The federal economic stimulus package provides $1.5 billion for homeless remediation and prevention programs, including rental assistance, security deposits, utility payments, and health and child care. We must guard, however, against the temptation to use these new resources simply to prop up existing programs.

This is an opening to break with the past and make lasting progress in our efforts against homelessness. Doing more of the same would squander the chance to fundamentally rework the way we address homelessness in this country.

In the face of the ongoing economic contraction, it may seem naive to advocate sweeping changes in how we deal with homelessness. But the influx of stimulus funds provides a means for pursuing more effective and humane action.

The solution lies in the "housing-first" model picking up momentum around the country, which reverses the approach imposed by the federal government starting in the mid-'90s. That "continuum of care" structure puts homeless people through a qualification process of about two years before they can move from emergency shelter to transitional housing and ultimately to permanent quarters.

Under the housing-first model, this test period is eliminated. Homeless families and individuals are moved as quickly as possible to permanent housing while being connected with needed services and resources.

The current system of emergency shelter and transitional housing rests on an unintentionally condescending attitude and a flawed understanding of human motivations. And the series of graduated steps before families "earn" permanent housing serves to drag out the length of time they remain homeless.

In contrast, the housing-first approach is based on the premise that, once in their own homes and exercising greater control over their lives, homeless families and individuals are as intrinsically driven as anyone else to succeed in life. This assumption has been buttressed by more than 20 years of remarkable statistics.

To cite two: 85 percent of formerly homeless adults have maintained a permanent home after five years in the organization Beyond Shelter's housing-first program in Los Angeles. And in Pathways to Housing's program for formerly homeless people with psychiatric disabilities in New York City, 88 percent have been able to maintain a permanent home, compared with only 47 percent of the residents in the city's traditional program.

Studies such as these confirm that access to permanent housing (typically private-sector apartments) is a catalyst for self-reliance.

The housing-first model provides wider economic benefits as well. It will enable federal stimulus dollars to be invested in the private sector through landlords, many of whom are willing to participate in partnerships to provide housing. These small-business owners could benefit from the economic stimulus as much as any bank.

The $35,000 the city of Philadelphia spends to shelter a family for one year could pay the move-in costs for many families. Or it could be used for flexible, market-driven housing subsidies that would cost far less and serve the recipients much better.

It's time to adopt a housing-first mentality across the board. Shelters are bad housing; we have found families whose experiences with shelters were so negative that they prefer living in horrendous conditions. The men on the street have certainly voted with their feet by refusing to accept the conditions and treatment they get in shelters. There are humane shelters, of course, but far too many people suffer indifference, abuse, neglect, and filth in the poorhouses we have shamefully dragged into the 21st century.

After 25 years of well-intentioned but largely unsuccessful efforts, we finally have the evidence that there is a better way. Let's help homeless people get what they need and want most: a decent, affordable, private residence in which they can feel safe and participate in the American dream.