Among the many challenges facing communities across our state is the persistent condition of homelessness for a growing number of families and individuals.
Barely a day goes by without a reminder of this social problem that seems to defy our best efforts to solve it.
A recent news article reported on Gov. David Ige’s decision to provide funding to seven nonprofit organizations that had their federal funding cut as a result of the continued shift away from temporary housing programs to those oriented toward permanent and supportive housing (“State comes through with nonprofits’ cash,” Star-Advertiser, July 20).
Few people would disagree with the end goal of Housing First, which is to help homeless individuals and families move from the streets and shelters into permanent housing so they can begin the process of improving their lives.
What is less obvious is how difficult it is for homeless service providers to realign and redesign their operations and service delivery models to embody this approach. Many programs were built over time in response to different government approaches that had different goals.
To add to the challenge, nonprofit business models must make this adjustment without additional capital to support retraining staff, rebuilding data collection systems, retooling facilities and building the capacity to be active players in the rental real estate landscape.
In 2013, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development notified all states that funding shifts would begin to occur over the next several years. Funding cuts announced this year should not have come as a surprise.
The Hawaii Community Foundation (HCF) along with 13 other local foundations and donors pooled
$4 million and launched HousingASAP to support eight of the state’s high-
performing nonprofits that manage emergency and transitional housing programs for families. These organizations were expected to work together in a collaborative network, learning from and challenging each other to increase their impact.
Participants report quarterly to HCF on three key performance measures:
>> The number of families moved into permanent housing;
>> The number of days to move families into permanent housing;
>> The number returning to homelessness.
Research shows that the longer a family remains homeless, the greater the likelihood that the family structure deteriorates, health and mental health challenges grow, and finding stable employment moves farther out of reach.
This contributes to why we see few long-term, chronically homeless families — they are more likely to break apart the longer they are on the street. A slower system response only adds to the population of chronically homeless.
If we are serious about ending homelessness, a speedy response matters.
After two years, there are promising improvements in the performance of HousingASAP participating organizations.
They placed into permanent housing more than 600 additional families during fiscal years 2015 and 2016 than the providers who are not in HousingASAP.
From 2013 to 2015, they reduced the number of days families are homeless while all other providers had longer lengths of stay before permanently placing families in housing.
Participating neighbor island organizations, on Maui and Hawaii island, moved their families into permanent housing the fastest — within 29 and 57 days, respectively.
Homelessness is complex and multidimensional, but building a statewide system that holds nonprofits and government accountable for real results is needed across all efforts. There is no doubt that this will result in painful funding decisions and some organizations will be left behind.
A truly functioning system ensures all clients are provided with avenues to receive help as needed.
While “ending homelessness” may seem like a tall order, we’re hopeful that homelessness can become a rare and short-lived experience for more families.
Chris van Bergeijk is vice president of strategies, initiatives and networks for the Hawaii Community Foundation.