{"id":2356042,"date":"2024-10-17T07:55:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-17T11:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/houston-homeless-crisis-is-indictment-of-housing-first-policy\/"},"modified":"2024-10-17T07:58:14","modified_gmt":"2024-10-17T11:58:14","slug":"houston-homeless-crisis-is-indictment-of-housing-first-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/houston-homeless-crisis-is-indictment-of-housing-first-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston Homeless Crisis Is Indictment Of &#8216;Housing First&#8217; Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhouston-homeless-crisis-is-indictment-of-housing-first-policy%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2356042&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses the declared success of Houston, Texas, and Salt Lake City, Utah, in combating homelessness through the Housing First approach.\u2063 Initially, both \u2063cities\u200c claimed significant progress, with\u2063 Salt Lake\u200b City \u200dmaking headlines in 2015. However, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/doj-opens-criminal-investigation-into-boeing-door-plug-blowout-report\/\" title=\"DOJ investigates Boeing door plug blowout: Report\">subsequent investigations \u200drevealed<\/a> that these claims were based on misleading data, leading to a decline in \u2062confidence in their models. This\u200c was particularly damaging for the U.S. Department of Housing \u200cand Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness\u200b (USICH), which relied on these \u2062two cities as examples of effective policies.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the original promise\u2064 of the Housing First strategy, intended to\u200b end homelessness by 2023, the number \u200dof\u200c homeless individuals in the U.S. is at\u2062 an all-time high, \u2064with expectations of further increases by\u200d 2025. While Houston experienced a reported 62% decline in homelessness, questions remain about the\u2063 sustainability of this drop. The\u2063 city has seen \u200ca\u2063 significant rise in death rates\u200b among \u2062its homeless \u2064population, underlining the deepening crisis.<\/p>\n<p>The \u200barticle emphasizes \u200bthe need for tailored strategies to meet the diverse needs of\u200d different homeless sub-populations, rather than a \u2062one-size-fits-all solution. It argues that housing alone is insufficient without\u200c <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-real-crisis-affecting-the-american-family\/\" title=\"The true crisis impacting American families.\">addressing underlying issues<\/a> such as mental illness, addiction, and \u2062trauma. The\u200d author advocates for funding\u200c support services \u200cand creating communal \u200bliving \u2062environments, which\u200d foster community\u200c support, as part\u2062 of an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-sending-millions-overseas-to-address-root-causes-of-illegal-immigration-its-not-working\/\" title=\"Biden&#039;s overseas funding to tackle illegal immigration&#039;s root causes falls short\">effective long-term strategy<\/a>\u2062 to combat \u200dhomelessness.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>Houston, Texas, and Salt Lake City, Utah, made eye-popping headlines for their self-claimed success in addressing homelessness using the Housing First approach. Both jurisdictions had all but declared victory over homelessness.<\/p>\n<p>Salt Lake City&rsquo;s 2015 claim was unraveled in 2018 as&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/le.utah.gov\/audit\/18_12rpt.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Utah&rsquo;s state auditor<\/a>&nbsp;found the claim was based on bad data.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>It was the Houston Chronicle that revealed the unraveling of the city&rsquo;s model as they described a scene with Houston&rsquo;s new, pragmatic mayor as he spoke with homeless men and women hunkering down for the night in the city&rsquo;s theater district. &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.houstonchronicle.com\/opinion\/editorials\/article\/houston-homeless-whitmire-19516140.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sure looks like we&rsquo;ve fixed it, didn&rsquo;t we?<\/a>&rdquo; he asked sarcastically.<\/p>\n<p>While a blow to the Houston and Salt Lake City communities that were continually reassured they were successfully tackling homelessness, it is an even greater blow to the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/hud\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development<\/a>&nbsp;(HUD) and the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/usich\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH)<\/a>&nbsp;that had only two models to which to point &mdash;&nbsp;Salt Lake City and Houston.<\/p>\n<p>Housing First models are now permanently out of stock.<\/p>\n<p>First adopted at the federal level as the nation&rsquo;s one-size-fits-all approach to homelessness in 2013, the stated promise was that the policy shift would end homelessness in a decade.<\/p>\n<p>The implication of the shift and the decision by Houston and Salt Lake City to do the same&nbsp;was that housing vouchers became the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.usich.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/document\/USICH-Expanding-the-Toolbox.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">primary tool<\/a>&nbsp;in their homelessness toolkit. Funding and requirements for&nbsp;mental health therapy, substance use disorder counseling, and employment training&nbsp;were deliberately minimized and, in many cases, eliminated.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Yet 10 years later, the number of homeless Americans is at the highest number ever recorded in our nation&rsquo;s history. And according to a new report by the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/us-news\/homeless-population-grows-putting-u-s-on-track-for-another-record-19ea8fb4?reflink=share_mobilewebshare\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wall Street Journal<\/a>, homelessness will climb to even greater heights in 2025. Salt Lake City and Houston have seen increases as well.<\/p>\n<p>Two years ago, a colleague and I penned an&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/opinion\/white-house\/3528729-is-houston-a-model-in-reducing-homelessness-or-will-its-policies-fail\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">opinion editorial<\/a>&nbsp;questioning Houston&rsquo;s purported success under Housing First. Indeed, the 62 percent decline in homelessness was notable, but our leading question was, &ldquo;Is it sustainable?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Neither the federal nor the Houston powers that be responded favorably to our question. But it was indeed germane.<\/p>\n<p>Now, Mayor John Whitmire and Houston&rsquo;s homeless population are the ones left holding the bag that carries&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.houstonchronicle.com\/news\/houston-texas\/housing\/article\/homeless-mortality-report-first-in-state-overdoses-19549946.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a nearly five-fold increase in the death rate among Houston&rsquo;s homeless.&nbsp;<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The question is, can the mayor accurately gauge the scope of Houston&rsquo;s problem?&nbsp;While its 2023 Point in Time (PIT) count &mdash;  a federally mandated physical count of people experiencing homelessness &mdash; reveals 3,270 homeless individuals, it pales in comparison to the 7,200 homeless K-12 students that the Houston ISD claimed in the 2022-2023 school year. Of note, the ISD figure does not include a student&rsquo;s parent(s), nor a non-K-12 sibling.<\/p>\n<p>With a solid handle on the actual numbers of people struggling, the city should consider distinct strategies for each of the sub-populations, versus employing a&nbsp;one-size-fits-all approach to homelessness.<\/p>\n<p>Human beings are designed for much more than mere existence in housing. Housing without purpose condemns people to the conditions that underlie their homelessness &mdash; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.capolicylab.org\/health-conditions-among-unsheltered-adults-in-the-u-s\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">largely mental illness, addiction, and trauma<\/a>. Funding for, and in some cases requirement of, treatment services must be included so those struggling can gain clarity and purpose.<\/p>\n<p>An effective housing strategy looks&nbsp;beyond individualized housing units which by their very nature isolate the homeless from the support communities they desperately need. We must first build and fund safe, congregate living environments where services can be much more effectively and efficiently delivered. <\/p>\n<p>A&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/33710091\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">14-year study<\/a>&nbsp;proved&nbsp;the &ldquo;isolated housing approach&rdquo; to be ineffective and deadly.&nbsp;Nearly half of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/maines-largest-city-in-dire-situation-due-to-unprecedented-volume-of-migrants-arriving-from-southern-border\/\" title=\"Maine\u2019s Largest City In \u2018Dire Situation\u2019 Due To \u2018Unprecedented Volume\u2019 Of Migrants Arriving From Southern Border\">chronically homeless individuals<\/a> who were individually housed died by year five, and only 36 percent of those housed remained so after that same year.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Finally, we must address the needs of the homeless in parallel with the needs of the entire Houston community. It is ludicrous that communities have somehow normalized stepping over bodies on sidewalks and in parks, and that any of us have been forced to abandon expectations of public decency and safety.<\/p>\n<p>While Mayor Whitmire did not create this situation, he must seize the opportunity to turn it around by employing a human-first approach that recognizes the&nbsp;foundational needs and innate potential of human beings.<\/p>\n<p>Continuing to preach Housing First as a proven one-size-fits-all approach will continue to stifle the innovation and progress the homeless system desperately lacks. More importantly, it will continue to stifle the innate and unique gifts of those struggling with homelessness.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Michele Steeb is a visiting fellow at Independent Women&rsquo;s Forum (<a href=\"http:\/\/iwf.org\/\">iwf.org<\/a>) and author of &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/1736001698\/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=Michele+steeb&amp;qid=1604015909&amp;sr=8-1\">Answers Behind the RED DOOR: Battling the Homeless Epidemic<\/a>.&rdquo; She served 13 years as CEO of one of northern California&rsquo;s largest programs for homeless women and children and is a former vice president of the California Chamber of Commerce, a former board member of the California Prison Industry Authority (appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown), and a former senior fellow of the Texas Public Policy Foundation.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Houston and Salt Lake City claimed success in tackling homelessness, but findings revealed their data was flawed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3106,"featured_media":2356043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/50845383242_cde0978874_k.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[6170,11561,43194,13866,4326],"class_list":["post-2356042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-crisis","tag-homelessness","tag-housing-first","tag-houston","tag-policy"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/50845383242_cde0978874_k.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2356042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2356042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2356042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2356043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2356042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2356042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2356042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}