Classical, rational approaches to strategy often imply that problems encountered by an organization or system have optimal solutions. However, the nature of many strategic problems is that they are complex, ambiguous, have multiple causes, morph over time, and have stakeholders with divergent interests and discrepant viewpoints.
These are wicked problems.
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Using the criteria for the classification of wicked problems, identify a problem that can be classified as wicked and critically discuss the characteristics of the problem and the difficulty, or indeed impossibility, of arriving at an optimal solution to address it.
Introduction
In the following assignment, I will address the issue of Homelessness as a “wicked problem”. I will give a brief overview of homelessness and discuss in detail my reason as to why I would classify it as 'wicked'. I will then look at the stakeholders involved, the difficulty of finding the best solution to address the problem, and finally will conclude my assignment by assessing all the information I have collated.
According to https://www.wickedproblems.com/1_wicked_problems.php, a wicked problem is “… a social or cultural problem that is difficult or impossible to solve for as many as four reasons: incomplete or contradictory knowledge, the number of people and opinions involved, the large economic burden, and the interconnected nature of these problems with other problems…” I feel Homelessness is a wicked problem as no matter what solution is offered, it raises another issue whether it’s with the stakeholders or a consequence of a subsequent action made by authorities.
Homelessness in Ireland is on the rise and unfortunately does not seem likely to improve any time soon. The cause of this epidemic is due to Ireland’s failing housing system. It hasn’t met the needs of the Irish society and doesn’t seem likely to do so in the future. Many schemes and policies have been introduced to try and tackle the homelessness crisis but have failed. This is why homelessness is a wicked problem.
Horst Rittel (1973) cited ten characteristics of wicked problems in his theory with one being that approaches to wicked problems should improve a situation rather than solve it. About homelessness and the introduction of “Rebuilding Ireland – Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness”, this scheme was set up in 2016 and sought to increase the supply of new homes, build additional social housing units, and also help many people through the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme. They also introduced the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan. While this Action Plan seemed to be the way forward and may tackle the homeless crisis, it has just improved in some areas of housing but unfortunately, homelessness will always be a problem in Ireland. The latest figures from my Local Authority, Clare County Council, reveal that as of the 30th of September, 2019, there were 67 Adults and 46 Children in Emergency Accommodation in Clare. https://www.clarecoco.ie/services/housing/homeless-unit/
These are just the figures of one Local Authority in Ireland. Please see the diagram below taken from the Focus Ireland website which shows the number of people who are homeless and who are reliant on homeless services i.e. emergency accommodation. https://www.focusireland.ie/resource-hub/latest-figures-homelessness-ireland/
For Ireland’s housing system to work, the provision of affordable public housing must play a key role. This will certainly help the housing crisis in Ireland but unfortunately will not solve it. It helps families and individuals who must source accommodation in the private market. In the past 10 years, there has been a shortage in social housing, which has led to an increase in people renting from the private market. This has caused rent prices to increase drastically which in turn has resulted in unaffordable prices and a lack of properties to rent which has led to homelessness.
Stakeholders
There are many causes of homelessness including structural issues such as poverty, addiction, and social exclusion. Only until these are addressed can homelessness be tackled. Although housing is an important part of the homelessness crisis solution there are more factors to be considered such as physical and mental health. This means that along with housing support, there must be health and social care support available. Due to this and many other factors, there are multiple stakeholders involved in tackling homelessness including:
- Government – Local Authorities, Department of Social Protection, etc.
- Non-Governmental Organisations such as NOVAS, Focus Ireland, etc.
- An Garda Síochána
- HSE
- Other Statutory bodies - Probation Service, Tusla, etc.
- Media
- Public Servants
- Providers of emergency accommodation
As there are so many stakeholders involved, it can be difficult to reach a decision or agree to a plan. These are just some of the stakeholders involved in homelessness. In a social context, there can be potential disagreements among the stakeholders due to many reasons such as the allocation of funds, the introduction of new policies, etc.
When issues arise or when a solution is being sought in general, it may affect all stakeholders. This is where the problem lies as, by the time the issue has been addressed, something else may change amongst the stakeholders leading the problem to never getting solved. Whatever solution these stakeholders introduce can only make the situation better or worse. It will never be right or wrong.
Stakeholders play a huge role in tackling homelessness as their knowledge and commitment can help improve the crisis and develop innovative strategies and solutions to help the problem.
It can be a task to get all stakeholders on board which is rare. Scholes 2000 constructed a classification of stakeholder mapping exercises which is based on the predominant location of positive or negative stakeholder positions. Scholes, K. (n.d.). Exploring Public Sector Strategy. pp.165 - 184.
This can be used as a good indication of whether a strategy being put forward will pass or fail. When a strategist or anyone wishes to present an idea to the stakeholders, it is important to map their motivation, power, expectations, and influence. This aids the strategist/person presenting the idea to understand the stakeholder and get a better outcome by getting them on the side. It also helps them to decide what the best / most appropriate idea to put forward. It is important to document stakeholder’s assumptions, ideas, and concerns as it can be influential in the long run.
When it comes to homelessness, however, it is not possible to persuade all stakeholders to think the same and logically. It is such a large area that all stakeholders have different views and opinions. This is also a reason why homelessness is a wicked problem.
The Difficulty of Finding Solutions to Address Homelessness
As Ireland’s homelessness problem continues to grow, it is often difficult to foresee solutions. Non-government organizations (NGOs) and Voluntary agencies have gone above and beyond and are stretched beyond capacity to cater to all the homeless people in Ireland. The Government needs to step up and take on more responsibility in improving the problem. They need to work with the NGOs and Voluntary agencies. The importance of an interagency, integrated approach cannot be underestimated. Issues and needs around accommodation, health, and social inclusion are all interlinked and it is only by working together that they may achieve a sustainable outcome for clients. By working in partnership and cooperation with NGOs and statutory bodies, a strategic coordinated, case-managed response working with the individuals and families to tackle the root causes of homelessness/accommodation issues, can be facilitated. It would allow for the maximization of all available resources to progressively meet needs.
The most obvious solution is to build more houses and social housing complexes. However, this can only cater to so many people. Yes, it may house the 10,397 (stats from Focus Ireland as of 29.09.19) homeless people across Ireland but there are over 70,000 households qualified for social housing. What happens to these people? No matter what there will never be enough accommodation in the Country to accommodate all. In Co. Clare alone, there are 2,600 households qualified on the social housing list. Even with many housing developments currently being built, there will never be enough accommodation to solve the housing crisis, never mind tackling homelessness.
According to Focus Ireland statistics, the number of homeless families has increased by 354% since September 2014. It must also be noted that these statistics released do not include the many people who have not presented as homeless, those who are staying as refugees, or those who are sleeping rough. So this amount does not reflect the true number of homeless people in Ireland.
Historically it was mostly single adults that availed of emergency accommodation but there has been a huge increase in the number of families presenting as homeless in the past few years. The causes for families becoming homeless are always complex. They are primarily driven by economic factors e.g. families in rented accommodation may have been given a notice to quit due to the landlord selling the property or repossession. There is also a shortage of private rented accommodation. Many privately rented properties, although illegal, do not accept Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) making it impossible for many people to afford to rent. Due to increasing rents, they fall into arrears and end up losing their home. Many homeless individuals and families feel that the Government has failed them because if they had provided better access to affordable housing; they would not be in this position.
Homelessness has always been a problem and will continue to be one while the Government keeps failing Irish citizens in this position. Between 2008 and 2012, social housing spending was cut by 72%. This had a massive effect on social housing. With the Government making decisions like this one, it will not help the homeless crisis in Ireland. They have provided funds for cooperative housing to start and commence housing projects but do not provide for ongoing costs. This does not help the crisis as these costs are expensive and unsustainable for co-operative housing to keep on top of these costs.
Preventative measures from the Government should be put in place to tackle homelessness by strengthening linkages e.g. with mental health services, Homeless Service Providers etc. This may reduce the number of homeless persons in Ireland. The Mid–West Regional Homeless Plan 2013 - 2018 set out strategic aims and actions. In this plan, they outlined how they would reduce homelessness through preventative measures, eliminate any need for people to sleep rough, eliminate long-term homelessness, provide adequate & appropriate housing support for homeless people, and better coordination and integrated delivery to ensure efficient services. Although they stuck to these aims, homelessness is still on the rise which proves that it is a wicked problem.
In Clare County Council they introduced a Homeless Action Team (HAT) which opened on 1st February 2019, in Clare County Council HQ, following the transfer from the Department of Social Protection of responsibility for the provision of emergency accommodation to the homeless. Anyone who is homeless or at risk of losing their home is invited to engage with the service. They have bought premises in Co. Clare to facilitate homeless people and have also opened a family hub. This is considered transitional housing for homeless people until they get back on their feet and find private rent. However, they will be assisted but this accommodation cannot be considered long-term by homeless clients. The new family hub cannot be seen as a long-term solution as it is not a healthy environment for the children.
There are many providers of emergency accommodation but again there are still 35 people on a waiting list for emergency accommodation. While it is improving the situation it will never solve it. More needs to be done by the Government.
There are hundreds of factors to be taken into account when trying to find a way to tackle the problem. The main one is that there are not enough houses being built to meet Ireland’s growing population. This causes a particular problem when it comes to social housing as the Government cannot deliver these homes in the current economic climate. Builders are not enticed to build developments due to construction costs. The largest expense when building a house is the tax. This needs to be considered when trying to take the homelessness but again, all stakeholders will not be on board with reducing taxes.
Many approaches can be used in the strategic planning process. Where wicked problems are concerned, the strategic decision-making process usually requires a group-based approach to make a decision. A popular approach is the “Delphi approach”. This is used on more subjective issues such as homelessness as it is uncertain and information is incomplete. It uses a panel of experts. It looks to reach an agreement based on the group’s views on the feasibility (whether a strategy can be implemented successfully), acceptability, appropriateness, and importance of different solutions.
This approach is usually carried out in stages. Although there is much time, effort, and thought put into this approach, stakeholders can still clash over divergent interests and discrepant viewpoints. This plays a major role in the difficulty of arriving at an optimal solution to address it.
Conclusion
The Government has introduced many initiatives and policies to try and solve the homeless crisis but the results of an inadequate service are shown in recent statistics. Homelessness will never be solved fully. There are several core features of a good social housing system that I feel are helping the homeless crisis but the Government can’t take full responsibility for homelessness as some choose to become homeless and that is something the Government cannot change. Many factors lead to homelessness including the current economic climate causing rent prices to increase drastically, separation, and of course the side that no one wants to talk about such as addiction issues
Homelessness is a complex issue and no matter what strategies, initiatives, or policies are introduced, it will always be a problem and a wicked one at that. Many people feel that the solution to solve the crisis is to build more houses. Yes, investment in infrastructure is a must but unfortunately with homelessness increasing and an ever-growing social housing list this problem does not seem likely to get solved anytime soon. The problems change as time goes on and it is almost impossible to suit all stakeholders involved.
We as a nation must learn from the mistakes in the past which have led to our country facing a massive homeless crisis but we must also keep in mind that we can only improve the situation. As this is a wicked problem.
References
- Wickedproblems.com. (2019). Wicked Problems: Problems Worth Solving - Wicked Problem. [online] Available at: https://www.wickedproblems.com/1_wicked_problems.php [Accessed 5 Nov. 2019].Rittel, Horst. 'Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning.' Policy Sciences, 1973: 155-169.
- Network for Nonprofit and Social Impact. (2019). “Wicked” problems: What are they, and why are they of interest to NNSI researchers? [online] Available at: https://nnsi.northwestern.edu/social-impact/wicked-problems-what-are-they-and-why-are-they-of-interest-to-nnsi-researchers/ [Accessed 6 Nov. 2019].
- Higgins, A. (2017). Eight experts on how they would solve Ireland's homeless crisis. [online] The Irish Sun. Available at: https://www.thesun.ie/news/1515888/eight-experts-reveal-how-they-would-solve-irelands-homeless-crisis-as-8300-predicted-to-be-on-streets-when-budget-is-announced/ [Accessed 2 Nov. 2019].
- Clare County Council Corporate Plan 2015 – 2019
- Mid-West Regional Homeless Plan 2013 – 2018
- Alford, J. and Head, B. (2017). Wicked and less wicked problems: a typology and a contingency framework. Policy and Society, 36(3), pp.397-413.
- Scholes, K. (n.d.). Exploring Public Sector Strategy. pp.165 - 184.
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