Several advocacy groups for the homeless have been pressing lawmakers to pass bills that would promote affordable housing and more services.
Bridging the Gap and Partners in Care held a news conference Monday to publicly stress the importance of providing affordable housing. “You’re never going to solve homelessness if you don’t provide affordable housing,” said Marya Grambs, a board member for PIC.
Hawaii had the highest homeless rate per capita in the United States in 2018.
The bills of interest are Senate Bills 471, 474, 567, 1051, 1124, 1464 and 1465 and House Bills 1312 and 1554.
They fall into three major categories: to provide funding for effective homelessness programs, appropriate funding for low-income housing and assist those with severe mental illnesses.
Funding would build on appropriations from last year, which include $200 million that was put into the Rental Housing Revolving Fund, $30 million to establish Ohana Zones and $13.5 million for other homeless programs.
“Last session the Legislature made a wonderful beginning to pulling ourselves out of the crisis,” said Gavin Thornton, chairman of Partners in Care’s Advocacy Committee. “Let’s continue to build up. … It’s not a one-and-done issue.”
PIC is requesting $200 million for the Rental Housing Revolving Fund in fiscal year 2020 and again in FY 2021, matching what was received for FY 2019. The $200 million appropriated last year was the most it had ever received in a single contribution.
The advocacy group argued that spending money to place the state’s 1,700 chronically homeless population into permanent housing would be less expensive than providing services such as emergency medical care or incarceration.
Advocates also hope to add $14.2 million to the Department of Human Services’ budget for homeless programs, including rapid rehousing, which helps to provide permanent housing to homeless families; and Housing First, for the chronically homeless.
There is also support for appropriating $1.5 million for a pilot program for seniors, which would provide up to $1,000 per month in assistance to seniors who are unable to pay rent due to increasing rental costs.
Several of the bills would assist those who suffer from severe mental illnesses.
Grambs said homeless people with severe mental illnesses cycle in and out of hospitals and prisons but never get better.
PIC is supporting changes that would make the Assisted Community Treatment act, which was established in 2013, more effective by “creating a team of experienced professionals to handle ACT cases.”
ACT allows a person to file a petition in Family Court to order a family member who has a mental illness or is suffering from substance abuse to receive treatment.
“These are our most vulnerable people,” Grambs said. “They literally do not know they’re sick. … So if you don’t know you’re sick, you’re not going to get treatment, right?”
SB 1124 looks to improve ACT, stating that fewer than 10 court-mandated treatments have been ordered through it since its establishment.
“We got this law passed, and we haven’t ever been able to get it implemented,” Grambs said.
Part of the improvement, she said, is to provide funding for psychiatrists and attorneys for a more streamlined process.
Correction: Gavin Thornton is chairman of Partners in Care’s Advocacy Committee and Connie Mitchell is the chairwoman of Partners in Care. An earlier version of this story and the Wednesday print edition version misidentified Thornton as Partners in Care’s chairman.
