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While many cities have pursued measures that target and punish homeless persons for engaging in the public performance of life-sustaining activities, other cities have initiated a more constructive approach to the issue of homelessness. The below approaches aim to address the underlying causes of homelessness, instead of punishing homeless persons for their status.
Models & Constructive Alternatives |
D.C. Business Improvement District |
Faced with an increasing number of people forced to live on the streets, the downtown business community decided to create a center for homeless people who may not have anywhere to go during the day when shelters are closed.
Through the Downtown D.C. Business Improvement District, business owners helped start and fund the day center that can serve up to 260 people per day, with indoor seating, laundry, showers, and a morning meal. The center also has partnerships with local service providers who come on site once or twice a week to provide medical, psychiatric, legal, and employment services, as well as housing counseling, substance abuse treatment, and case management. The day center continues to be funded by business owners in D.C. through a 1 cent tax for each square foot of property owned by a business.
Instead of advocating for criminalization measures, the D.C. business community found a constructive way to give homeless people a place to rest, take care of themselves, and get connected to essential services.
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Portland |
As part of its ten year plan to end homelessness, the City of Portland has funded an initiative, called "Key Not a Card," that enables outreach workers at various agencies to immediately offer people living on the street permanent housing. Four different service provider agencies participate in the program. The funding from the city for housing is flexible in that it can be used to pay rent, back rent, security deposits, and can vary in the level of subsidy. The goal is to get people housed for 1 to 2 years while they can secure permanent subsidies, public benefits, or employment, as appropriate.
In the first 14 months of operation, 224 people living on the streets were placed into permanent housing. At 12 months after placement, 90 percent of those placed remained in stable housing. The City has thus far provided $2 million dollars in pilot funding for this program and is seeking permanent annual funding of $3 million dollars.
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Broward County, Florida |
The Taskforce for Ending Homelessness, Inc., a not-for-profit agency that provides outreach, education, and advocacy services for the homeless population in Broward County, has partnered with the Ft. Lauderdale police department to help homeless persons get off the street. The partnership formed the Homeless Outreach Team, which was incorporated in 2003 to provide direct outreach services to homeless people. In 2005, the team consisted of two full-time Fort Lauderdale Police officers, two part-time officers, and a civilian partner who is formerly homeless. The team informs chronically homeless individuals of social services available in the community and encourages them to access those services. Repeated visits are often necessary to build rapport, trust, and confidence between the workers and homeless individuals.
In addition, the outreach team has partnered with local shelters to ensure access to beds and services. Those accepting shelter assistance receive priority, entering the program if a bed is open. They are also provided with dinner, breakfast, a hot shower, laundry facilities, and a safe night's sleep. In its five years of operation, the Homeless Outreach Team has had over 23,000 contacts with homeless individuals and has placed 11,384 people in shelters. Estimates suggest that there are at least 2,400 fewer arrests each year as a result of the Homeless Outreach Team.
The Taskforce for Ending Homelessness also has partnered with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department to develop a 2-hour course entitled "Homelessness 101." The course is designed to raise police officers' awareness of the reality of homelessness, its causes, and the most effective ways to address this prevalent social problem. The Taskforce also has successfully lobbied the state for a detoxification program specifically for homeless individuals. For more information, contact the Fort Lauderdale Police Department at (954) 828-5700. |
Pasadena |
The Pasadena Police Department and the Los Angeles Department of Health have partnered to form the Homeless Outreach Psychiatric Evaluation (HOPE) Team. The program created three teams of mental health and law enforcement officials to provide compassionate assistance to persons in need of mental health assessment and services. The HOPE Team's roles include: diffusing potentially volatile situations through learned crisis intervention techniques with less confrontational means, providing department-wide training on dealing with mentally ill individuals, helping patrol officers assess a person's need for mental health care, and identifying chronic or acute disturbances or individuals that could be served best through non-arrest solutions.
The program prevents unnecessary incarceration or hospitalization of people with psychiatric disabilities, frees up patrol officers to handle other calls, and protects the individuals themselves and the community at large from possible dangers resulting from mental illness. For more information, contact the Pasadena Police Department by phone at (626) 744-4501 or visit their website. |
Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati |
A vital component of building a trusting relationship with homeless people is the provision of outreach services in the early morning and evening hours to the populations that are unsheltered. In Ohio, the three largest cities, Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, fund teams of trained workers to go out under the bridges and visit the encampments near the rivers to assist those outside the service system.
Columbus has an outreach team with close contacts to the homeless service providers funded and directed by the Downtown Business Improvement District. In light of the closing of the Open Shelter in Columbus, the staff of this facility now provides an outreach function serving the needs of those who choose not to utilize the shelters. Cleveland has three non-profit organizations divide up the time and each send a team out to assure that no one is dying in the extreme weather of the north coast. After Cincinnati enacted its anti-panhandling ordinance, but did not provide outreach services for homeless persons, Downtown Cincinnati, Inc. hired a part-time outreach worker. Even while city and law enforcement officials supported restrictions on panhandling, the Cincinnati outreach worker has helped frequently arrested panhandlers receive services, such as job placement, mental health counseling, or government benefits. Each of these services is funded by the public sector in partnership with religious and corporate assistance.
The critical component to the success of these programs is that they do not put a lot of restrictions on the assistance that they are offering and offer help at non-traditional hours when other services are closed. While the outcome of these services is hard to quantify, they provide a vital link between mainstream services and a population that resists congregate living or those who have a chronic health condition that leaves them isolated and lonely. |
Other Materials |
Solutions Through Alternative Remedies
This link provides insight on various factors that contribute to homelessness and how we might remedy them. The areas discussed include: alternatives to criminalization, housing programs that transition people out of homelessness, improving access to housing for victims of domestic violence victims, helping homeless children succeed in school, and assisting homeless individuals so they might obtain public benefits, etc. |
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