Abstract
This article describes the trends in public policy for homeless people in Germany in recent years. The policy has mainly been implemented under the Federal Social Assistance Law and carried out by municipalities and NPOs. Municipalities avert risks of homelessness by taking over non-payment of rent for people facing such a danger. NPOs provide homeless people with various services based on the subsidies from the Federal Social Assistance Law. Firstly, there are services for these who are literally homeless-those sleeping rough or in night shelters. These are called low threshold services, because people can use them anonymously without complicated applications. Secondly, support is provided in self-contained housing-not in a shelter-for formerly homeless people. An important point is that these policies have certainly led to a reduction in the number of homeless people. In Japan, support is mainly provided for the elderly homeless or handicapped homeless in shelters or hospitals. The German example of support provided for the homeless contains many attributes which should be studied by Japan.
