Pets, onsite support and familyfirst design: Wicklow officials see inside US Housing First block

A delegation from Bray visited Dublin, California for St Patrick’s celebrations and encountered a detailed view of Bay Area social-policy systems. The trip included meetings with officials and a focus on homelessness, immigration pressures, and building cohesive communities. San Francisco’s homelessness director described a Housing First model where people receive housing before addiction treatment, mental health care, or employment support. The delegation toured a purpose-built apartment block for families run by NGOs rather than the city. The facility provided intensive, resourced services including counselling and childcare, showing a more developed implementation than in Ireland. The visit offered inspiration and a reality check for Irish officials facing record homelessness at home.

"San Francisco operates a Housing First model, the same philosophy Ireland has adopted but has struggled to fully implement. The principle is simple: people cannot stabilise their lives until they have a home. Everything else, from addiction treatment to mental health care and employment support, follows only after housing is secured. The San Francisco version, however, is delivered with a high level of intensity and resourcing."

"Tents line pavements, makeshift shelters cluster under flyovers, and the city's struggle with addiction and mental health is visible in every neighbourhood. Yet behind the scenes, the delegation found a system that is, in many respects, more developed than the one seen here in Ireland. San Francisco operates a Housing First model, the same philosophy Ireland has adopted but has struggled to fully implement."

"The visit, which Cllr Caroline Winstanley and municipal district officials took part in, offered a rare inside view of the Bay Area's social‑policy systems, from Housing First apartment blocks to city council debates on immigrant integration. For the Irish officials facing record homelessness at home, the trip provided both inspiration and a reality check. Cllr Winstanley made a presentation to her district colleagues at their May monthly meeting where she outlined how one of the most striking parts of the visit came during meetings with the director of homelessness in San Francisco."

"The group toured a purpose‑built apartment block for families, run not by the city but by a network of NGOs. Inside, 30 staff provide counselling, childcare, job‑read…"

Read at Irish Independent