Street roots., April 11, 2014, Page 7, Image 7

Street roots
7
April 11, 2014
Ending homelessness. A pipe dream or a reality?
The following is an excerpt from a speech by
N an Roman, president and C E Q ofthe
National Alliance to E n d Homelessness. The
Alliance is a public education, advocacy, and
capacity-building organization with a network
° f more than 10,000 nonprofit, public sector
agencies and corporate partners. Roman spoke
a t the City Club o f Portland’s Friday Forum on
April 4.
year.
The cost for his supportive housing and
services— the only option in which he was
not homeless or institutionalized — was
$20,000/year.
What is the point of my story? In the 30
years that there has been widespread
homelessness in our nation, we have learned
a lot about how to solve the problem, how to
solve it in ways that fore much better for
homeless people; how to solve it in ways that
are much Better for our community, and how
to solve it in ways that are cost effective.
assistance for poor people is not an
systems such as welfare, employment, mental
entitlement. Only a quarter of those who are
health and substance abuse treatment, and
eligible, by income, for low income housing
corrections discharge so that they support
subsidy receive it, because there is not
people artd don’t discharge people into
enough.
homelessness.
The result of this is that two-thirds of
We have to move to having a homelessness
poor households pay more than half of their
System that allocates scarce resources
income for re n t Any interruption in income
appropriately and can make the tough
can threaten their home b and even lead to
decisions: hot just a collection of individual
homelessness.
programs, no matter how great. To use a
BY NAN ROMAN
Take the story of a
C O N T R IB U T IN G C O L U M N IS T
sports analogy, it’s i
grandmother whose
everal years ago I met a man in the
like having a baseball
daughterhad two kids
District of Columbia. He was disabled.
team of brilliant ;
and lived in public
He was in recovery from substance
players, each trying
hoüsing. The daughter Unlike the subsidy that these
abuse disorders, and he had been diagnosed
What do we know about
to maximize his or ;
had a drug problem,
with bipolar disease and manic depression.
of as who are heme owners
homelessness today?
her individual -
and
ended
up
in
jail,
He had gotten out of federal prison. He went
performance, and to
Nationally there are 610,000 people
are entitled te through the
so the grandmother
■ to a corrections halfway house for six•
win. You need the
homeless bn a given night. About 1.5 million
moved into her
mortgage
interest
and
months, got a job and then moved to an
manager to make
people experience homelessness in the
apartment to take care property tax deductions,
Oxford House (a program of shared houses
sure you have th e . '
course of a year. About-65 percent of these
of her children sp that
for people in
housing assistance lo r poor
right pieces, come up
people are individuals; and about 35 percent
they wouldn’t end up
recovery). There was a
are people in families. The vast majority of
people Is.
an entitlement, with the strategy, and
in foster care. The
lay-off at his job,
puff everyone
people are homeless for economic reasons.
little boy had a
O nlyn gaartet oi tfiose who
though, he was let go
together into a team.
But about 20 percent of people who
birthday, and the
are eligible, by income? for
as the last hired, and
Someone has to
experience homelessness have more serious
grandmother wanted
h ehad to leave Oxford
disabilities, which additionally impede their
low Income housing subsidy make the tough
to make it special for
Housebecause he
ability to exit homelessness.
decisions about what
him, so she splurged
-reeeiw. ife tiecsiise there is
couldn’t pay the rent.
Around 109,000 people are chronically
to do, what not to do,
and spent $60. That
not enough.
He became
homeless — homeless for long periods of time was wonderful, but aS
how to move «
homeless. He. lived on
and disabled: 58,000 homeless people are
resources around/
a result she was short .
the street for a while,
military veterans. Thirty-five percent erf
etc. You need
when it, came to
and then he went to a
people who are homeless, are unsheltered:
leadership. And that
paying the rent - and
large shelter uvthe j
Homelessness is a housing driven problem. since she didn’t have enough, she didn’t write leadership needs to be able to make decisions •
The National
District of Columbia -
If people are housed — notwithstanding any
based on data and research, based on shared
the check. When the Housing Authority
Alliance to End
you may have heard of
other problems they may have — they are not
goals.
didn’t get the rent, it followed up and found
Homelessness
it as the shelter that
homeless. Ending homelessness is about
but that the grandmother wasn’t the
Mitch Snyder founded
getting people housed; not about solving
authorized tenant, and began eviction .
Can you end homelessness
CCNV. He stayed at
every problem. If there were a sufficient
proceedings. So for the price of a birthday
in Portland?
that shelter for the maximum six months,
supply of affordable housing, there would not
present and a cake, we have a costly
after which he had to leave. He then moved
In my estimation, you can. Number one/;
he widespread homelessness. I know this
administrative eviction procedure, possible
you have extraordinary capacity in your
to a bench on the corner of Seventh Street
because I remember a time — in the 1970s -
placement of two kids in foster care and a
homeless assistance providers. Groups like
and Pennsylvania Avenue. You have seen this
when there was a sufficient supply of
homeless grandmother.
C e n tral City C o n cern , V o lu n teers of A m erica
corner, because it’s onlhg^arad e route, that
affordable housing fo r low-incom e peo p le and
, This case w asso rted o u t.b ut t h e point is
on d o m estic violence, JO IN an d o th e rs a re '’
th e r e w as n o t w id esp read h o m elcssn e ss.
.Hie president travels in the inauguration —
that when you* ire' living so on the feage* with'
national m odels. W hen I say th a t we know
respect to income, you are very vulnerable,
from the Capitol fo the White House, It’s also There were more affordable housing Units
what to do to end homelessness, a lot of this
and many people who are poor are
than there were poor households that needed
just up Seventh Street from HUD. That
knowledge came from very sophisticated and
susceptible to housing crises brought about
them. Today, we are 7 million affordable units
bench and a big black satchel, were his home
highly effective organizations like these. Not
by a poor decision — however minor — or bit
short. This basically explains why we didn’t
While there, he was hospitalized twice for
all cities have this high level of capacity, so
of bad luck.
have widespread homelessness then, and we
a total of 11 days. In both cases he was
that is something to build upon.
People like this grandmother, who become
suicidal. He also ¿pent a lot of time sitting in
do now.
I can’t speak to all the other factors I have
homeless
for
economic
reasons,
do
not
look
Because there is not enough affordable
the Emergency Room waiting area of
mentioned, but Jeffrey Sachs, the Columbia
significantly different in terms of their
housing, many poor households are' unstable
hospitals and on buses and subways to get
University economist and international
characteristics from other poor people. They
in housing, and are at risk of, pf become»
out of the elements. He was considerably
poverty expert, has said that it’s not that we
don’t have more children or lower education
homeless. Let’s delve a little more deeply
bothered by his inability to bathe and keep
don’t know what to db to end poverty, it’s that
levels.
They
don’t
have
more
mental
illness
or
his clothes clean. Because he is disabled, he
into this.
we don’t do enough of it and we don’t do it
substance abuse issues. They are just poor
received income assistance, which at around
long enough. And that is pretty much the
people having a housing crisis. And when
$220 a month' couldn’t pay for any housing.
What does poor mean?
Story with our work oii homelessness. We do
they do become homeless, they don’t stay
He applied for federal housing assistance;
For a single person, it means they have an
homeless long and they don’t generally
know what to do. We don’t do enough of it
there are 60,000 people in the waiting list in
income of less than $12,000 per year. A
become homeless again. That’s the 80
and we don’t do it long enough: I would add
D.C.
.
family of four would have less than $24,000
percent of people who experience
that unless we get unlimited resources, we
After being homeless for a year and a half,
per year. Fifty million people fall into the ,
homelessness.
also don’t do it efficiently enough.
he decided that the only thing left for him to
poverty category. Sixteen million people live
The 20 percent of people who have
Homelessness is a heartbreaking problem.
dp was to re-offend and return to prison. At
in
deep
poverty,
which
means
less
than
half
disabilities
and
stay
homeless
longer
And
in part it is heartbreaking because it is _
least there he could get a bed, a roof, meals
obviously present quite a different picture.
of the poverty income.
so unnecessary. We have some big problems
and a regular shower:
Imagine that you are one of the families of
We ¿all this chronichomelessness. People
in our natipn that cause homelessness: 7 , ■
It was at this point thaf hism ental health
who are chronically homeless or living on the
four living in deep poverty here in Portland.
million too few affordable housing units, lack
caseworker sent him to a Housing First,
streets face, not surprisingly, tremendous
Your income is around $12,000 per year —
of mental health care, incomes that are too
permanent-supportive housing program. It
challenges. They age faster and die earlier;
$1,000 per month. In Portland, according to
low to meet people’s basic needs, substance
gets homeless people very quickly into
their mortality rate is considerably higher
HUD, the typical rent on a low cost 2
abuse treatment for only half of the people
subsidized, scattered site apartments without
than that of the general population. Why?
who. need it, insufficient health cafe. If we
a lot of behavior#! pre-conditions and provides bedroom apartment is $922 a month. That
They are at high risk of sexual and physical
would leave you $78 each month to pay for
solved all of these problems, we would not
them with services. Although participation in
violence. Their health deteriorates. They
food,
transportation,
clothing,
health
care,
have homelessness. But solutions aren o t j |
services is not mandatory, the program has
school supplies, and everything else for you
suffer the effects of being out of doors:
sophisticated and consumer-oriented services
around th e comer.
frostbite, circulatory issues and complications
and your kids.
Poor and disabled people in Portland and
that the tenants love and use frequently.
from exposure. They have untreated illnesses
If you’re single and living in deep poverty,
around the country are coping with these
Within a week he had chosen an apartment
like diabètes and heart conditions. And of
you have $500 a month to spend on
problems^ right now. Mostly they succeed
from among several options and
course they often suffer from untreated
everything
you
need.
A
modest
studio
would
because, remember, there are 50 million poor
neighborhoods; he moved in; he had an
mental illness or substance-use disorders.
cost $666 a month.
incredibly supportive services team; he was
people, but only 600,000 become homeless.
These untreated illnesses are bad for them,
Even your higher-than-normal minimum
Still, sometimes things don’t work out and
stable, happy and looking for a job.
obviously; and they are costly to us.
wage here in Oregon doesn’t get you but of
It cost taxpayers at least $44,000 for this
they do become homeless. So let’s work on
If
you
want
to
end
homelessness,
is
this
all
hot water. Working 40 hours a week at $9.10
man to be homeless and on the stre e t He
the big fix - definitely. But while we’re doing
we need to do - rapid re—housing and
is not enough to afford a studio apartment if
was on parole and a client of the mental
that when someone has a housing crisis, it is
permanent
supportive
housing?
you pay the recommended 30 percent of your
health system; the cost of two unconnected
not beyond us to have a system that quickly
These are key program approaches to |
income for housing. You would have to make
case managers was $20,000. He spent 11
helps resolve that crisis, returns them to
solving
homelessness.
They
are
necessary,
;
$13 an hour, or work 56 hours per week.
days in psychiatric hospitalization; the cost
housing and connects them to the services
bu tn o t sufficient to reduce the number of ..
The point of all of this is that people who
was $15,400. He spent six months at the
they need in the community. Poor and
homeless people in a city. We have learned
are poor pay too much of their incomes for
disabled people are struggling. The least we
shelter; the cost was $9,000.
that
there
are
some
other
pieces
of
the
housing. You might think people at such a low
It could have been worse. He could hays
can do is help them.
puzzle.
income would get a government subsidy of
been placed in a psychiatric group home at a
You have the capacity to do that here in
On
the
front
end,
we
have
to
look
at
some sort to help them pay for their housing.
cost of $60,000 per year, not including
Portland. You have the knowledge. You have
prevention. We could get everyone who js
! But you would usually be wrong. Unlike t h e ,
treatm ent services. He could have been
resources. The question really is whether you
, homeless tonight into a place to live, but -
hospitalized at our mental health hospital at a subsidy that those of us who are home
have the public and political will to do enough
others would soon take their places. We; need
owners are entitled to through the mortgage
cost of $180,000 per year. He could have
of it and do It long enough.
to
strengthen
our
mainstream
support
interest and property tax deductions, housing
been re-incarcerated at a cost of $65,000 per
S
f|