Concerned about a neighbor is a social counseling and support function for colleagues and boards. The purpose is to increase the readiness for action in cases where vulnerable residents cause concern or problems in the housing departments. There may be situations where;

• There are clear signs that a resident or a family show failure to thrive

• There is a resident who displays behavior that can create insecurity and failure to thrive in the residential area

• There are repeated complaints about the same resident / family

The cases are handled by our social advisory team in cooperation between boards, branch offices, operations and the municipality.

Who can contact the initiative?

Residents, neighbors, board members (volunteers), caretakers, employees in Boligkontoret Danmark and municipal employees.

What types of cases do we help with?

The cases are typically about:

Behavior:

Shouting – eg. after others, oral gibberish.

Confusion – eg. can not find ones home.

Sees and hears things no one else does.

Blame others for everything.

Changing mood sets.

Affected by alcohol or drugs.

Ongoing and offensive behavior.

Lease default:

Destroying things in the lease, clogs up the toilet with things etc. due to paranoia.

Lack of maintenance in- and outside the residence.

Rats in the lease.

Lack of or extremely low heat, water and electricity consumption.

Critical lack of cleaning.

Odors.

Refuses to repair / clean according to orders.

Harassment and Threats:

Threatening behavior with weapons.

monitoring neighbors

Verbal threats.

Concern for failure to thrive for the resident:

Out-of-date clothing in relation to the season.

Appears unkempt.

Repeated sounds of child crying.

The police are called more than once.

Small children are unattended and are outside until late in the evening.

How do we work?

• Uncover the case and obtain facts: We talk to the person who has the concern, the caretaker in the housing department and possibly the neighbors.

• Outreach work for the individual resident: We contact the resident and initiate a conversation about “the case”. In cases where we cannot get in touch with the resident, we work with the resident's network, the municipality, etc. We get hold of more than 90% of all residents we are concerned about.

• We make agreements with and for the resident: We seek to make a solution together with the resident. It can be:

- Help the resident to apply for garden assistance, cleaning, personal care, cleaning up the home etc.

- Guiding the resident.

- Help the resident with applications/contact with authorities (own doctor, psychiatric housing support, mentor scheme, etc).

• We talk with the municipality and the public institutions: about helping the resident, just as we cooperate with psychiatric institutions or other authorities about help to the resident.

• We inspect leases in cases where there are signs of default in order to ensure that the dwelling is not destroyed.

All concerns are continuously followed up until they are resolved.