A população adulta em situação de rua no estado do Maranhão: análise das ações do Centro de Referência Especializado de Assistência Social para Pessoas em Situação de Rua (Centro Pop)

Abstract

This thesis addresses research results on the adult population living on the street, through an analysis of the actions of the Specialized Reference Center for the Homeless Population (Centro Pop), in the State of Maranhão. Its empirical research spaces are the two largest cities in the state, the capital, São Luís and Imperatriz. In order to arrive at the results, we used a critical-dialectical perspective, placing the phenomenon of the homeless population as a radical expression of the social issue, accentuated in capitalist relations, a synthesis of structural, historical, political, social, cultural and economic determinants, constituting a complex, contradictory reality, which requires confrontations by the State, within the scope of public policies. The Policy addressed, as well as the services for the segment of the population living on the streets, was the Social Assistance Policy, within the scope of the Unified Social Assistance System (Suas). This Policy ensures coverage of the homeless population, which is the object of this Thesis. Although the National Policy for Social Inclusion of the Homeless Population (PNIPSR) was enacted in 2009, we chose the Social Assistance Policy and the spaces of the Pops Centers, as they offer services to that population, welcoming them, making referrals to other policies and carrying out psychosocial care. The adopted research procedures were: bibliographical analysis; secondary data analysis; semi-structured interview with technicians, managers of the Social Assistance Policy, Pop Center Coordinators and focus groups with users of Pop Centers, in São Luís and Imperatriz. For this analysis, we considered the meaning of the streets for users of Centros Pops; the contribution of Centro Pop's actions to the process of leaving the streets and building new life trajectories for the users served; the possibility of reestablishing family bonds and building new bonds, among other aspects. We reached the conclusion that the actions of the Pops Centers are considered relevant in the lives of users served, as they propose to guarantee their rights, but that there are numerous limits and challenges in overcoming the homelessness situation, which would imply an intersectoral articulation with other policies, so that homeless people have concrete and objective conditions to rebuild their lives, with proposals that affirm their citizenship and enforce their rights.