News
Forget Cost-Benefit Studies, Housing is a Human Right!
Published October 13, 2009 @ 01:57PM PT
A new study out of Los Angeles today has found that housing a homeless person is cheaper than leaving them to fend for themselves on the streets. It's an argument has been reinforced for years by cost-benefit analysis after cost-benefit analysis in cities across the country.
The emphasis on these types studies is incredibly frustrating. Why do cost studies trump historically significant declarations that proclaim housing to be a basic human right, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the National Housing Goal in the 1949 Housing Act?
I think it's time that we, as advocates, get our priorities and our messaging straight.
The report released today was conducted by the United Way of Greater LA. It profiled four individuals and tallied the costs of their homelessness - including shelter stays, emergency room visits, etc. - for two years. Not surprisingly, the study concluded that the total cost to provide services on the streets was more than $80,000 greater than it would be with permanent housing with support services. That's a "43 percent savings for taxpayers," according to LA's NBC affiliate.
But seriously - how many cost-benefit analysis studies should it take to change a system?
Clearly, the dollars and cents research has proven effective in certain cities for vamping up support of newer approaches, such as housing first. And this is not to undermine the importance of these types of studies in cities desperately needing additional political/financial backing for homeless services. But will this piecemeal, incremental approach generate the vast support needed to truly overhaul a system that grossly under-values safe, decent, affordable housing?
The truth is, the importance of housing is well-established in history. It has been established, internationally and domestically, as a basic human right. Read the following. Refer to them often when you find yourself having to - for some reason - make an argument in favor of providing housing the homeless.
Start with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which reads, "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control."(article 25(1))
If that doesn't work, refer to the 1949 Housing Act, in which Congress declares a National Housing Goal of "a decent home and a suitable living environment for every American family."
Cost-benefit analysis are devaluing the historic emphasis on housing, something we seem to have forgotten over the years. It is up to us, as advocates, to remind the world that housing has been established as a basic human right. Perhaps framing the issue as a basic human right rather than a cost-benefit analysis will drum up the outrage necessary to make real progress.
Image from Farm4's public Flickr photo stream.
Nat'l Corporate Privatization BIDs for Local Anti-Homeless Cadres
Published October 10, 2009 @ 06:00AM PT
In major city after city across the United States a trained corps of quasi-security agents are being hired and trained by business to function outside the official law enforcement aegis to drive homeless people away from "business districts."
The parent corporation, SMS Holdings, has subsidiary units in several different service sectors, including maintenance and security. The company has been wooing and partnering with groups of local businesses banded together as "Business Improvement Districts" (BIDs) to install private-sector, uniformed teams to patrol these city areas and, in part, seek to target homeless populations with efforts designed to control and even remove homeless citizens. These "services" include preventing "panhandling" and "loitering."
The language is often veiled and euphemized, in public relations and sales use, so that calling the police and trying to rid the area of homeless is even sometimes expressed as "helping" them. For instance, in cities with little by way of any actual "services" for the homeless, the premise is still to "direct them to services" and "help" them get off the streets. Or at least the streets that the SMS Holdings subsidiary BLOCKbyBLOCK garners contracts to patrol and control in these ways.
From the company's website promotion, under "Keep It Safe":
"Address 'Quality of Life' Violations to Include:
• Panhandling (non-aggressive & aggressive)
• Loud or intimidating Behavior
• Solicitation
The company currently claims contracts with 33 cities and is intently seeking more, with specializations in assisting the local BIDs to arrange for "matching fund" tapping of public monies, whether civic, state and/or federal.
Some cities, such as Berkeley, CA, with their teams of patrolling "Hosts", have installed their own programs of similar nature. But the authority and funding of such programs can get a bit complex. These programs are blending private businesses, corporate entities and civic, public agencies, powers and... funds, of course.
In Berkeley, it's most ironic to find even federal funds earmarked to "help the homeless" spent in this way, which includes being directed by the business "bosses" to call the police on the homeless since citizens weren't doing so enough, in their opinion, in order to help rid the area of these people. And the bulk of their $200,000+ budget goes to services that have nothing to do with helping homeless people, as such. Critics locally also complain that the Hosts spend too much time sitting in cafe's, "just hanging out", and other idle past-times -- even "loitering"?
While BLOCKbyBLOCK is proud of their brightly colored uniforms, Berkeley opted for plainer brown jackets. That's jackets -- but not quite brown shirts.
Image by the author.
Home Runs for the Homeless
Published October 07, 2009 @ 08:53AM PT
Tonight's first playoff game between the Rockies and Phillies promises to be a good one. The mayors of Denver and Philly have both put money on tonight's faceoff between the Colorado Rockies and Philadelphia Phillies. But instead of pocketing the $2,000 in winnings, the victorious city will donate the cash to a local homeless shelter.
Ah, a good game indeed.
Although, in the world of baseball, $2,000 isn't much. According to the Denver Post, $2,000 bucks is about a third of what Rockies pitcher Tedd Helton made per toss this season. But I don't think that's the point here.
The real value of this gesture is largely symbolic, using a media-magnet playoff bet between cities into an opportunity to do some good. Who knows, perhaps this good deed will multiply, with players and baseball execs matching the $2,000 gifts to their local shelters -- win or lose. Perhaps this trend will catch on in other cities participating in post-season bets. Hey, a girl can dream.
Either way, with the holiday season and cold weather just around the corner and demand already exceeding supply, Denver and Philadelphia service providers will take all the help they can get.
Image from TheGoodPhight.com
On Stealing Cereal and Second Chances
Published October 06, 2009 @ 12:46PM PT
Yesterday, a Florida homeless man with 50 prior convictions was sentenced to 15 years in prison for stealing a box of cereal and jug of milk. At the same time, another man in St. Paul, Minnesota - formerly in prison and on the streets himself - is learning television production skills through a job training program. The moral of the story? Helping the homeless isn't just a moral obligation, it's a smart financial move.
As if the moral obligation to help those without a home isn't enough, today we're reminded of another important reason we all have an interest in helping the homeless thanks to two seemingly unrelated stories.
First, a homeless man with a history of alcoholism was sentenced to 15 years in prison yesterday for stealing a box of Lucky Charms and a jug of milk. Mark Anthony Griffin received this hefty sentence because of his status as a "prison release reoffender." He had over 50 prior convictions - mostly misdemeanor charges ranging from public intoxication to trespassing. Griffin's brother, an elementary school principal, asked the court to help his brother treat his long-term alcoholism rather than sending him to prison, according to The Leger. "He needs help," said Joseph Griffin, an elementary school principal. "If he gets the help, he won't be in court."
The reaction to this story has resoundingly been disbelief ("15 years for stealing cereal!?") and anger over the criminal justice system costs this man has accumulated over the years. Well, hate to be the bearer of bad news, but assuming Mr. Griffin is your average chronically homeless person, then the costs of his criminal justice run-ins are not even the beginning of it.
We can assume that Mr. Griffin stayed in a homeless shelter from time to time ($). We can assume that, now and then, he checked into the emergency room for medical treatment ($$). We can assume he had a case manager ($), received free meals ($), and had other interactions with law enforcement where he was not arrested ($).
Suffice to say, we can assume that Mr. Griffin's homelessness has cost his community a great deal financially over the years. Many studies from across the country have documented the average costs a chronically homeless person racks up annually (Portland, Oregon, for example, found that each of their 35 chronically homeless individuals was costing the city $42K each in public resources each year... yikes!).
Yes, treatment would be a better option than jail at this point. But providing housing combined with supportive services (including alcohol treatment) the moment he hit the streets would have been an even better option.
Now, let's jump north to St. Paul, Minnesota. Today, CNN featured the story of a prisoner who was discharged into homelessness. Rather than succumbing to life on the streets, he was given the chance to work and learn a new marketable skill thanks to a local cable news program. In addition to reporting about homelessness issues, it teaches formerly homeless folks about the world of TV production.
Ron Kennebrew, the man featured in the CNN article, summed it up best when he said homelessness can be one of two things: "a place in despair or ... a slingshot to opportunity." This is true for both the individuals who experience homelessness, and the communities who must choose how to treat its homeless population.
Two men, two stories that began very similarly, two totally different endings. Is your community treating your homeless population like serial criminals? Or are you harnessing their potential - while simultaneously meeting basic needs - for the mutual benefit of all?
Image from The Ledger.
Deep Budget Cuts in D.C. May Close Shelters
Published October 05, 2009 @ 02:09PM PT
City officials in Washington D.C. have slashed $20 million dollars from the city's homeless services budget, simultaneously leaving a gaping hole the city's safety net. Local advocates say that these funds are not restored, hundreds of families, individuals, and children will end up on the streets in a matter of weeks.
The cuts -- announced last week by the Fenty administration -- has left D.C. homeless advocates shocked and outraged. Many felt blind-sighted by the announcement, while others are overwhelmed at what the cuts will mean for the area's safety net.
So what does a $20 million dollar slash in Washington D.C. homeless service budgets look like? Here are the projections from a statement prepared by a coalition of D.C. homeless service providers:
- More than 100 families in temporary and transitional shelters are at risk of being removed.
- 480 women would face eviction; about half of whom are housed by Catholic Charities.
- Shelter providers will be forced to reduce the number of people served.
- The waiting list for shelter beds would increase. In July, at least 285 families D.C. families were on the waiting list for homeless shelters, a number that kept growing as unemployment increased over the summer.
It is unfathomable that, during a time when the need is so great, the city would even think about touching these lifesaving services. Many providers have difficulty meeting the needs of people even with level funding.
Amidst all of the uncertainties, one thing is clear: If $20 million in funding is not restored to homeless service providers, Washington D.C.'s safety net is in serious jeopardy.
Image from Daquella_Manera's public Flickr stream.
Homelessness Not Confined to Cities
Published October 03, 2009 @ 11:00AM PT
If you think homelessness is primarily an urban issue, think again. A new study from a national advocacy group illustrates the prevalence of homelessness in urban and rural areas across the country. The numbers - and the noted challenges of collecting homelessness data - speak for themselves.
Grayson County, Texas is not a big city. So many members of the Texas community assume homelessness is mostly a problem for Dallas or Houston. But according to the local news station, KXII, it's all relative. One shelter worker told the newstation that "homelessness is a much bigger problem in Texoma than anyone realizes." Indeed, all of the shelters in Grayson County are full and shelter workers believe people are living on the streets.
The latest study out from the National Alliance to End Homelessness, titled Geography of Homelessness, used 2007 homeless census counts and census data to determine the prevalence of homelessness in rural areas. As expected, the study found urban homelessness is more prevalent than any other type of area. But the study argued that this may be due to the intrinsic differences in the homeless population that make finding and counting homeless people in non-urban areas much more challenging.
First, many rural areas do not have shelters. Some communities do not have any kinds of social services whatsoever. Therefore, the report notes, extremely poor people in rural areas "do not stay in shelters but rather double-up with family or friends or live in substandard housing, and many leave rural areas in search of increased employment opportunities and homeless services."
Given the established difficulties of finding and counting the homeless in rural areas, the report's numbers illustrate of the potential scope of the problem:
- Urban areas: 29 out of 10,000 persons are homeless
- Mostly Urban areas: 19 out of 10,000 persons are homeless
- Mixed Rural/Mostly Rural areas: 12 out of 10,000 persons are homeless
- Mostly Rural areas, 8 out of 10,000 persons are homeless
- Rural areas: 14 out of 10,000 persons are homeless
This data is critically important in understanding just how dire the homelessness situation in rural areas is as reported. It's extremely troubling to wonder to what extent we are under-counting these areas, particularly with a recession on our hands. Clearly, better effort need to be made in rural areas to meet the unique demands of this population. We know that when it comes to social services, one size definitely does not fit all.
Image from hubb-a-dubb's public Flickr photostream.
In Stores Now: "Derelict" Homeless-Inspired Fashion
Published October 01, 2009 @ 09:07AM PT
Shoppers aren't the only ones trying to mimick the latest trends from the pages of fashion magazines. The high-end department store Barneys New York has jumped on the "homeless as high fashion" bandwagon by featuring homeless manikin displays - complete with park benches, trash cans, and newspaper blankets.
Mimicking the homeless to sell expensive clothes? Not cool, Barneys.
This display comes after a homeless-inspired photo spread was featured in the pages of an international fashion mag and the portrait of a homeless man was snapped by the Sartorialist himself. Many considered these initial statements to be edgy, thoughtful even. It was about the juxtapositions of designer clothing on homeless people (or the image of a homeless person on a fashion blog). With the help of my thoughtful readers, I put my outrage aside and opted to try and take advantage of the teachable moment this homelessness/fashion crossover provided.
But this just crosses the line.
Apparently, I'm not alone in my sentiments. Several fashion bloggers, including OMG blog (who broke the story) and the Ethical Style blog found the display to be in poor taste. Homeless advocates are also shaking their heads. According to Joel John Roberts over at LA's Homelessness Blog, the fashion world's obsession with all-things homeless is insulting to those who are struggling to get by on the streets.
I couldn't agree more. The timing is tasteless and the message - whatever it is - is insulting to those who are hurting the most.
Sure, it's Barneys this season... but will these tasteless displays wind up in JC Penny next year?
