By
Heidi Sommer
On January 22, 2001 the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, the Richard & Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy, and the Berkeley Program on Housing and Urban Policy hosted a one-day conference on "Urban Homelessness and Public Policy Solutions." The event brought together leading experts on the issue to "link the academic understanding of homeless issues to the public policy solutions being sought," according to Bruce Cain, Director of the Institute of Governmental Studies. The event, attended by over 200 representatives of government agencies, policy and think tank groups, nonprofit service providers and advocacy organizations, and members of the general public, was funded by the California Building Industry Association, Cal Fed Bank, Fannie Mae Foundation and the San Francisco Foundation. In addition, the conference organizers gratefully acknowledged the Institute for the Study of Homelessness and Poverty at the Weingart Center and the Corporation for Supportive Housing for their sponsorship, assistance and participation.
Early sessions summarized the current body of knowledge pertaining to the counts, characteristics and causes of homelessness in the nation’s urban centers. Martha Burt of the Urban Institute presented data from the 1996 National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients including estimates of how many are homeless in the US (up to 842,000 over the course of a week or up to 3.5 million over the course of the year) as well as an overview of the distinct subgroups of homeless and the dynamic nature of individuals’ experiences with homelessness. Burt discussed the implications of these subgroups for service provision and policy design as well as the consequences that the existing government response to homelessness has had for the homeless. While enabling provision of crucial emergency shelter and social services, expansion of transitional programs over permanent housing options has attracted larger numbers of underserved individuals and families causing them also to be classified as homeless longer.
On the issue of causation, many of the presenters concurred that homelessness is a result of both structural and policy factors (such as housing affordability, employment opportunity, government safety net programs) which determine how many will be at risk of homelessness, and individual disabilities or deficits which increase individual vulnerability to actually becoming homeless. It was noted early and repeatedly that the boom economy has not diminished the scope of homelessness and because of its impact on housing costs, has even led to an increase in the size of the homeless population. That current economic prosperity has failed to "lift all boats" according to Michael Nacht, Dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy, supports the notion that "homelessness is caused by structural problems not addressed by lower rates of interest and unemployment." Burt also suggested that while expanded employment opportunities has helped the top half of the poverty population, the bottom half, many of whom are not capable of earning a living wage remain unimpacted and are today just as likely to end up homeless.
Brendan O’Flaherty (Columbia University) and Edgar Olsen (University of Virginia) discussed the economics of housing and debated the potential of current federal subsidy programs to solve the housing needs of the homeless. Both agreed that programs such as Section Eight do a poor job or targeting those most in need of housing assistance, including the homeless. O’Flaherty proposed relaxing federal quality standards for subsidized units in order to accommodate those housing seekers with extremely limited income who seek housing of below-standard housing. Olsen supported an entitlement to housing which would shift the receipt of federal subsidies to the poorest Americans and limiting mortgage deductions and other federal subsidy programs which assist the non-poor. Audience response focussed on the continued need for quality standards to ensure clean, safe and affordable housing, increasing access among the homeless to housing programs for which they are clearly eligible, and the political feasibility of realigning housing subsidy priorities as well as promoting construction of new affordable housing.
Walter Leginski of the US Department of Health and Human Services opened the session on health issues by emphasizing that health conditions, including substance abuse and mental illness, are not the cause of homelessness and therefore the provision of health services (while crucial) can not be expected to solve the problem. Both Leginski and Margot Kushel (UCSF/San Francisco General Hospital) documented the elevated prevalence of health disorders among the homeless and stressed the challenges posed by treating chronically disabled individuals, particularly those reporting both substance abuse disorders and mental illness. Leginski underscored the need to shift responsibility of homeless healthcare provision to mainstream federal programs with greater resources. Kushel questioned the effectiveness of a system which leads many homeless to receive health care from costly emergency facilities and inpatient hospital stays as well as the practice of releasing treated patients regardless of whether shelter has been secured.
Afternoon sessions addressed the legal and political challenges in creating effective policy solutions as well as a discussion of practical solutions being pursued by various advocacy groups. Gary Blasi (UCLA) and Dennis Culhane (University of Pennsylvania) both provided a historical perspective of the US response to homelessness from the 1980s to present day. Blasi discussed how the manner in which media and advocates in the eighties defined the problem of homelessness, as well as the "hidden role of race" in influencing public perception of the issue, have led to a policy response which fails to properly address poverty and overall system failures leading to homelessness and other large-scale social problems. Culhane suggested the primary federal response embodied in the Stuart B McKinney Act (1987), focussing primarily on emergency shelter and services, created a "ceiling above which emergency assistance would not rise as much as a floor below which people were not intended to fall." Culhane stated that though advocates pursued a strategy of federal funding for emergency services (rather than longer-term or preventive solutions) because this was the most politically feasible option, the homeless themselves felt their needs were not adequately considered or addressed. In response, Maria Foscarinis, Executive Director of the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty and a primary architect of the McKinney Act, strongly emphasized that the initial federal legislation was always intended as a first step in pursuing larger preventive and long-term solutions to homelessness and that a number of political and economic factors have limited progress on these fronts.
Policymakers, including Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson and former California Senator Pat Johnston, spoke to the political challenges and strategies for seeing more effective solutions to homelessness materialize. Supervisor Carson pointed out that because policymakers tend to respond to voting and lobbying groups, it is essential not only to mobilize those who stand to benefit from homeless policies but to convince non-homeless constituents that the whole community will benefit from collaborative efforts to address the causes of homelessness such as housing and insufficient support services immediately. Senator Johnston concurred that coalition building is essential and that community needs and solutions must be brought to the attention of state legislators where the greatest local resources exist. Raphael Bostic of the Federal Reserve Board believed that achieving permanent housing solutions would require the establishing of a clear mandate for government action and that the best means for achieving such a mandate is the dissemination of information that challenges conventional wisdom and raises consciousness of the issue of homelessness.
Those presenting priorities for policy action and future research included Deborah Dennis (Policy Research Associates), Maria Foscarinis (National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty), Carla Javits (Corporation for Supportive Housing), and Nan Roman (National Alliance to End Homelessness). Dennis encouraged a shifting of funding support from emergency services and shelters to transitional and permanent housing programs that offer longer-term solutions as well as support services which can prevent first-time and repeat homelessness, particularly among the disabled. Recognizing that policy change is an incremental process, Dennis suggested first eliminating homelessness among one well-defined subgroup of homeless for whom there is widespread public support (such as the mentally ill or disabled) and for whom housing and service programs have proven effective. Foscarinis emphasized a need to ensure that the existing rights of homeless people are enforced by fighting against efforts at criminalization of activities such as sleeping in public or begging; removing access barriers that prevent eligible homeless individuals from receiving public assistance; and aim for larger goals in terms of human rights and entitlements to housing, education and a living wage. Javits added that more research is needed to clarify which of the proposed solutions offer the most promise in terms of cost-effectiveness and for which subgroups, whether or not the private housing will truly be capable of addressing the need for affordable housing, and that such research must be conducted in a timely fashion and related to real world contexts. Roman expressed her belief that even in the short-term, before the larger goals of ending poverty, expanding economic opportunity, and creating a housing entitlement, homelessness can be eliminated or drastically reduced by pushing effective preventive measures, expanding supportive and permanent housing for the chronically disabled, and not allowing episodic homeless to be accommodated in the shelter system on a long-term basis.