"FEWER HOMELESS" SAYS CNN COMMENTATOR DAVID FRUM . . . AND THE DATA SUPPORT HIS CLAIM
"Whatever the cause of homelessness, the solution is ... a home." CNN commentator David Frum this week summed up his view of a key aspect of former President George W. Bush's legacy - a national decrease in chronic homelessness: "Have you noticed that homelessness isn't worse? Here we are, living through the most protracted joblessness crisis since the Great Depression -- and surprisingly, fewer people are living on the street." Frum is a CNN contributor, a contributing editor at Newsweek and The Daily Beast, and has authored eight books, including a new novel, "Patriots," and a post-election e-book titled "Why Romney Lost." Frum was a special assistant to President Bush (2001-2002). Read the entire piece at CNN; some excerpts follow.
"Have you noticed that homelessness isn't worse? Here we are, living through the most protracted joblessness crisis since the Great Depression -- and surprisingly, fewer people are living on the street . . .
"To what or whom do we owe this good news?
"In very large part, we owe it to the president whose library opened in Dallas last week: George W. Bush.
"For three decades, we have debated what causes homelessness and how to deal with it . . .
"The Bush administration substituted a much simpler idea -- an idea that happened to work. Whatever the cause of homelessness, the solution is ... a home.
"In 2002, Bush appointed a new national homeless policy czar, Philip Mangano. A former music agent imbued with the religious philosophy of St. Francis of Assisi, Mangano was seized by an idea pioneered by New York University psychiatrist Sam Tsemberis: 'housing first.'
"The 'housing first' concept urges authorities to concentrate resources on the hardest cases -- to move them into housing immediately -- and only to worry about the other problems of the homeless after they first have a roof over their heads . . .
"Many old school homeless advocates resisted Mangano's approach. They were impelled by two main objections:
"1. They believed that homelessness was just the most extreme form of a problem faced by low-income people generally -- a lack of affordable housing for low-income people. Focusing resources on the nation's hardest cases would (these advocates feared) distract the federal government from the bigger project of subsidizing better housing for millions of people who did not literally live in the streets.
"2. By 2002, the nation had been worrying about homelessness for several decades. Countless programs from state and local agencies responded to some separate part of the problem; tens of thousands of people earned their livings in those state and local agencies, disposing of massive budgets. 'Housing first' threatened to disrupt this vast industry. 'Housing first' was comparatively cheap . . . The transition to 'housing first' threatened jobs and budgets across the country.
"There was only one counterargument to these objections: 'Housing first' worked. It worked from the start, and it worked fast . . .
" . . . The job is not completed yet. But for the first time since the 1970s, the abolition of homelessness has become a real and near possibility. Whatever else you think of the 43rd president, that achievement is part of Bush's legacy, too." Read the article.
New decreases in homelessness are being announced across the country, continuing the good news of results and underscoring the unprecedented commitment, investment, partnership, and decreases that began in 2005 under the Bush Administration. Jurisdictions - including some of the first to commit to Ten Year Plans and see local reductions - applied data and research strategically to forward housing solutions and to adopt innovative and evidence-based practices and continue to build on their quantifiable results in ending homelessness from the mobilization of political will and partnership. With many communities releasing the results of their 2013 Point-in-Time (PIT) counts, new data point to significant decreases in communities of all sizes.
In Pasadena, CA, the number of people experiencing homelessness dropped almost 37% in the last two years and 15% since 2012, with local leaders in Pasadena's Ten Year Plan - including Dr. Joe Colletti of Urban Initiatives at Fuller Seminary, who coordinates this count and helped formulate the Plan, as he has in more than a dozen Southern California communities - crediting the city's Housing First strategy and the economic upswing. Anne Lansing, co-chair of the Pasadena Housing and Homeless Network, affirmed that the city's 2005 housing focused strategy is behind the change.
San Bernardino County, hard hit by the foreclosure crisis and with a high poverty rate, reported a 19% decrease compared to 2011. The County's Ten Year Plan and more housing focused initiatives are credited. There are new efforts underway in San Bernardino for unsheltered families and to break the cycle of homelessness for those with histories of incarceration, homelessness, and addiction. Nearly 25% of adults counted were released from prison or jail during the past 12 months after serving a court-mandated sentence, according to the PIT report. Riverside County, Orange County, and Ventura County, CA have announced decreases, and San Diego County recorded a 7% decrease in unsheltered homelessness.
Utah counted a new 9% reduction in chronic homelessness, or a total 72% reduction since 2005. South Dakota (25%) and Idaho (9.5%) reported overall decreases. Snohomish County, WA counted an 18% drop overall. Reductions were reported in Tulsa, OK (8.7%) and Wichita/Sedgwick County, KS (2.2%). Cincinnati, OH found an 8% reduction, and Memphis, TN reported reductions in individuals, families, unsheltered persons, and those in shelter, with a 12.5% reduction.
In Winston-Salem, NC, Mayor Allen Joines announced that chronic homelessness has been cut 58% since 2005, when the County began its Ten Year Plan. Veteran homelessness has been cut 49%, and homelessness overall decreased 40% from last year. Stated Mayor Joines, "Obviously, there's a moral reason to help homeless individuals get back on their feet and get back in a productive society. But from a community standpoint and a financial standpoint, it makes great sense because it costs much more to provide services to homeless individuals than to get them into a permanent housing situation and into a productive work environment." Other North Carolina communities, including Charlotte/ Mecklenburg County (6%), Guilford County (6%), and Wilmington (15%), also reported decreases.
Homeward, in Greater Richmond, VA, found a 4.1% decrease overall, and Virginia reported an 8% decrease statewide, with a 36% decrease in chronic homelessness, 2010-2012. In Fairfax County, VA, homelessness decreased 12% last year, and leaders point to the increased focus on rapid rehousing and prevention for the results. Overall homelessness in the County has dropped 26% since 2007. Homelessness among single adults decreased 13% over last year. Huntington, WV reported a 27% decrease overall. In Knoxville and Knox County, TN where a Ten Year Plan was launched in 2005, a new 14% decrease in the number of new individuals becoming homelessness has been announced. The decrease represents a 36% drop from a high in 2010. Dr. Roger Nooe and Michael Dunthorn from the City's Community Development Division staff the Implementation Office created in 2006 by then Knoxville Mayor/now Governor Bill Haslam and Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale to implement the Ten Year Plan. Alachua County/Gainesville, FL reported a 10.8% decrease in street homelessness.
In Canada, new decreases have been announced in Vancouver, BC,one of a dozen Canadian jurisdictions where Round Table President Mangano visited and assisted jurisdictional leaders while serving as Executive Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (2002-2009) (see related story). Mayor Gregor Robertson announced an 11% decrease in street homelessness over the last year and a 66% decrease since 2008, when access to low-demand services was created. "Our efforts are working, but there is no question there is more work to do," the Mayor said. "This is within our grasp." The city has committed about $60 million in its 2012-14 capital plan for additional supportive and other housing.