Honolulu has a truly horrible problem with homelessness, and perhaps now we’ve finally reached a tipping point where there’s the political will to tackle it.
In his State of the City address last week, Mayor Kirk Caldwell underscored his desire to correct Oahu’s longstanding and deteriorating problem with homelessness, sending a glimmer of hope from City Hall.
Residents and business leaders are weary of seeing the problem fester — more people on the economic edge, losing their grasp on stable living conditions; more people struggling with mental illness and substance abuse, spiraling downward and beyond the reach of social services; more taxpayers deprived of access to public spaces; more tourists appalled by the tarnish on Hawaii’s image as a visitor’s paradise.
Efforts to correct this have been constrained and ineffective. So hearing the mayor describe homelessness as something "that needs our immediate attention," and at least sketch the outline of a plan to deal with it, was welcome.
It was somewhat oddly positioned in the speech, following a list of five priorities: restoring bus service, repaving roads, improving the sewer system, upgrading parks and "building rail better." Caldwell said these were top commitments, with other concerns moving on the radar screen as those problems abate.
But apparently he sees homelessness as the crisis that it is, regardless of the fact it’s not on the Top 5 rotating wheel of priorities.
"We don’t need another study," he said Wednesday. "We need to take action as soon as we can."
Constituents should hold him accountable to his words.
May 1 has been announced as the date for the release of a homelessness plan the mayor will prepare with his newly appointed housing director, Jun Yang, a veteran advocate for the poor after his years with Faith Action for Community Equity. That’s when, in a few short weeks, some specifics will need to be laid down.
Most encouraging was to hear that Caldwell will sign a ban on sidewalk tents that the Council is poised to pass, and that he’s embracing the "housing first" approach, so the homeless will have a place to go after the sidewalks are no longer available.
In order for the second part of Caldwell’s plan to work, the first part — enforcement of the sidewalk tent ban — must be swift, certain and thorough. Halfhearted measures won’t work, as evinced by the continued use of shopping carts and camping in parks, which also are banned.
"Housing first" is a term used by service providers to describe how the most chronically homeless should be helped. These people will never be self-sufficient, due to substance abuse or chronic mental illness or physical ailments. They need to be off the streets in permanent housing, regaining some stability, with professional caregivers on hand to oversee treatment of their health issues.
Caldwell acknowledged that the initial action will be a temporary solution: finding temporary sites for the homeless to "receive safe shelter and social services."
But even if the first place is a empty lot, the homeless can be given space under a pre-fabricated roof with a way to lock up their belongings during the day.
These are not urban campgrounds. What’s known across the mainland as "safe zones" or "tent cities" generally work best when drugs and alcohol use are barred, police enforce the law and social services and security is present. Offenders should be arrested, plain and simple.
In a recent meeting with the Star-Advertiser editorial board, Caldwell said he’s considering ways to move the chronically homeless into subsidized rentals scattered across the island, where they also would receive services.
This could work, said Drew Astolfi, FACE executive director, but such a setup loses the efficiency of more centralized "supportive service" centers, with both residential and treatment functions managed by one private agency. Honolulu residents have resisted this notion, he said, but one is being planned in the redevelopment of Kukui Gardens.
The city should consider that strategy, as well as a more aggressive policy of encouraging the development of affordable rentals. Families thrown into homelessness because of job loss or other crises would benefit from a course correction. Honolulu lost ground in handling this concern during the 1990s, after the city shut down its housing agency.
This is a complex web of problems that will take years to manage, and because of such past mistakes, there’s no more time to lose.
Extending a hand to the chronically homeless is a good first step.
