1st Round of Work for the Homeless Population of the City of São Paulo (Pop Rua Jud)

The pandemic has caused a significant increase in amount of people living on the street, who often have no documents and makes access to justice difficult. Pop Rua Jud brought together justice organisms and other public agencies in the same place to prevent citizens from being referred from one public agency to another, without solving their problem. It was innovative in that it brought together almost 50 federal, state and municipal public institutions, as well as civil society organisations, to act in a single service flow.

Innovation Summary

Innovation Overview

According to the Census of the Homeless Population carried out at the end of 2021 by the Municipality of São Paulo, through the Municipal Secretariat for Social Assistance and Development (Secretaria Municipal de Assistência e Desenvolvimento Social - SMADS), there are currently 31,884 people living on the streets of the city, an increase of 31% over the last two years. According to the survey, the main reasons given by respondents for being in the situation they are in were family conflicts (34.7%), alcohol and other drug addiction (29.5%) and loss of work/income (28.4%), with the vast majority wishing to leave the streets and work. However, rising unemployment rates and inflation make it increasingly difficult for this population to achieve this goal. The significant increase in the homeless population in recent years and the lack of documents necessary for people in this condition to have access to justice and other public services was the main reason for driving the POP RUA JUD SAMPA action - 1st Round of Work for the Homeless Population of the City of São Paulo (1st Mutirão de Atendimento à População em Situação de Rua). Based on Resolution No. 425/2021 of the National Council of Justice, which established the National Judicial Policy for Attention to Homeless People and its intersectionalities within the scope of the Judiciary, it was possible to develop an action plan for joint action between several institutions.

Bringing together all the services was fundamental to avoid citizens being sent from one public agency to another, without their problem being solved. In addition, it allowed the individual, in the same occasion, to enjoy food, hygiene, health services, obtain documents and the benefits arising from them. In short, to exercise their citizenship. Once contact was made with the institutions, there were several meetings and workshops to identify the services and interconnections between the services of the various stakeholders, align protocols, define flows and survey equipment needs. A flowchart of services was then drawn up, from the reception of citizens to their departure from the joint effort area. The service was divided into three axes: assistance and health care; issuance of various documents necessary for the exercise of citizenship; legal assistance by partner institutions and guaranteed access to justice for lawsuits and extrajudicial procedures. This last phase of the services offered consisted of providing access to the justice system, in which legal assistance will be provided by partner institutions, identifying possible demands, filing lawsuits and attempting conciliation to resolve problems immediately, especially regarding the receipt of welfare and social security benefits.

For this, there were representatives of the public defenders, state and federal prosecutors, Caixa Econômica Federal and the Federal Attorney General's Office. The INSS - National Institute of Social Security - took a team to receive administrative requests and perform medical expertise, which took place on the premises of the Brazilian Bar Association - OAB, located nearby. The Federal Special Court of São Paulo also counted on volunteers to process lawsuits and perform complementary expertise. The initiative ensured that a large number of homeless people had access to citizenship, public services and the judiciary, facilitating conciliation and speeding up the judicial process. Sentences were handed down, court settlements were approved and payment orders issued on the same day. The initiative has already been replicated by several other courts, will be repeated in São Paulo next November and is also being treated as an experiment to institutionalise a permanent flow of care for homeless people.

Innovation Description

What Makes Your Project Innovative?

Bringing together public agencies related to the provision of judicial services, such as issuing documents/certificates, paying social security/welfare benefits, assisting immigrants, etc., through a single, iterative flow, enables referrals to the various services that are in the same location. Volunteers direct people to the right services. At the same time, welfare institutions provided food, health services, hygiene kits, haircuts, clothing donations, among others. Legal guidance, registration in social programmes, job vacancies and specialised guidance was offered to women, LGBTQIA+ individuals, immigrants and former prisoners. It was necessary to build a unique flow of care and indispensable measures due to the work of 400 volunteers. The innovation occurs in providing infrastructure, communication and articulation for joint action of the various actors to serve the street population.

What is the current status of your innovation?

Between 15 and 17 March 2022, almost 9,000 people were assisted. The data collected from the activities were used to assess what was positive and should be replicated as well as the gaps that need to be filled. The network created remains fully operational and continues the collaborative work to identify the best way to serve the homeless population.

Innovation Development

Collaborations & Partnerships

The Federal Regional Court of the 3rd Region (Tribunal Regional Federal da 3 Região - TRF) sponsored the event, with the participation of magistrates and volunteer servers. Other courts, the Public Defender's Office, the Public Prosecutor's Office, AGU, CEF, INSS, the Army, PF, UNHCR and other agencies brought staff and equipment to provide their services. Charitable and community associations, movements for the defence of the homeless population and religious associations acted as volunteers and provided food, hygiene kits and health services.

Users, Stakeholders & Beneficiaries

Homeless citizens, including refugee migrants, were beneficiaries of the innovation.

Innovation Reflections

Results, Outcomes & Impacts

In the joint effort held between 15 and 17 March 2022, almost 9,000 people were assisted. Forms were filled in with various data. The data was then tabulated and there was a final meeting between the partners to assess what was positive and should be replicated as well as the gaps that need to be filled. The network created for the task force remains fully operational, continuing the collaborative work of identifying the best way to serve the homeless population on a permanent basis.

Challenges and Failures

The main challenges were to estimate the volume of demand and to gather data and information from all partners in a collaborative platform so that it was easy to visualise and manipulate. The main shortcomings were underestimating the number of volunteers needed, training these volunteers and planning the circulation of users. However, it is noted that this was an experiment/pilot project, with the expectation of delivering a solution that mitigates the problem and at the same time identifies the needs for improvement to replicate and expand the scope.

Conditions for Success

Sponsorship of the administration
Collaborative spirit of the public bodies and civil society organisations involved
The creation of the National Policy for the Care of Homeless People by the National Council of Justice
The work of a large number of volunteers, before and during the task force

Replication

The practice has already been replicated in other Brazilian states, and will soon be repeated in São Paulo.

Lessons Learned

Although many of the institutions already work in favour of the homeless population, an event of this magnitude had never been held with the participation of so many institutions in an articulated and organised manner, which is why the final balance was quite satisfactory. In this sense, taking advantage of the experience gained, the improvement of the next actions is registered with the adoption of the following measures:

Expand the space where the joint attention to users was held and the hours of service
Review the layout of the stalls and the location of the services offered
Reinforce the service for obtaining ID and for registration in the Cad.Único, which were the most accessed services
Reinforce and test the internet service
Improve the citizen screening service, providing for the accompaniment of a volunteer throughout the service.

Anything Else?

The evaluation of the coordination team and partners on the outcome of the round of work was extremely positive, especially since it was the first time that all institutions were involved in a project with such a variety of services offered and broad attendance. A large part of the success of the initiative consisted in inviting representatives of institutions that already work with the homeless population, with the Judiciary acting as a mediator to reach an understanding between all.