By Mary Velan
Gov1
What Happened?
Cities are fighting homelessness through multi-pronged approaches that aim to reduce the incidence rate by addressing the underlying causes.
Homeward DC
The Washington DC Interagency Council on Homelessness recently released the Homeward DC plan to greatly reduce homelessness in the city while making any occurrence of it brief. Homeward DC calls for a comprehensive approach to the city’s homeless services system that focuses resources and attention on homeless families and singles equally.
The program acknowledges many homeless individuals have mental and physical health issues prohibiting them from maintaining a self-sufficient lifestyle. Furthermore rising rents are pricing many residents out of their communities and putting them at risk for homelessness. To combat these concerns, Homeward DC is investing more resources into permanent housing solutions to help the homeless population find stability to jumpstart economic growth.
Under the Homeward DC strategy, the city will work with community groups and nonprofits to:
- End homelessness among veterans by the end of 2015
- End chronic homelessness among individuals and families by the end of 2017
- Rehouse any household experiencing housing loss within 60 days or less by 2020
To achieve these goals, Homeward DC will approach the homelessness problem from several angles:
- Develop a more effective crisis response system
- Increase the supply of affordable and supportive housing
- Remove all barriers to affordable and supportive housing
- Increase the economic security of households in the system
- Increase prevention efforts to stabilize households before housing loss occurs
Homeward DC anticipates analyzing different program models that create pathways through the system for different subpopulations, acknowledging there is no one-size-fits-all solution to the homelessness problem.
Less Homelessness = Savings
A recent study conducted by UNC Charlotte revealed an anti-homelessness plan deployed in Charlotte could save millions in local taxpayer dollars. Charlotte is considering an $11 million initiative to put 500 chronically homeless people into permanent housing.
To determine if the project would be successful, UNC researchers analyzed two years of data from Mecklenburg County which recently implemented a similar anti-homelessness program. The research showed the county saved $2.4 million after developing an 85-unit housing complex for individuals with disabilities and long-term addictions. After entering the permanent housing complex, tenants made 648 fewer visits to emergency rooms and spent 292 fewer days in the hospital, which is paid for by taxpayers, Charlotte Observer reported.
Furthermore, the researchers found an 82 percent reduction in arrests and 1,050 fewer nights in jail by tenants who had a criminal record. There was also a 76 percent drop in calls for medics and ambulance rides to hospitals, Charlotte Observer reported.
90 Percent Drop
Since 2005, Utah has reduced its chronically homeless population by 91 percent, and has set a goal of eliminating it completely by 2015. Utah, along with many other states, are embracing the permanent housing approach to combatting homelessness, which calls for providing struggling individuals with a stable residence so they can find employment and become self-sufficient. The argument is when basic needs are met, people are better able to address other factors that may be holding them back, The Christian Science Monitor reported.
The permanent housing approach – also known as Housing First – has proven to not only reduce chronic homeless rates, but do so while spending less money. The cost of developing housing units for homeless populations is significantly lower the cost of medical and law enforcement resources spent on managing homeless populations.
In Utah, the chronically homeless population dropped from 1,932 to 178 over the past 10 years. While the chronically homeless only accounts for 10 percent of the state’s overall homeless population, the state spends 50 percent of its homeless management expenditure on this demographic. Thus, housing chronically homeless individuals saves the state money in the long term, The Christian Science Monitor reported.