Description of the target group
The third target group (part of group B) is made up of itinerant and home- less people at Brussels-Central station. The information we have about this specific group comes from observations during field-operations by the social advisor of SNCB-Holding.
71 FEANTSA, Employability Starter Kit - How to Develop Employability Initiatives in
As the table shows, the social advisor has encountered less than 100 peo- ple72 up to the present time at Brussels-Central station (“FBCL” in this table, the two other columns represent the “Gare du Midi” (Southern Station) and “Gare du Nord” (Northern Station). These people are mainly men, alone and homeless.
The majority of these people are aged between 24 and 44 years old; around ten men are over 65 and have generally been living in the streets for many
72 These are the people with whom the social advisor has been in contact. There are undoubtedly more people in a vulnerable situation at stations.
years. Around fifteen are immigrants and do not have a residence permit, which prevents them from finding a job despite their desire to work. Most receive unemployment benefit or are registered with the CPAS (about 50/50). In health terms, the majority of the people have a psychological or alcohol and/or drug problem. The latter two issues are the most recurrent, affecting almost all the people (in daytime) encountered in stations.
In terms of training and professional experience, many of the people have, at best, followed some form of vocational training (in the Horeca73 or green- space management sectors generally) but often did not complete the pro- grammes. Few of these individuals seem to be illiterate, or at least they do not admit to it. Several of them have odd jobs from time to time but struggle to keep a job over time. Many have occasional, informal jobs (systems through associations where an hour of work represents a meal, for example).
On the whole, even though we can highlight certain broad trends, it should be noted that this group is extremely heterogeneous and certain aspects, such as the background of homelessness, are very difficult to quantify74.
Employment opportunities
Many people would be perfectly capable of working, for example in the Horeca or green-space management sectors, but probably not in the conven- tional economy or full time, since they must first solve other issues, related to their addictions, time management, self-confidence, anger management, care for their animals, etc. In addition, Patrick Italiano, a researcher and soci- ologist on the HOPE in stations project, noted a certain amount of wariness among the homeless population at Brussels-Central station and therefore stressed the fact that “a certain degree of gentleness was needed to approach this group”75.
73 Hotels, restaurants, cafés.
74 Outcome of the stakeholder workshop during the HOPE in stations project, Final evaluation report, March 2012, pp. 62-63.
75 Interview in the magazine AlterEchos, no.306, “Changement de voie pour les sans-abri des gares” (Change of track for the homeless in stations), 15/12/2010.
If SNCB-Holding decided to do so, the role of the social advisor could be broadened so that he could also deal with the professional integration of the individuals he speaks to. He could orient them towards qualified or- ganisations, inform them about the schemes available and so on. The social services and shop-keepers in the station greatly appreciate the qualities and usefulness of the social advisor and this could also be the case with integra- tion enterprises, for example.
However, it would probably be unwise to orient homeless individuals in Brussels-Central station towards professional integration projects within the station itself: the status of the individuals would change in the eyes of their acquaintances in the station and the group might exert a certain form of pressure.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis of our target groups, we can confirm the first hypoth- esis of this research study which suggested that certain individuals among the socially excluded or vulnerable population group are able to work in the conventional economy or in an adapted framework. However, this observa- tion and the conclusions we can draw vary according to the target popula- tion, A, B or C.
For example, the study of group A shows that, in Brussels, there are many long-term unemployed for whom it is perfectly possible to build bridges into the labour market through training courses (OISP) or jobs in the social inte- gration economy (EI or ILDE). The main problem for this unskilled popula- tion is that there are not enough places for all the motivated individuals to enrol on a socio-professional integration scheme. The WORK in stations project might therefore provide the opportunity to increase the number of places available thanks to the economic activity in and around Brussels- Central station: internships in companies, development of activities by EIs or ILDEs rather than conventional companies, etc. The challenge is also to offer ordinary, stable jobs to this population group once they have completed their training or internship in an integration enterprise. One thing, however,
is clear: Brussels has too few jobs - with decent working conditions, notably - for unskilled people.
The number of people able to work in groups B and C, even with adapted working hours and tasks, is more limited since certain itinerant or homeless people are simply not interested in looking for work and do not seem to want to pursue a career path, even if it is offered (for example, the “chronic homeless” category identified by Mr Bresson). Nonetheless, despite general preconceptions, not all homeless people have this trait and many of them want to do more and find employment. Moreover, some of these people have already received vocational training or have already worked. The challenge regarding these particular individuals is to be innovative and to offer them new socio-professional integration activities that fit their profile and other relevant needs, such as treating addictions, finding accommodation and so on. When the existing number of training courses and work experience pro- grammes for homeless people has been increased and new schemes devel- oped, better ways must also be found to offer these projects to itinerant or homeless people. Actions on the ground tend to focus on emergency aid or job searches. However, as European experiences have shown, it is perfectly possible and beneficial to involve this population in professional integration projects, so that they may ultimately find employment but, more importantly, boost self-esteem and find some stability.