Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

There will be around a thousand beds available in the city all year round. Rabaiotti: “Tripled since 2011, the goal is that in Milan no one is forced to live on the streets anymore”

Milan, July 28 2019 - After a one-year experiment, the municipal administration makes the organization of services dedicated to the homeless structural, implemented to overcome the emergency logic and activate a permanent system of services for people living on the streets.

The guidelines for identifying third sector entities available to co-plan and co-manage reception services have been approved. With an overall expected expenditure of over 5,3 million euros for the two-year period October 2019 - December 2021, the Municipality will make available to the city - every day and throughout the year, with the exception of the period of the so-called cold plan, when they will continue 2.700 places to be available - over a thousand places in the Milanese facilities, with different types of reception solutions: 

•       100 places will be guaranteed with housing first and housing led solutions and micro communities: in the first two cases the reception will be dedicated to the so-called diehards, those who have always refused hospitality in the centers and who have been living on the streets for a long time now. This solution identifies the home as a starting point to start a path of social inclusion. With the accompaniment of a tutor who follows the person in taking care of the home and reintegration into work. Collective microstructures, on the other hand, are small and medium-sized places where, despite not having the autonomy of a real apartment, the homeless would be welcomed on an ongoing basis.

•       350 places in larger residential structures where guests can, in addition to finding accommodation, be accompanied and oriented towards social care services and pathways.

To these solutions are added others, not covered by the resolution:

•       40 beds dedicated to the hospitalization of homeless people discharged from hospitals and emergency rooms who need special attention and care.

•       500 places at Casa Jannacci, the largest public reception place in Europe.

•       10 places reserved for the night-time emergency reception of people who the mobile units convince to go to the facility in the evening.

During the co-planning procedure, a maximum of 80 points out of 100 will be assigned for the project proposal and a maximum of 20 points for the proposed co-financing (for a minimum of 10% of the Administration's total expenditure).

All guests will be involved in a personalized social re-inclusion project, to which their stay in the apartments and centers is subject, which is however intended to be temporary. Incentive mechanisms will also be provided for facility managers who implement paths that promote autonomy and lead to exit.

“Since 2011, when the dormitory in Viale Ortles represented the only permanent residential offering unit, to date the reception system for the homeless has consolidated and has more than tripled the places available, in addition to the quality of the reception - declares the councilor for social and housing policies Gabriele Rabaiotti -. Approximately 4 million euros per year are made available to manage this activity. We will continue in this direction, with the aim that in Milan no one is forced to live on the streets anymore."

In addition to the housing solutions, there are various services dedicated to the homeless: since 2018, the single number (24) which citizens can call to report homeless people in fragile conditions has been active 24 hours a day. The service involves the activation of mobile units that reach the person on site and the management of the 0288447646 night beds reserved for those who accept a place for the night. The Municipality also has agreements with 10 day centers equipped so that those without a home can have a place to use toilets, showers and eat. The Central Station help center is also active in via Sammartini 10 which, in addition to receiving requests for assistance and directing people to the centers where there is room, also offers various other specific services. Given the strategic nature of the Casc, the strengthening of the team is expected with the inclusion of new professional figures who will follow the homeless in their paths to autonomy.

Finally, there are 5 offices active in the city for the so-called "fictitious residence" which deal with guaranteeing those who live on the streets the right to registered residence which is essential for requesting an identity card or accessing the national health service.