Housing Article Stirs the Pot of My Heart

Tuesday, one of my friends in the City Attorney's office e-mailed me a link to a story on "Housing First" that the NY Times was running. Ironically, Colorado was the basis of the article, specifically the City of Denver - though none of our papers ran the story. Kind of goes to show that while we have many good advocates out there for the homeless, our communities at large don't want to address the issue as a whole.

The article explains,

The "housing first" approach was pioneered in the 1990's by a group in New York, Pathways to Housing.

In a first step, confirmed street dwellers are coaxed into rooms of their own, a more attractive proposition to many than the drug treatment programs or transitional group homes they had been offered in the past. Some skittish people take along their shopping carts.

Once drawn into so-called supportive housing, the participants are monitored by social workers and offered psychiatric and other services that might stabilize their lives. But breaking addictions or seeking other needed treatment is not a prerequisite for entry....

So, you're telling me that some drunk can spend my tax dollars and get housing without straightening up?

Sort of...it's not as if the agencies running these programs don't offer or even advise treatment for mental health and/or substance abuse, but the focus is on housing them first, then getting the treatment established.

After all, how much sense does it make to tell someone in such a devastating situation as not having a home, "Go out and do away with your stress management method of choice," [using], "even in the midst of crisis," [living on the streets in the elements], "and talk to me about housing when you've been sober for 90 days?"

Yeah, I'd like to see you try it.

That's not the only fear about this model, though:

Some advocates and state officials have questioned the intense focus on chronic cases, fearing that it detracts from programs for families. Mr. Mangano responds that homeless families continue to receive the bulk of public money and are the subject of promising experiments, too.

But, for those concerned about the usage of our tax dollars,

... officials found that 25 men were taken into emergency detoxification centers for an average of 80 nights each in one year, at a total cost of $772,000. Officials have found that they can provide housing and most medical and other services for about $15,000 a year per person...

Hmmm...

25 men x 80 nights of detox care each = 2,000 nights of detox care = $772,000.

-or-

25 men x 365 days of housing and medical care = 9,125 days of housing and medical care = $15,000 x 25 = $375,000

That's 4 1/2 times the amount of care for less than half the cost!

For those worried about Housing First detracting from family programs, the savings alone could be a way to recover ever dwindling funds for family service and/or self sufficiency programs! For the tax-payers who abhor the welfare system, this is simply a more efficient stretching of your already claimed dollars - better than your money being claimed and wasted, eh?

As Philip F. Mangano, a Bush appointee to the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, said,

"Cost-benefit analysis may be the new expression of compassion in our communities."

I can't help but think about the story of the Good Samaritan, the model for Christian compassion, through all of this. Stumbling upon the wounded traveler, did he think, "Fool! He shouldn't have been traveling this way in the first place - everyone knows there are robbers alon this path." Did he flesh out the traveler's story and determine if the root of his downfall was because he'd imbibed too much wine earlier in the day? I doubt it - I'll bet that the Samaritan didn't ask anything more than whether the man was ok! We're told he paid for the traveller's lodging and food until he was well, with no strings attached.

Why does our compassion have to have a cost-benefit analysis tied to it?

God doesn't demand outcome measures from us in order to receive His grace and mercy....

He does tell us to share the wealth, though. Are we doing that?