In February this year, WISERD’s Housing Reference Group teamed up with the Cardiff School of City and Regional Planning’s Innovation and Engagement Unit and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) to host a public lecture on the future of homelessness policy in Wales.
The lecture entitled ‘The Future of Homelessness Policy in Wales: Learning Lessons from the States and the Scots’, considered what lessons could be learnt from Scotland and the United States of America; two countries that approach the enduring social issue of homelessness very differently.
Chaired by Dame Mavis McDonald DCB, Trustee of JRF and its Housing Trust, the lecture provided contributions from Professor Dennis Culhane (University of Pennsylvania), Professor Suzanne Fitzpatrick (Heriot-Watt University) and Huw Lewis AM (Minister for Housing, Regeneration and Heritage).
Professor Culhane, previously a consultant to the White House Domestic Policy Council, examined recent developments in America. Professor Fitzpatrick, a member of the Scottish Executive Homelessness Task Force which guided post-devolution changes in Scottish policy, then described the challenges of adopting a rights-based approach. Finally, Huw Lewis AM concluded the lecture by reflecting on key lessons for homelessness policy in Wales.