Housing First can never keep up with endless demand, says policy analyst
Is it not a logical stance—poses Edward Ring of the California Policy Center—that building thousands of expensive local units to offer locals without preconditions, without costs, without barriers, is an unsustainable model? In the Epoch Times, Ring thoughtfully critiques the Housing First approach to the homelessness epidemic, rebutting claims made in the SJ Spotlight this August. To receive daily updates of new Opp Now stories, click here.
In his column, Bramson attacks his critics. He writes: “The rhetoric machine likes to foment discord with the general public. It’s either that nothing is being done or it’s being done the wrong way. We need to criminalize, blame the individual for their shortcomings, complain about costs, or find a way to protect the community first, which almost always means putting the needs of the most vulnerable people last.”
Well, in deference to Bramson, plenty is being done. But it’s being done the wrong way. Earlier this year, Santa Clara County announced a plan to spend $75 million to build 758 apartments for the homeless. That’s $100,000 per unit, which, believe it or not, is considerably less than many other counties and cities in California are spending. Then again, it isn’t clear what matching funds may not be included in that total. But when the response to homelessness is to spend millions, or billions, to build subsidized housing, these homeless advocates are missing a more fundamental point: The doctrine of “housing first” is flawed.
The Housing First model is defined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as “an approach to quickly and successfully connect individuals and families experiencing homelessness to permanent housing without preconditions and barriers to entry, such as sobriety, treatment or service participation requirements.”
It’s difficult to imagine an approach that’s more naïve, more corruptible, or more counterproductive. When it comes to giving people free housing with no conditions, the more you build, the more people will come. Free housing is not only a magnet for the indigent, but it also breeds indigence. And yet Housing First has been the governing principle in homeless policy for nearly 20 years—precisely the period in which rates of homelessness have exploded.
California’s homeless industrial complex isn’t populated by idiots. They ought to know that if you don’t put behavioral conditions on subsidized or free housing, you will never stop attracting people to avail themselves of your service. In some cases, the offer of free housing will even corrupt the character of individuals who are teetering between becoming unproductive and letting the system take care of them, or trying harder to maintain sobriety and personal independence.
This article originally appeared in the Epoch Times. Read the whole thing here.
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