The State Government is promising to halve the number of people sleeping on the street by 2025 as part of World Homeless Day.
Effective programs which have housed more than 550 rough sleepers in Sydney are now being rolled out to regional areas like Newcastle and Tweed Heads.
Assertive outreach services provides housing for people doing it tough and attempts to 'break the cycle' of homelessness.
Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services Gareth Ward says the outreach services go beyond just finding housing for people.
"What assertive outreach does is family community services staff go out onto the streets and find people who are homeless. They not only find them a home but they seek to provide them the services needed to break the cycle", he said.
These services include programs to overcome factors like mental health issues, drug and alcohol problems and unemployment.
"More than 90 percent of people that we have housed in Sydney have sustained their tenancies and are turning their lives around".
The Government will also undertake the first, comprehensive state-wide count on street sleepers early next year in order to get a more complete picture about the situation.
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| Source; ABC.net.au |
