We know what the solution to homelessness is – housing.
This sounds obvious and simple. However, as with other things concerning homelessness, placing people into housing alone does not solve the underlying issues that cause homelessness. It is important that as homeless individuals move into permanent housing units, they have access to and receive the necessary support services. That’s why The Key Alliance, the nonprofit partner of the Metropolitan Homelessness Commission, is promoting Housing First, an approach that offers permanent supportive housing coupled with intensive case management.
The Key Alliance’s formula of success is:
Housing + Case Management + Income = Reduction in Homelessness.
Taking a closer look at what the formula of success shows:
- Housing means permanent, low-income rental units.
- Case Management is provided by a master’s level social worker, who identifies and addresses the needs of each individual participating in the program.
- Income takes the form of social security benefits, disability benefits or employment.
Nashville’s Housing First program shows a housing retention rate of 92% over a four-year period. The 92% housing retention rate lies above the 80-85% housing retention rate many other cities report for their Housing First programs.
Housing retention rates depend heavily on the type of population served, the intensity and quality of case management provided and the size of the program. The housing retention rates are calculated based on program participants who have been permanently housed and have retained their housing until present or the time of graduating into self-sufficiency.
Based on that calculation, 71 of the 76 participants who have been permanently housed in Nashville’s Housing First program have retained their housing. Of the five individuals who lost housing, two lost it due to a lack of income and three chose to leave housing. The housing retention rate is not affected when people move while in the program.
The Key Alliance’s Housing First program targets the chronically homeless, the most vulnerable population. At the present time, we provide scattered housing, meaning that the housing units are scattered all over the city versus in one housing site. But the Housing First model per se can be adjusted to keep communities together. We found that at this point the scattered sites work best. As the program grows, however, we will continue to evaluate its scope.
Housing First is a cost-effective way to end chronic homelessness. It costs about $17,000 per person per year to provide housing plus intensive case management. In comparison, it costs communities an average of $35,000 per person per year to manage homelessness as we have done during the past 20 years by leaving people to fend for themselves utilizing our social services systems, jails, prisons, hospitals, ERs, and Detox facilities.
It makes sense to come together as a community and support solutions that end homelessness versus continuing to try to manage homelessness. Providing housing is not only a basic human right but also the most cost-effective approach to ending chronic homelessness and reducing overall homelessness.
So why have we not done it before? The reason is a lack of funding and a lack of understanding of the many faces of homelessness. If you look at homelessness today, you will see young people aging out of foster care, runaway youth, single women with children, chronically homeless men and women, young families and single career people who have lost employment during the recent recession, and veterans returning from recent wars. Homelessness increasingly affects families. In Nashville, 2,049 school children were homeless during the past school year.
It is a reality that the single, substance-abusing male who pushes a shopping cart down the street is no longer the typical homeless face our country is dealing with. Nonetheless, the issues of chronically homeless individuals are hardest to solve and they are the most costly to our society. Housing First targets this population. The philosophy behind Housing First is that once we break the cycle that leads to chronic homelessness, we will free up resources to target other homeless populations.
The most urgent need and a Call to Action from The Key Alliance is financial support to expand Nashville’s Housing First program (permanent housing and intensive case management). While Housing First avoids costs to the public, it is still a program that must be funded upfront. We also need more outreach workers who can help us identify and reach the most vulnerable people on the streets who, without housing and help, are likely to die.
Some of you may provide professional services that homeless individuals could tap into such as legal aid, dental services, haircuts, pedicures, and so on. Others may just want options to reach out and volunteer for programs benefiting homeless individuals.
If you do not know how or where to start, reach out to The Key Alliance (www.thekeyalliance.org) where you can inform yourself about the most urgent needs.
You can donate directly online or you can explore what service agencies are providing which services to the homeless population in Nashville at www.thekeyalliance.org/wheretofindhelp. (We are also working on a printer friendly, limited version of Where to Find Help).
