Housing First Policy

The Housing First policy assists homeless people in finding permanent housing as a mechanism to solve the concurrent problems they may face along with homelessness while combatting homelessness as the source of the problems. It is carried out by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and benefits the homeless on an individual and family level. The policy was created in the 1990’s by Dr. Sam Tsemberis in order to: 

1) provide immediate access to housing with no need to fulfill “readiness” requirements; 

2) give people a sense of choice and self-determination; 

3) provide recovery orientation by addressing underlying issues; 

4) give people support; and 

5) start the process of social and community integration. 

The motivation to support such a program stems from the ideas that housing is a human right, not a privilege and the fact that previous models were not working.

Homelessness is a widespread problem, and there are many people who face chronic homelessness while also suffering from medical issues, mental health problems, and addiction/substance abuse. In the past, there have been programs that aimed at helping homeless people through essentially making them jump through hoops. 

The McKinney Act—which Bill Clinton later renamed the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act—provided funds not only for emergency shelter, transitional housing, and permanent housing, but also for job training, primary health care, mental health care, drug and alcohol treatment, education programs, and other supportive services. The consensus was that homelessness is a complex problem whose solution requires more than simply a roof and a bed (Cohen, 2015). 

Now, the Housing First model is thought to be a more successful policy at addressing homelessness. Housing First focuses on providing housing to those with concurrent issues as part of the solution to these issues rather than trying to make people solve the issues before they can have the chance of getting a roof over their head. 

Housing First programs can benefit chronically homeless individuals who have other needs that need to be addressed and also families who may be experiencing a temporary bout of homelessness due to a financial crisis but only need help getting housing, 

Housing First programs often provide rental assistance that varies in duration depending on the household’s needs. Consumers sign a standard lease and are able to access supports as necessary to help them do so. A variety of voluntary services may be used to promote housing stability and well-being during and following housing placement (National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2016). 

According to Cohen (2015), the number of chronically homeless has decreased by 21% since the Housing First approach became popular. There are two different program models that can be implemented depending on the situation. First is Permanent Supportive Housing, which targets individuals who have experienced long-term or repeated homelessness who also suffer from health issues, addictions, disabilities, or mental health issues (National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2016). This program provides long-term housing in the form of rental assistance, and also supportive services to target any other issues plaguing the individual. Rapid re-housing is the second model and its goal is to provide short-term housing assistance to get individuals/families into housing as soon as possible and then remain there. 

Housing First programs are funded by a variety of sources, 

Medicaid for medically necessary behavioral and rehabilitative services, including mental health case management for tenants eligible and enrolled in Medicaid. State and local safety net funding for short-term and crisis needs, including medical services for those individuals not enrolled in Medicaid. Foundations and other private sources to cover gaps in funding for operational costs and outreach efforts. Federal funding for rental housing subsidization (Open Minds, 2014). 

It has been shown that Housing First is cost effective when it comes to a decrease in spending on emergency services and it also has been shown to cost less than shelter programs. The issue with funding is that the budget is not large enough to expand the affordable housing that is available. So, there is an affordable housing shortage and federal support for more funding has decreased. 

Values that spark support for this program relate to the idea that housing is a human right and not a privilege that people should have to earn. Another reason people support Housing First is because there was an overall realization that getting out of homelessness and having a place to live works as an aid to dealing with some of the issues that were once thought to be something that homeless people had to conquer before they could earn housing. People who value autonomy and choice may also support this program. Values that may cause people to oppose this policy are if they have negative feelings about public aid and feel that it is not their responsibility to help people who cannot help themselves. If people hold the idea of “picking yourself up by the bootstraps” they may not support a program that they feel is giving people too much with too little requirements in return. 

References

Cohen, Rachel M. “'Housing First' Policy for Addressing Homelessness Hamstrung By Funding Issues.” The American Prospect, The American Prospect, 27 Jan. 2015, prospect.org/article/housing-first-policy-addressing-homelessness-hamstrung-funding-issues.

National Alliance to End Homelessness. “Housing First.” National Alliance to End Homelessness, National Alliance to End Homelessnes, 20 Apr. 2016, endhomelessness.org/resource/housing-first/.

Open Minds. “What Is ‘Housing First’?” OPEN MINDS, Open Minds, 2 June 2014, www.openminds.com/market-intelligence/executive-briefings/serving-chronically-homeless-housing-first-model/.