For almost a year, KERA has been reporting on a new approach to combating homelessness in Dallas — one that focuses on closing homeless encampments by moving people into long-term housing and giving them the support they need to stay housed. KERA's Justin Martin talked with Christopher Connelly and Yfat Yossifor about what happens next.
Justin Martin: So you guys have spent a year on this project. What surprised you?
Christopher Connelly: I think for me, it's just the resources that it takes to take someone who's living in a homeless encampment, move them into long-term housing, and then give them the support that they need to make that adjustment. It's huge.
Yfat Yossifor: Yeah. We also got a real sense of just how traumatizing it is to be homeless. It's absolutely dehumanizing and damaging to be on the street. And with these people we followed, you could see the changes when we went back to visit them. They looked healthier, spoke more clearly, and were more confident.
Martin: So you're talking about what it takes to get people out of homelessness. What drives homelessness?
Connelly: So maybe this sounds obvious, but a lot of homelessness is ultimately driven by a lack of affordable housing. Research shows places that have seen big increases in rents see larger homeless populations. And a lot of people assume that homelessness is driven by poverty or drug use or mental health issues. And, while those may play a role in people's stories, it ultimately comes back to housing.
Martin: Let's talk about where we go from here. Is this decommissioning approach viable in the long term?
Yossifor: There's kind of two ways of looking at this: There’s capacity and there's money. Sarah Khan, who leads the nonprofit Housing Forward, says as long as we keep showing progress, keep seeing homelessness decline, encampments close, then the federal money that has been really driving this will keep coming in. And then there's the question of capacity. This model is permanent supportive housing. As more people get into it, you're likely to need more caseworkers, more support systems for them. Right now, there's still capacity to help a lot more people. And there's hope in other strategies that are helping people right when they're becoming homeless [that]will keep them from ending up on the street.
Martin: So this so-called encampment decommissioning model, it's showing some real promise. But has it faced any pushback?
Connelly: So by and large, overall, there is major buy-in from the city of Dallas to this approach. They are a central partner in it. But there are some city council members who've expressed some skepticism. …One question that gets raised is whether we should be shifting some of the resources to … emergency shelters or short-term housing plans. There's also a concern that … quote, "some people don't want to be helped." But 95% of people who are offered housing end up accepting it. And then there's also some people who want to use the legal justice system, the criminal justice system, as a way to deal with people living on the streets. Here's what Sarah Kahn from Housing Forward says about that.
Sarah Kahn: Ultimately, things like a camping ban or arresting or ticketing people, in the absence of those individuals having a pathway into housing – we have done nothing to bring relief to the community around unsheltered homelessness.
Connelly: She says the numbers ultimately speak for themselves. Homelessness started going down in Dallas only after we found a new way to get people homes.
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.
