By Catherine Cuellar, KERA Reporter
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-625212.mp3
Dallas, TX –
Host: More than 400 social service providers meeting this week in Dallas say it costs taxpayers more to leave people homeless on the streets than to provide them the housing and the assistance they need to get back on their feet. KERA's Catherine Cuellar says that's why advocacy groups across Texas are working on plans to put the "Housing First" philosophy into practice.
Cuellar: Housing first is a concept that calls for putting a roof over a transient person's head while offering the supportive services needed to become productive members of society. That aid can range from drug and alcohol rehabilitation and medical treatment for mental illness to childcare and transportation for domestic abuse victims or workforce training. It's a shift for many shelters which currently require the homeless to be clean and sober before moving in. Ken Martin of the Texas Homeless Network says the new "housing first" approach is not just compassionate - it's cost-effective.
Ken Martin, Executive Director, THN: We can pay around $40,000 a year for someone to live on the street. Or we can pay around $40,000 a year for someone to be in a home and receive supportive services.
Cuellar: Mari Moen of the Corporation for Supportive Housing says the philosophy has already saved money in some cities nationwide.
Mari Moen, CSH: ...because those are the folks using emergency rooms for their primary healthcare. They probably have more incidents of arrests and jail time. Just using shelters' detox services. All the crisis services are very expensive.
Cuellar: Otis Thornton Fort Worth's homelessness coordinator, says cities like Denver serve as models.
Otis Thornton, Fort Worth: Taxpayers save on net over $4000 per person. In other words, it is less expensive to provide housing and supportive services for a chronically homeless person than it is to leave them on the streets.
Cuellar: To implement the "housing first" concept in Texas cities Thornton says there are three things to avoid.
Thornton: First, providing housing without services doesn't work. Second, providing services without housing doesn't work. And lastly, doing nothing at all doesn't work as well.
Cuellar: To attract the money they'll need for "housing first" facilities and services, Thornton and other advocates are working through the Texas Homeless Network. They're collectively asking for $15 Million dollars from the federal government, and plan to seek support through the state legislature as well.
Catherine Cuellar, KERA news.