October 14, 2018

Ending homelesness: Housing First, a Solution or a

Failure?
The federal government has focused on providing permanent
supportive housing and the Housing First campaign to end homelessness.
They were so confident in this solution that in 2002 they created a 10-year
plan to end chronic homlessness, that date was extended to 2017. However,
in 2017 the government seen an increase in individuals living on the
streets. In 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development, there were roughly 554,000 homeless people living somewhere in
the United States on a given night last year. The effects of homelessness on
society can be quite costly, not only in terms of tax dollars spent but, on
the strain, it puts on social agencies, individuals and families . While
permanent supportive housing and Housing First has been successful in
reducing days spent on the streets, it will not end homelessness.
Housing first connects individuals and families experiencing
homelessness to permanent housing without any preconditions. However
not all homeless are actually living on the streets. According to a study
from the Pew Research Center, the number of adults living i n
multigenerational homes increased by 10.5 percent between 2007 and
2009. In a follow-up study in 2016, they found that in 2014 a record
60.6 million Americans were living in these situations, which accounts for
19 percent of the population.
For instance, my sister a 29-year-old mother of two. She is homeless
because of health issues that made it
difficult for her to work causing the
loss of the basement apartment she
was renting. She at the moment is
staying with a friend sleeping in the
living room of an apartment with her
husband and one of her children, her
other son lives with his father and is
not allowed to stay at the apartment
because it is not a stable living
situation. Prior to that she lived with a family member, while her husband
lived in his car. They have been without housing for 6 months. Housing
first focuses on helping the chronically homeless and those in shelters. For
concern of safety my sister will not take her children to the shelter nor is
she considered chronically homeless, so the housing first program is out of
reach for her and her family.
In addition, to “the hidden homeless”, the majority of those suffering
from chronic homelessness also suffer from substance abuse and are
mentally ill. In the Collaborative Initiative to Help end Chronic
Homelessness, reports indicate that 67% of the 1,400 individuals being
studied had serious mental issues, 60% suffered from alcohol abuse issues
and 60% suffered from drug abuse issues. Those struggling with mental
illness and substance abuse struggle with stability and cannot maintain a
job or housing. According to Maya Perkins a publisher at Nova Science
Publishers, the CRS conducted a survey study to examine the changes in
substance abuse and mental illness in individuals who receive permeant supportive
housing. Five of those studies found no significant differences in substance use
outcomes between previously homeless individuals who moved into housing and
those who did not have housing. The study also found no significant differences in
psychiatric symptoms between the groups receiving housing and those that did not.
Perkins explains “of the studies on mental health 14 out of the 47 examined
improvements in mental health when provided permanent supportive housing”.
Although there are some positive aspects of providing permanent
supportive housing for those who are chronically homeless and suffering
form mental illness with substance abuse, it will not always be a solution.
As some researches have said, the challenge may be identifying - what
works for whom, rather than what just works for who”. Meaning finding
more solutions for different people rather then one solution and assuming
it will work for everyone.
Furthermore, we need to take into consideration the cost of living, it’s not
surprising while there is an increase in cost of living, there is an increase in
homelessness. The minimum wage for 2018 in Utah is $7.25 per hour, in my
research I found that the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment is $1,085, a
1.57% increase from last year. If a single individual is making minimum wage,
working fulltime their income before taxes is $1,160, that one-bedroom apartment
is no where in reach for this individual. The National Low-Income Housing
Coalition found that to afford the rent for an average one-bedroom apartment,
workers would need an hourly wage of $17.90 at a full-time job. Since 2014
minimum wage had remained unchanged however cost of living increases every
year. In the article “Living in the U.S.: At What Cost? Rising housing prices are
outpacing wage increases nationwide, threatening a living standard that once
seemed an inalienable right.” Diana Lind a founding managing director of the Penn
Fels Policy Research Initiative says “The median home price rose 41 percent faster
than overall inflation between 1990 and 2016. Nearly one-third of U.S.
households-38.1 million owners and renters-paid more than 30 percent of their
incomes for housing in 2016.” Senator Kamala Harris and Senator Cory Bookers
propose offering a tax rebate to those paying more then 30 percent of their income
to rent. However, there is a down side, "The challenge will be if the market then
reflects the tax benefit, and landlords then just charge higher rents," says Vincent
Reina, assistant professor, City and Regional Planning, at the University of
Pennsylvania. The image below from the National Low-Income Housing
Coalitions show the average wage that a household would need to earn in order to
afford a two-bedroom apartment in each state.

For my sister she started a new job last week but the starting pay is only
$13.00 an hour, that it is still not for a one room apartment and she needs at least a
2 bedroom. She Says “that most renters require you to make 2 times what the rent
is in order to qualify”. She said she has mounds of medical bills that she needs to
pay as well, a car payment and other living cost. So, although she is working, the
cost of living is still making it impossible for her to find stable housing for her and
her family. She also faces other obstacles in finding a home for her and her family,
such as being able to afford a down payment, her credit, and her husband’s
background, because of these obstacles it does make choices of apartments and
houses for rent limited.
There are many factors to take into consideration, when we are
addressing what causes homelessness in the first place including our
homeless veterans, and those who have been recently released from
incarceration. Everyone deserves to have a home that is stable and
affordable. While Housing first offers a small step in ending homelesness,
it alone is not a solution. If we keep
ignoring the problem we will have
more and more individuals on the
streets, higher cost to tax payers and
more illness.
We need to acknowledge all the factors
that cause homelessness and establish
better programs and solutions to help
with these issues mainly focusing on
how to prevent homelessness before it
even happens. In my research many
suggested that supporting the financing of affordable housing for everyone
not just those considered chronically homeless, and increase econo mic
stability and address income inequality are important steps that need to be
taking in order to preventing and ending homelessness.

REFERENCES

Johnson, S. (2018). Hidden homelessness: Not all homeless people are living on the street or sleeping in shelters.
U.S. Catholic, 25-27.

LIND, D. (2018). Living in the U.S.: At What Cost? Rising housing prices are outpacing wage increases nationwide,
threatening a living standard that once seemed an inalienable right . Architectural Record, 80-83.

Perkins, M. C. (2016). Ending Chronic Homelessness : Federal Strategy and the Role of Permanent Supportive
Housing. New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc.