Out of all of the states making progress in ending homelessness, Connecticut is usually the state that people reference as national leaders in progress, and as the most successful. Until now, that is.
Connecticut is a driving force in government initiatives toward ending homelessness, beginning with veterans.In August of 2015 the governor announced in a press release that several initiatives aimed directly at the ending of chronic homelessness among veterans was successful. Chronic homelessness is defined, in this case, as an individual with a disability who has been homeless for a period of at least one year or has experienced four separate episodes of homelessness in three years or less. As of the press release, all known veterans were either housed or on their way to permanent housing. Connecticut is the first state to claim such a major milestone.
As of February this year (2016) an announcement that temporarily homeless vets were accounted for as well, and any vet in the state of Connecticut who becomes homeless can get into temporary housing within 30 days and permanent housing within 60. In this case, they did not achieve the title of first state to get there, Virginia was the first state to claim to end all vet homelessness in November of 2015.
All of this is in an effort towards Zero:2016, an initiative to end all chronic homelessness for all, vets and non-veterans alike, by the end of this year. The focus on vets first and the rest of the homeless population second is the method followed by most -if not all- states.
However, the financial state of Connecticut’s future isn’t secure. With a deficit of $960 million, budget cuts already having been implemented, and more currently being proposed, advocates working toward ending homelessness fear the state’s ability to meet the goals the state has, up until now, been poised to meet.
These cuts include closing group homes, over 900 state employee layoffs of Social Services, Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and the Department of Children and families,as well as losing state subsidies towards daycare for low-income families, parents losing Medicaid coverage. All of these cuts potentially serve to exacerbate the issue of homelessness in the state, as well as seeing cuts to the programs themselves in the future. In the 1990’s, when similar state budget cuts closed state mental hospitals, the homeless population spiked dramatically.
Also take into consideration the fact that all of these initiatives are based on Housing First Models, wherein the homeless are placed in homes prior to addressing mental and physical health concerns, substance abuse issues, education or employment. While this model is superior, with prior government systems requiring all sorts of time and red-tape before someone could get assistance, sometimes leading to people remaining homeless because they were unable to meet the requirements of the program, the only sustainable way to maintain an end to homelessness is to address these issues in tandem with the immediate housing. All of those issues, however, require government funding to execute.
While the state of Connecticut is having a particularly difficult time, the U.S. Department of Housing and Development has withdrawn funds from shelters and homes all over the country.. New York City has seen the funds zeroed out, and have many housing programs in several other states.
From the Huffington Post: “What could explain HUD’s actions? It’s not that the problem of homelessness has gone away. To the contrary, it’s worse than ever in some places—with tent cities springing up in places like Los Angeles and Seattle, the mayor of Portland, Oregon, declaring a state of emergency, and New York City’s shelter population hovers near an all-time high. Nor is there a sudden cash crisis in Washington. The grants were awarded through HUD’s $2.3 billion Continuum of Care program, which actually got a 5 percent boost in 2016. No, what changed was the minds of HUD policymakers.”
This about-face on funding from the federal government is due in part to the efficacy of Housing First initiatives, and is primarily affecting shelters and halfway homes, but could lead to dire consequences for all states trying to put an end to homelessness. Housing First is great, but until it is firmly and successfully in place everywhere, funding for shelters and homes is a necessity.
From NPR: “Funding from the federal government is particularly pivotal to states like Connecticut which are facing steep cuts that could prematurely end programs that are making incredible strides. Schiessl, a former state representative, said a $3 million investment to expand the program statewide would have saved $25 million in Medicaid-funded emergency visits. But the budget crisis tabled the expansion. “When we go to state legislators and we say we’re doing such decent work that other states are noticing, they say, ‘Keep doing a good job,’ but there’s no funding,” Schiessl said.”
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