Housing First Column in The Hill, More to Come

Many thanks to The Hill for publishing last weekend another housing column by me, this one about Housing First. Housing First is usually discussed as a response to chronic homelessness experienced by unhoused people who may also struggle with significant mental health and/or addiction challenges. In this piece, I argue that Housing First is the right approach for our eviction clients, too, even though their main barrier to safe, secure housing is a straightforward inability to afford market-rate rent.

There are reams of data proving Housing First’s effectiveness. And it squares with the views expressed time and again in public opinion polls and in generations of scripture and practice in religious and moral traditions: housing is a human right, not a prize to be won only by those who can afford it or who can demonstrate sobriety or medication compliance.

But Housing First faces two significant challenges right now, which I lay out in the article:

First, it is being attacked by some right-wing politicians and commentators who label it as a failed liberal policy approach that makes cities more dangerous. Notable critics include activist Christopher Rufo, who also helped elevate critical race theory into a reliable political target, and Tucker Carlson. These attacks parrot the fallacy that homelessness is chiefly an addiction problem . . .

The second challenge to Housing First comes from would-be supporters within multiple levels of government. They undercut its effectiveness by watering down the program, reducing costs by not offering the wraparound services that have proven to be critical to many participants staying housed . . . Half-baked Housing First efforts can produce underwhelming outcomes that both perpetuate cycles of homelessness and fuel the cynical criticism of the overall approach.

You can read the full article here.

Speaking of Housing First, since few of our clients fall into the chronically homeless category, I have been grateful to learn from experts about the necessary response to that particular crisis. I spent some time recently with the amazing folks behind Motels4Now in South Bend, Indiana. I’ll have an article and book excerpt about them soon, which I will share in this newsletter. But you can learn more about them now at their website, which includes this very moving ten-minute video about the program.    

I owe thanks also to the folks at Horizon House in my hometown of Indianapolis. Their work placing and retaining people in permanent supportive housing is yielding powerful results that add further proof of the Housing First approach.

As always, check out this newsletter every week for more!

Quote of the Week

“People talked to us really plainly about how they couldn’t possibly stop using drugs until they were housed. Many were using drugs to stay awake, because they were scared of violence if they fell asleep, or their stuff being taken away again. And if you can’t fall asleep and you’re hungry, then yeah, meth can help you.”

Margot Kushel, principal investigator of the new California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness study, talking to Vox’s Rachel Cohen.