo presents specific demands in terms of services, and also in terms of structure and social equipment in condominiums or close to the houses. Therefore, starting from the project to be implemented by the Municipality of São Paulo in the provision of such equipment, the work seeks to investigate whether the demands of the target population are being met. To this end, it is proposed to carry out interviews with potential beneficiaries, seeking to identify, through declared preference, what is relevant in the structure of services and in the physical structure offered to social housing to accommodate needs, desires and promote a better life to the new inhabitants.The second analysis aims to examine international experiences with a focus on the Opportunity Axis. This study seeks to identify, in countries where similar policies have been adopted, what are the success factors for implementation in terms of creating employment and income opportunities for the population served. In particular, through a case study, we will seek to identify the evolution of the program over time and the adoption of innovative solutions internationally in this regard.The third analysis will focus on the acceptance of the population by the community surrounding the social facilities, thus relating to the Connection Axis. That is, how to promote the community's welcome to the beneficiaries of social housing? For this purpose, the design of an experiment is planned through the application of nudges applied to the resident population. Through the RCT, an attempt will be made to verify how the population neighboring these houses responds to different types of action and communication from the public authorities regarding community acceptance of new residents.