Permanent Supportive Housing is a controversial issue
that has strong arguments both for and against this type of programming.
Presented below are two different sides of the argument. We would like to hear
from the readers how they feel about the topic, so please write to us at PO Box
93061, Cleveland, OH 44101 or e-mail us at homelessgrapevine@neoch.org.
The Homeless Grapevine
The
Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless absolutely supports the idea of
serving people with housing before offering shelter. NEOCH was founded on the
principle of housing over shelters. We started the Legal Assistance Program and
the Housing Cleveland website to help keep people out of the shelters and
prevent homelessness. The problem with the local housing first initiative is in
the details.
NEOCH
helps to coordinate the outreach teams who interact with those hundred of people
who are resistant to shelters. Most of these individuals do not feel that they
fit anywhere in the system, but are always looking for a place to live. We agree
that it is a good concept that we place people into housing before forcing them
into treatment or shelter or employment training.
Our
issue is that the current rules of the housing first initiative to this point is
extremely limited in scope. The Cleveland housing first program along with many
other programs already in existence is limited to single adults with a
disability. Other communities such as Minneapolis/St. Paul Minnesota have
rejected those guidelines and have actually made progress. The most successful
aspect of Hennepin County is providing an attorney to everyone facing eviction
to prevent homelessness. Cuyahoga County has never done much with preventing
homelessness especially by providing attorneys at housing court.
With
all due respect, the statistics used in housing first presentations are bogus.
There is a lot of anger by providers in Columbus about this claim of a 42%
decrease when so many families are struggling. I travel a great deal to Columbus
and can say that the population resistant to shelter living outside is similar
if not greater than Cleveland’s. So, while they have championed their success
nationally the reality on the ground does not match the rhetoric.
We
find that cities diverting people from shelters and then never counting those
individuals in order to “reduce” homelessness. Cleveland is one of the last
cities to provide a place for everyone who shows up at the door every night. We
do not want to move away from this long established policy, and so we are weary
of this housing first effort if it does not guarantee a bed for everyone.
We
do not agree to the segmenting of the population with labels because it pits one
group against another. Right now disabled homeless who have been homeless a long
time are favored, while families who are recently homeless are left behind.
Those who sleep in a motel, on a couch or who just got out of jail and live on
the streets do not even count as homeless people.
The
problem with the statistics about a reduction in public resources is that those
funds will never go into housing. There is no savings the homeless shelters by
these long term homeless. All the possible savings are with institutions that
are overwhelmed and will redirect funds to other poor people. Would MetroHealth
or the county jail see any savings because we diverted 500 long-term homeless
into housing? No way.
Finally
our last issue with housing first is that the community that is supposed to
benefit is never consulted about these plans. No homeless person was ever asked
is these millions of dollars spent on these properties are worth it or would
thousands of housing vouchers be a better deal for the community. If know that
homelessness is a solvable problem, but with two generations who do not know of
a time without large homeless populations, it is a tough case to make. A few
cities have made progress, but until Cleveland starts listening to the experts
who wait in these long housing lines every day to find stability we are doomed
to massive taxpayer funds on shelter.
West Side Catholic
Center
The
West Side Catholic Center is proud to serve homeless individuals and families.
We recently served a young couple living under a bridge. Faced with a lack of
employment, a landlord who defaulted on his mortgage, and a criminal history,
this couple became homeless. With no home their chances of employment are slim.
There
are ways, however, for couples like this to restore their lives and become
self-sufficient. The public should be aware of the tremendous, progressive, and
successful efforts to get families out from under bridges, off the streets and
out of shelters into homes of their own. These efforts need to be highlighted
and supported.
How
many of us are aware of the Housing First initiative? The solution to
homelessness is so painfully obvious that it has been overlooked for years. The
first step out of homelessness is housing; not treatment, not employment, not
rehabilitation, but housing. All the other steps to self-sufficiency rest on the
platform called “home”. Housing First recognizes this essential truth and
works to place homeless persons in a home of their own as a first step in
addressing other barriers to self-sufficiency they face.
These
programs are successful and have been so for years. Housing First initiatives
and similar models programs helped to reduce family homelessness in Columbus by
40% from 1995 to 2004. In four years, Hennepin County, Minnesota reduced the
family homeless population by 43%. In New York, family homelessness dropped 19%
over three years.
Fortunately,
Cleveland is not far behind. There has been, for years, wide spread efforts to
end homelessness in our own County. Our own Housing First initiative has
provided over 225 permanent supportive housing units for chronically homeless
persons in the last several years and hundreds more are in the process. These
housing solutions provide a way out for long-term residents of shelters and the
streets.
This
housing is modest, attractive, safe, humane, and dignified. There is another
benefit to such human treatment of our fellow human beings; this housing is less
expensive than the alternatives. A study of a similar program in Portland,
Oregon demonstrated that the costs of shelter, outpatient health care, emergency
rooms, jails, and police services averaged $42,000 of public resources each
year. Once housed the total public resource burden, including the housing
provided, dropped to $26,000 per year. They were able to provide a humane
dignified housing solution, reduce the population living on the streets and save
$16,000 per year, per person, in the process.
The
same efforts are under way here in Cleveland; the same cost savings are possible
and the agencies involved are a model of collaboration. Our Housing First
initiative is collaboration among: The Enterprise Foundation, Sisters of Charity
Foundation, Mental Health Services, Emerald Development & Economic Network,
Famicos Foundation, Cleveland Housing Network, the Office of Homeless Services,
and others.
Here
at West side Catholic Center we have served the materially poor in our community
for over 30 years and have always recognized the need for housing. Our recently
launched “Zacchaeus Housing Solutions” project, begun in partnership with
the Community West Foundation is today providing homes for 118 previously
homeless men, women and children. We witnessed what our comrades were able to
accomplish with the Housing First initiative and joined in the battle. We urge
others to do so as well.
It
is a biblical truth that the poor will be with us always, but homelessness is a
solvable problem. Other cities have made remarkable progress in doing just that
and Cleveland needs to broaden its efforts so no one needs to live under a
bridge again.
Copyright Homeless
Grapevine Issue #86 in November 2008 Cleveland Ohio.