David Shapiro: Finally, good news in battle against Hawaii homelessness

After long frustration in solving Oahu’s pervasive homelessness, there are welcome signs progress is being made.

Political leaders, law enforcers, social workers and the homeless themselves are offering worthy ideas that move away from sweeps that only move the homeless around and mass shelters that appeal little to them.

Some 250 homeless who have lived for years in a makeshift camp at the Waianae Boat Harbor announced last week they’re buying a 20-acre nearby property after raising $800,000 in private funds to establish Puuhonua o Waianae — a complex of tiny homes with communal kitchens and restrooms that will cost residents, mostly native Hawaiians, about $250 a month.

It not only resolves the thorny problem at the harbor, but is a model for the kauhale villages concept being promoted by Lt. Gov. Josh Green and others, in which many similar projects would be built around the state, each able to house 300 homeless at a cost of $2 million to $5 million.

Such low-cost permanent housing — a vast step up from tent cities — could make a major dent in homelessness, especially when combined with services to eventually get residents into more traditional housing.

Also last week, Hawaii judges, police, legislators, health officials and outreach workers held a summit on diverting mentally ill homeless from the criminal justice system into social services to support functional lives instead of clogging the courts, jails and emergency rooms.

Judge Steve Leifman of Florida’s Miami-Dade County said its refocus with the mentally ill from criminality to treatment has reduced arrests, jail bookings and repeat offenses by more than half, allowing a jail to close at annual savings of $12 million.

“There is something terribly wrong with a society that is willing to spend more on imprisoning people with mental illnesses than to treat them,” said Leifman, in a sentiment drawing much local buy-in.

Honolulu police under the leadership of Chief Susan Ballard and Capt. Mike Lambert have recognized that they’re often the first point of contact with the homeless and launched several initiatives beyond traditional law enforcement.

In a Chinatown pilot project called Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, or LEAD, police team with social workers to direct chronically homeless to health services instead of scooping them into the criminal justice system.

After a year, the University of Hawaii found dramatic reductions in law enforcement encounters, emergency room visits, unsheltered days and drug use among participating homeless.

Another police iniatiative is HONU, a temporary inflatable shelter and service center being tried for 90 days at the Waipahu Cultural Garden Park.

The goal is to quickly move participants to more stable shelter while cracking down on violations by homeless in the vicinity who refuse help.

These efforts are just beginning and have small sample sizes, but the direction feels right.