The Executive Director of the Doe Fund wrote an article about HUD cuts that focuses on the value of transitional services. ACL, of course, supports Housing First models and other permanent housing solutions but we also support transitional models and believe that there is a place in the system for them. My criticism of this article, however, is that he assumes that well-meaning advocates want to sequester people away in semi-permanent housing and hope for the best. He does not address true “supportive” housing that provides supports as well. I do think that it is still an interesting article the deserves airing, however.
The entire article can be accessed here: http://nyslant.com/article/opinion/hud%E2%80%99s-shelter-cuts-could-prove-catastrophic.html#.VznkYbxh3ZU.email
Here is an excerpt:
“The agency [HUD] has joined a chorus of well-intentioned but misinformed advocates that the solution to homelessness is, naturally, a home. But homelessness isn’t a disease with a single cure. It is an outcome with complex roots and causes, especially in diverse urban populations. To end homelessness, the stated objective of HUD’s initiatives, we must address those causes and truly serve lives in transition, not sequester them away in semi-permanent housing and hope for the best.
Immediate housing is disastrous for large segments of the homeless population, particularly those with long histories of substance abuse, those who have fallen into poverty after losing their jobs, and, most critically in New York, individuals who are released from prison. Some two thousand men a year fall into the last category according to the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, and are pumped into the homeless system without any of the skills they need to live independently, safely, and lawfully. Transitional programs and facilities are designed to step individuals down from the destructive culture of streets and prisons. Without these intermediary services, recidivism and an eventual return to homelessness are all but guaranteed.