City needs new homeless strategy

Each day before dusk blankets the city, numerous homeless families are trying to figure out where they will spend the night. Too many could end up under the stars.

The need for emergency shelter has grown drastically since the recession, but the city’s ability to help homeless families has been unable to match the demand. All 1,544 beds for families at city-funded shelters are occupied on most nights.

The statistics tell a heartbreaking story of the destitute families who account for more than half of the city’s homeless population. They want to keep their families together, but there are few viable options. Some stay temporarily with a friend or relatives, shuffling between homes.

Homeless advocates say they have never seen so many families callously turned away. But with continued high unemployment and mounting foreclosures, the 3,000 homeless people in Philadelphia are likely to see their ranks grow even larger.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates that 1.6 million persons experienced homelessness between Oct. 1, 2009, and Sept. 30, 2010, a 2.2 percent increase from its previous survey. In Pennsylvania, nearly 14,000 people are identified as homeless, and about 14,500 in New Jersey.

The numbers show the need for more federal and state funding to address homelessness. Getting people off the street and into permanent housing should be a higher priority. Fixing the problem will save taxpayers money, since it costs more to place people in shelters and hospitals than to find permanent housing.

Mayor Nutter came up with a solid plan in 2008 to address the city’s persistent homeless problem. But that effort has fallen short, mostly as a result of funding problems and other factors.

To its credit, the city did make up for more than $2.3 million in state funding for shelters that was eliminated this year. But even that is only enough to maintain the current number of beds available for homeless families.

Nutter’s plan was further compromised by the problems at the Philadelphia Housing Authority, including the dismissal of former PHA Executive Director Carl R. Greene. Greene had agreed to designate 300 public-housing units for families in shelters. But by the end of June, PHA had made available only 45 units.

Homeless advocates are understandably considering legal action to get PHA to live up to its commitment, which should be honored no matter who is running the agency. In the meantime, the city needs to reenergize its efforts to get homeless families off the street. It’s time to find a new strategy that works.

Posted by Inquirer Editorial Board @ 2:00 AM Permalink | 4 comments

Comments

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 11:07 AM, 09/19/2011

Euthenazation should be an option on the table here....

— Philly.thompson837

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 12:05 PM, 09/19/2011

You know how much we've spent, yet it never seems to really address the problem of homelessness? Hundreds of millions in federal and state aid on housing. How is that possible? That's why it is reasonable and prudent to question the blanket assumption that "more state and federal funding to address homeless."

Why is it that the more you spend, the more you need? HUD had record allocations under the Bush administration. Where did all that money go?

I'm hesitant to funnel still more cash we don't have into a system that seems to only cause the problem to worsen. With so much waste, fraud, and abuse at PHA, more "housing" money is clearly not the right answer.

We have to fix the waste. We have to lean out and define these programs. We have to kick out the people who should not be in public housing, such as drug dealers and criminals. We have to time limit public housing. Until some prudent controls are put into place, then it is irresponsible to cry "more more more."

— CleanupPhilly

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 12:12 PM, 09/19/2011

We have to be honest -- the city can't afford to put people in "permanent housing" or just start paying people's rent for them. We can help people find places to rent and help them get on their feet, but simply paying the bills for people is expensive and impractical. The cost of a shelter bed is certainly going to be less than the cost of rent, who are we kidding here? The housing advocates have to propose something within the realm of possibility. Philly gets plenty of housing money, and most of it is wasted on expensive union contrats to build as few units as possible per dollar spent. The private market produces more "affordable" housing.

But PHA has been a separate nation-state within the city that operates outside of any local or state control. If that model has failed, given the huge amount spent, the expense of the properties in PHA, the quality, and the outcomes in tenants, and the reality that neighbors mostly despise PHA and what it does to communities, then let's call it. Let's cut that money and use it for actual homeless people. Get the federal government out of being a landlord, and use the money for the actual need.

— CleanupPhilly

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 7:41 PM, 09/26/2011

Believe it or not putting people in permanent affordable housing IS less expensive than sheltering them. I work for Bethesda Project and we do both. In a shelter you need security at the front door to buzz people in and protect them from each other and strangers. You need a cooking staff 7 days a week, a laundry staff seven days a week (bed linens and towels as well as personal clothes) staff to take attendance, assign beds, counseling and admin staff. A 200 bed shelter may need 20 to 30 staff people full time and part time / weekend or a budget of $2,000,000 or more. Putting someone in affordable housing costs from $1,000 (maybe first month's rent and security deposit and utility back payment) or for Section 8 housing the difference between 30% of their income (SSI, TANF, SSDI, part time job) and the actual rent of a simple room or efficiency, maybe $400 additional per month. The person in his own room, apt or house can get food stamps (SNAP) for food, LIHEAP for utilities, can mail or drop off their rent on weekdays with no weekend staff needed. They do their own laundry and cooking. Even supportive housing needs only a coordinator, a case manager, 3 full-time supervisors and 2 or 3 part time weekend supervisors for a 50 unit building. Remember that in a shelter they still get welfare or disability or unemployment and your tax money pays the whole cost of the shelter. In subsidized housing, they pay what they can afford on their fixed income and your tax money only pays the difference, about 1/4 as expensive per person, even less when multiple family members or roommates are put together in a larger unit.

— Brian Castello

4 comments

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