Editorial: Breaking the cycle of homelessness

For more than a decade, Honolulu’s approach to its persistent homelessness problems has been to lean on the criminal justice system to constrain them.

Of course, there are crimes that happen in and among the homeless population that need proper police action; likewise, entrenched encampments pose other societal problems and can’t be allowed to spread on city streets. But the range of social and medical problems at the core of much homelessness — and that require more consistent and continuing attention — demands a different approach.

Now it appears that a new structure — Crisis Outreach Response and Engagement (CORE) — has finally taken to the streets to provide that service. It’s being enabled with federal dollars, but it should be viewed as a pilot for a long-term permanent investment the city will need to make to counter homelessness in a meaningful way.

The funds, $3.5 million spread over four years, come from the American Rescue Plan Act because the added financial stress compounding the homelessness crisis is seen as an effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s patterned after established programs such as CAHOOTS, a mobile crisis intervention service in Eugene, Ore., and STAR (Support Team Assisted Response) in Denver. CORE, like both of these models, is aligned closely with the city’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Department.

It makes sense. Anton Krucky, who heads the Office of Housing and Homelessness, explained that this enables 911 emergency calls to be diverted more efficiently from Honolulu Police Department to the CORE team, as appropriate.

The team, now led by EMS Director Jim Ireland, also comprises two emergency medical technicians, a program manager, two caseworkers and two community health workers. Typically, Ireland said, the calls entail consultation with the homeless individual, treating wounds and directions to resources that could get them housed permanently.

The project took longer than expected to get off the ground, but now the team is being spotted around Chinatown, recognizable by their red T-shirts. Surely that’s less likely to intimidate the homeless than the sight of uniformed police officers.

The question is: Will it also be effective? It’s far too early to evaluate CORE, a program that is in its early evolutionary stages, but the track record of other programs is encouraging.

It’s a long one, especially, for CAHOOTS. Established in 1989, it represents a collaboration of a local nonprofit, the White Bird Clinic, and the city of Eugene to apply alternative-treatment ideas to social problems of mental illness, substance abuse and homelessness. It has grown into an around-the-clock service in Eugene and Springfield, responding to more than 65 calls a day.

According to the clinic website (whitebirdclinic.org/cahoots-model), the nonprofit largely “operates as a free, confidential alternative or auxiliary to police and EMS.” It does not replace those essential services but steps in when its staff skills might more closely fit the situation.

This is what Oahu needs. Honolulu has its own array of nonprofit agencies with which CORE could and should coordinate. One of the key markers for success here will be whether CORE can leverage and supplement the help already available in the community rather than duplicating it, and whether it can help enable ongoing follow-up.

Institutional services such as what police and clinical professionals can provide are crucial. But a mobile unit that can respond on the spot often can address needs of the homeless more immediately and nimbly.

The goal here is to interrupt the downward spiral of homelessness, and to break the cycle of unproductive interventions. Full development of the program must become a CORE function of city government.