Federal and local homeless advocates share ideas

Homeless and affordable-housing advocates, concerned community members, and representatives from social service providers and government agencies exchanged ideas Friday with a federal official on how to better address and end homelessness in Hawaii.

They talked with a representative from the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness at the state Capitol about homeless youth and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community; finding affordable housing; different criteria regarding who can be helped and get the services for agencies — especially those that help veterans; criminalization of homelessness; and various barriers to access for housing and programs.

Matthew Doherty, coordinator for the Western region of USICH, said he wanted to learn what various agencies struggle with, share advice and information from other cities and hear about the innovative strategies and solutions being implemented here.

"We’re really smart out here but we could get smarter," said Colin Kippen, the governor’s coordinator on homelessness.

Doherty and Kippen said they were impressed by the turnout at the meeting, which was also sponsored by state Sen. Suzanne Chun-Oakland (D, Nuuanu-Liliha) and state Rep. Jo Jordan (D, Wai­anae-Makaha-Makua).

"The sense that I’m leaving these two days of visits with is that there really is widespread community involvement and advocacy around this issue," Doherty said after the two-hour session. "And I don’t know that I’ve been to many communities where (there’s) that sense of the whole community trying to pay attention and to be involved in creating the solution, and that sense of responsibility for what’s happening in the community."

Kippen said: "We’ve been discussing these issues, but some of the factual statements that were made by people just give context to how that conversation’s shaking out here in Hawaii.

"Part of what (Doherty) was saying today, which I thought was really right on, is that we need to be really organized in thinking about how it is we’re going to be designing our programs so that the people who get the service first are the people who are most needy."

Kippen also said that, based on the dialogue with Doherty, he plans to spend time looking at access requirements for programs that are not specifically designated as homeless services, but do work to help that community.

"Whether it’s mental health services, whether it’s counseling of some sort, those are the kinds of things that we may be able to tweak to increase utilization and increase service," he said. "And that’s not really hard to do, it’s just that we have to start to have a broader perspective."

Gov. Neil Abercrombie created the Hawaii Interagency Council on Homelessness in 2011 and signed a bill into law this year that formally established the council under the state Department of Human Services.

Kippen said the state council is closely mirrored after the USICH, which will make it easier for the state to access national research, information and funding as it becomes available. Nationally, USICH brings together 19 federal agencies to better coordinate the country’s effort to end homelessness.

"We’re not here to dictate solutions to you," Doherty told people during the meeting. "It really is about community-led action, and as a partner in this effort with you, we want to make sure that the federal agencies, the federal programs are being effective partners with you locally."

During the meeting, Doherty emphasized to attendees the importance of implementing data-driven strategies, setting concrete goals and holding organizations responsible for working toward those goals, fostering public-private partnerships and ensuring that people are being effectively linked to the programs and services that will best help them.

"When we say end homelessness, we don’t mean that no one will ever be at risk or experience homelessness again," Doherty said. "But we mean that there’ll be systems in place that can rapidly move people to the appropriate housing and services so that no one has to experience ongoing and long-term homelessness in our country.

"People will fall into homelessness, but hopefully our communities will be in a place where we can rapidly move them back into stability and start to address their other challenges."

More information about USICH can be found at www.usich.gov.