Final Evaluation of the Rough Sleepers Initiative

The Rough Sleepers Initiative (RSI) was launched in 1997 in response to evidence of increasing levels of rough sleeping across Scotland. The programme was initially aimed at reducing levels of rough sleeping, following the broad model established by the RSI programme in England in 1990. In 1999, the programme was given a new target to end the need to sleep rough in Scotland by 2003. An evaluation of the Rough Sleepers Initiative (RSI) programme was undertaken by the Centre for Housing Policy, at the University of York, during the Autumn of 2004 and the Spring of 2005. The evaluation involved a critical review and analysis of existing research and statistical evidence, interviews with local authority officers responsible for RSI, national level interviews with individuals responsible for the development and delivery of RSI and interviews with a sample of service providers as well as former, current and potential rough sleepers.