Outreach work for threatened eviction

This book, ‘Outreach work and imminent eviction: RAAK research’, is a report of the results obtained from the examination of these innovations. The first chapter contains a description of the pilot projects, which brought together care workers from the Blankenberg Foundation and Dynamo for early intervention aimed at preventing threatened evictions. In these interventions, they tried to stay a step ahead of a crisis by getting involved early on the basis of information housing corporations had about their residents’ payment problems. Chapter 2 is a report of a later investigation of the long-term effects of these interventions. The third chapter describes the pilot projects developed by Dynamo and PuurZuid, which made use of the expertise available in the general public, specifically the network of family, friends and neighbours surrounding people with rent payment debts. The expectation was that care workers would be able to provide more effective help using the decisionmaking model of the Family Group Conference. Additionally, the Family Group Conference would add to the strength of the client perspective, offering scope for a range of definitions for problems and their solutions. Chapter 4 describes knowledge and methodology aspects of innovation research such as were involved in this project, specifically, the new knowledge of innovation processes and outreach work that this research has brought to light. The project has also helped to define the De Karthuizer centre’s core activity more precisely, describing how it can provide support and solidarity for developments in the field that will lead to innovation that will transcend the boundaries between social work institutions. Finally, Chapter 5 will address the lessons we have learned during the course of the project.