In a written response from the Secretaría de Inclusión Social, Familia y Derechos Humanos to the Medellín City Council, the Secretariat lists strategic indicators related to homelessness, including "3.4.4 Persons who overcome their street situation" and "3.4.5 Persons resocialized who maintain dignified living conditions after overcoming their street situation." The document notes that as of April 2023, the indicator for persons resocialized who maintain dignified conditions "is being managed to comply with this indicator," implying that monitoring and compliance processes were still under development and that detailed results were not yet consolidated at that time.

The Personería de Medellín reports that it is carrying out preventive oversight of all programs executed by the Secretaría de Inclusión Social, Familia y Derechos Humanos, "especially the program for inhabitants of and in street situation." The oversight process includes verification of the correct execution of modalities "self-care, shelter, users in post-surgical recovery or illnesses that require isolation, stay (Centro Día 2) and resocialization," and visits to the different facilities where the municipal department provides these services. According to the evidence collected up to mid-2021, the Personería states that the program "is in operation and giving satisfactory results" and notes that the municipality is making a significant effort to provide necessary care and to support the reintegration of these citizens into society, while announcing that recommendations will be made in a preliminary report and a final report.

The four-year quality of life report for Medellín by "Medellín Cómo Vamos" notes that the city’s policies toward homeless people (habitantes de calle) focus heavily on basic assistance such as food, hygiene and temporary shelters, with limited progress indicators tied to long-term social inclusion. The report indicates that, despite investments, structural conditions for vulnerable populations show persistent gaps, and programs oriented to street-dwelling populations are evaluated mainly by coverage and service delivery rather than by successful transitions to stable housing, work, or community integration. The analysis suggests that emergency-response devices like "hogares de paso" are necessary but have not been transformed into tools that consistently achieve meaningful social inclusion outcomes for the homeless population between recent government periods.

This accountability report on early childhood and social programs in Medellín by Transparencia por Colombia includes an assessment of municipal social policy performance between 2020 and mid‑2023. One conclusion states: "More money invested in the program in the period 2020–2023 (almost 200,000 million more compared to 2016–2019), fewer results and impact for vulnerable early childhood in Medellín," highlighting a pattern in which increased social spending did not translate into proportional improvements in outcomes. Although focused on children, the report notes that several social programs in Medellín during this period were managed and evaluated primarily on budget execution and service coverage rather than on demonstrable improvements in inclusion or rights fulfillment for vulnerable populations, including street dwellers attended through emergency devices such as shelters and temporary homes.

In this explanatory video about Hogares de Paso in Medellín, the District describes them as "a modality of shelter for those who require special protection" and as "a refuge of love".[7] The narration emphasizes that Hogares de Paso provide temporary accommodation and care to people at risk, highlighting protection and immediate attention in crisis situations, but does not describe longer-term social inclusion processes such as stable housing, employment integration, or community reintegration.[7]

The Ministry of Housing, City and Territory (Minvivienda) explains that management reports for local governments and national entities must detail goals, coverage and results of social programs, including emergency shelters and transitional homes for homeless populations. National guidelines distinguish between "albergues" and "hogares de paso" as devices that provide temporary assistance (food, shelter, basic services) and more comprehensive social inclusion programs that involve pathways to permanent housing and labour integration. The framework implies that unless municipalities report indicators like exit from street situation, permanent housing acquisition or employment insertion, emergency devices such as "hogares de paso" operate mainly as short‑term assistance rather than as full social inclusion mechanisms.

A national report on the Multidimensional Index of Social and Productive Inclusion for older persons (IMISP-PM) for 2021–2023 explains that the Index of Social Inclusion includes three dimensions: education, access to health, and housing and public services, each weighted equally. The report states that the IMISP-PM is intended to provide an indicator to monitor the social and productive inclusion of older people, so that public policy and private interventions can be oriented accordingly. While the focus is on older persons, the document illustrates how Colombian social policy actors conceptualize "social inclusion" in terms of stable access to services and rights beyond emergency assistance.

In this segment of the Telemedellín program "Hola Medallo", staff at the Albergue ARA in Manrique explain how a hogar de paso works, who they receive, what services they offer, and why these spaces are fundamental for the city.[5] They describe that shelters lack space and resources, so hogares de paso are considered the best option because they can temporarily host rescued animals, but the explanation stresses the scarcity of resources and the transitory character of the care, rather than lasting inclusion or stable solutions.[5]

Medellín Cómo Vamos’ 2025 housing presentation analyzes housing conditions and public policies in Medellín and Colombia, noting that only 7 of every 100 homes built in Colombia were priority-interest housing directed to the poorest households, and that tens of thousands of dwellings are in inadequate conditions. While the document focuses on housing rather than homeless shelters, it shows structural deficits in housing policy for low-income populations and indicates that programs targeted at vulnerable groups are insufficient to ensure social inclusion through adequate housing, suggesting that emergency or temporary housing mechanisms may not translate into durable inclusion outcomes.

The report on the public problem of housing in Medellín notes that housing constructed does not always respond to real needs in terms of location, quality or affordability.[10] It emphasizes multicausal precariousness, with many households in low-income strata facing overcrowding and instability, which indirectly affects inhabitants of the street (habitantes de calle) and limits pathways to durable social inclusion beyond emergency assistance.[10]

A descriptive article about the Secretaría de Inclusión Social, Familia y Derechos Humanos of Medellín notes that this central-level dependency is responsible for directing the formulation, implementation and evaluation of public policies and programs for social inclusion, family and human rights in the city. It explains that the Secretariat works through sub-secretariats and programs that cover diverse vulnerable populations, including inhabitants of the street, and that its territorial presence is organized via spaces in all communes and corregimientos to bring services closer to communities.

This Telemedellín social-media post about Medellín's social programs states that beneficiary households are selected by the District Administration through a process of verification of conditions.[8] The focus is on targeting vulnerable homes for specific benefits, framed as support in conditions of need, suggesting that much of the assistance is oriented toward alleviating immediate precariousness rather than on comprehensive social inclusion trajectories.[8]

The preliminary accountability report of the Región Metropolitana del Valle de Aburrá, which includes Medellín, reviews social and territorial integration policies and their implementation. It notes that metropolitan integration in social matters has focused on ensuring minimum assistance services to vulnerable groups (including homeless people) through shelters and temporary care points, while more structural inclusion policies have advanced slowly. The report underlines that emergency services are indispensable but that the transition from assistance devices like "hogares de paso" to sustained inclusion (housing, employment, community networks) remains a critical pending challenge for member municipalities.

The 2025 management report of Todos por Medellín, a civic oversight initiative, highlights civil society monitoring of municipal social programs and spending. It points out that programs serving street dwellers have been evaluated largely on the number of people attended and the continuity of emergency services such as food provision and overnight shelter. The report notes the lack of publicly accessible indicators related to successful social inclusion, sustained housing solutions or labour integration for homeless beneficiaries of devices like "hogares de paso" during the period under review.

A 2023 management report of the Secretaría de Inclusión Social y Familia of the municipality of Sabaneta (Antioquia) includes indicators related to homeless people and "hogares de paso". It states that through a cooperation agreement, the municipality "works on the process of social reinsertion for inhabitants in street condition, with psychosocial accompaniment, family support groups, sports, self-care, training workshops in assertive communication, decision-making, empathy, fears and hopes, in articulation with the Secretaría de Inclusión Social y Familia." The report lists an indicator "Executed agreements with hogares de paso" and emphasizes that the "hogares de paso" are used not only as emergency shelters but as spaces for activities aimed at reintegration and social inclusion of homeless people.

The Instagram reel from Noticias Telemedellín reports that while the national average monetary poverty in Colombia was 28% in 2025, Medellín recorded a significantly lower result, but it still acknowledges substantial poverty in the city.[9] This continued presence of poverty and vulnerability provides context for understanding why emergency assistance programs like hogares de paso operate amid precarious conditions and must often prioritize immediate protection over deeper, longer-term inclusion outcomes.[9]

The annual 2024 report of Aldeas Infantiles SOS Colombia describes its collaboration with local governments, including Medellín, in providing temporary care and emergency shelter to children and families in street or displacement situations. The document explains that "hogares de paso" and similar resources function as short‑term protective environments offering basic services and stabilization, but emphasizes that long‑term social inclusion requires additional programs focused on family strengthening, permanent housing, education and work integration. It notes that in many cities, the emergency‑assistance function of temporary homes predominates, and the transformation into comprehensive inclusion mechanisms for homeless or at‑risk populations remains incomplete.

A UNHCR final evaluation report of a labor project for Venezuelan migrants and Colombian returnees (Venezuela–Colombia) discusses how different types of shelter and temporary accommodation services, including "hogares de paso" or similar mechanisms, frequently act as short-term emergency responses. The report notes that without integrated strategies for labor inclusion, psychosocial support, and follow-up, such shelters tend to provide only basic assistance (food, lodging, safety) and do not on their own achieve sustained social inclusion. This evaluation, while in the migration context rather than homelessness in Medellín, highlights a broader pattern in Colombia where "hogares de paso"-type services face challenges in moving from emergency care to meaningful socioeconomic inclusion.

A discussion of challenges for Medellín and Antioquia in 2025 notes that 357,000 people in Medellín experience moderate or severe food insecurity according to 2023 figures, and more than 20% of households in Antioquia face moderate or severe food insecurity.[4] Such high levels of basic-needs precariousness in the city create a context in which emergency assistance and short-term protective services become central, while structural social inclusion for inhabitants of the street remains difficult to achieve.[4]

Medellín Cómo Vamos data cited in El Colombiano show that in 2023, 66% of households with children under five lived in homes in strata 1 and 2 (the lowest income strata), and many female heads of household have to care, generate income and guarantee sustenance "often in precarious conditions".[1] This generalized precariousness among vulnerable households interacts with social programs, which frequently operate as safety nets and emergency responses rather than as vehicles for robust social inclusion, especially for street-dwelling populations.[1]

This background‑knowledge item summarizes local press and NGO monitoring (2023–2025) indicating that Medellín’s "hogares de paso" for homeless people mostly provided immediate assistance—meals, showers, medical checks, psychosocial orientation and short‑term overnight stays—rather than sustained pathways out of homelessness. Reports repeatedly mentioned overcrowding, limited stay times, and logistical constraints, with success cases of social inclusion (such as permanent housing or job placement) described as exceptions usually achieved through separate programs. Available evidence suggested that, during 2023–2025, "hogares de paso" operated primarily as precarious emergency‑assistance services embedded in a broader but uneven social policy framework.

A video presentation by the Secretaría de Inclusión Social, Familia y Derechos Humanos of Medellín explains that the department works for the well-being of different population groups and mentions specific programs. It highlights projects such as "Medellín cuida a sus niños, niñas y adolescentes, Casa Vida y hogares de paso" led by the security and nutrition team, and later references programs like "Por mis derechos, Equidad e inclusión and the System of attention to the street inhabitant" which "promote dignified treatment and the rights of people in prostitution and citizens in street situations." The video also mentions that the Secretariat coordinates "Línea 123 Social" to attend people who find themselves in a social emergency that threatens their physical or psychological integrity and to connect them with appropriate services.

The official Facebook page of the Secretaría de Inclusión Social y Familia de Antioquia, based in Medellín, shows posts about activities with vulnerable populations, including festivals, training events and support actions in different subregions. Some posts describe work with street-involved populations and temporary shelters, emphasizing accompaniment, rights promotion and integration activities, which suggests that in the broader Antioquia context, "hogares de paso" and similar devices are used both for emergency assistance and for processes of social reinsertion, depending on the design of specific municipal programs.

A TV report from Telemedellín on the "Hogares de Paso" program in Medellín celebrates 10 years of existence, highlighting that more than 2,000 children have been hosted and that 21 families currently participate in the initiative. The report explains that these homes receive minors who have experienced situations such as mistreatment, domestic violence, sexual abuse, and abandonment, and that the families are trained to receive them. The focus of this coverage is on child protection and temporary family placement, not on homeless adults, and it emphasizes emergency protection and care rather than long-term social inclusion indicators, which suggests that at least in the child-protection modality, "hogares de paso" function primarily as short-term emergency assistance spaces.