September 16, 2008
The New York Times reports on the debate over how we as a nation define homelessness.
Why does defining homelessness matter? The City of Portland claimed to have reduced homelessness by 39 percent in 2007. At the center of the success was the federally mandated 10-year plan to end homelessness.
The 10-year plan to end homelessness was built on the model of housing first. The philosophy is to house people first and then offer basic services needed to allow people to get back on their feet. The key target of the housing first model was a newly federally defined homeless population called the chronic homeless.
This population of individuals on the streets are defined as those who have experienced homelessness for more than a year. Unfortunately, the new definition does not recognize many homeless families, students and individuals couch surfing or living in crowded quarters. Advocates have been screaming foul ever sense. Why? There's a number of reasons.
- Mostly rural and suburban environments have seen a massive spike in homelessness in the last decade (mostly families). The 10-year plan for the most part has left many of these communities high and dry.
- In the past 25 years billions of public housing dollars to local communities have been slashed. The federal government through the 10-year plan has not supported local communities to end homelessness. For the most part, local communities have been forced to use local dollars to solve the problem - creating tension and confusion among many city governments, agencies and advocates.
- One-night counts by local communities have differed in philosophy. While Portland has claimed to have reduced homelessness by 39% - street homelessness is visible up and continues to be at the forefront of neighborhood discussions and newspaper headlines. Many of Portland's chronic homeless population has been housed in places like Gresham and other neighborhoods in east county with little to no public services or economic development available to them.
Posted by Israel Bayer