Tommy Blog Mayor Unveils "Housing First" Plan to End Homelessness | Mayor Unveils "Housing First" Plan to End Homelessness |
|
|
|
| Written by Ram Uppuluri | |
| Thursday, 03 April 2008 | |
|
On Wednesday of this week, Mayor Adrian Fenty unveiled a new approach to ending homelessness in the District of Columbia. The approach, known as "Housing First," turns the traditional approach to providing homeless services on its head. Instead of offering homeless shelters and one meal a day to homeless individuals, trying to get them off of drugs or alcohol, or into counseling, and then back on their feet, so they can find a job, and possibly find some housing, the "Housing First" approach says, "let’s get people into housing first, especially the ones with the deepest emotional and physical obstacles to overcome – the so-called ‘chronically homeless’ individuals." Chronically homeless individuals have a far better chance of being able to get on with their lives if the number one stress factor contributing to all their other problems is lifted – their homeless status. "Housing First" says, let’s give these people a roof over their heads first, and a support structure around them to keep them focused on moving forward with their lives, and not back out onto the streets. When executed properly, Housing First has met with tremendous success in other cities, such as New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta and Denver. As Chairman of the DC Council’s Committee on Human Services, Councilmember Wells will have an important role to play in working with the Fenty Administration to flesh out the details of the proposal. Tommy has already publicly stated his general support, but the first opportunity the Council will have to question the Administration on the proposal will be Thursday, April 17, when Clarence Carter, the Director of the Department of Human Services will testify before the Committee on Human Services on his Agency’s FY 2009 budget request, which includes $19.2 million for Housing First. Please feel free to contact the Committee if you would like additional information about the Housing First proposal, and homeless services in the District of Columbia. [UPDATE, 4/7/08]: Based on comments left by readers on the blog, Councilmember Wells wanted to ensure correct information was available regarding homeless services on Reservation 13. Please see his note below: Dear Frank and Jim, Thank you for your attention to matters regarding the Hill East community. Nothing has changed from the plan presented last November to the community other than moving the previously existing women's shelter, Harriet Tubman, from the DC General Cafeteria to Building 9 and making it 24 hours, which should be a better situation for the community. As promised, the Hypothermia Shelter for men has been closed. The following is a report I requested from my staff after seeing your postings. At a community meeting at DC General on Tuesday, November 27, 2007, Clarence Carter, Director of the Department of Human Services, stated that at the end of the hypothermia season, the men’s hypothermia shelter, located in Building 9, and the family hypothermia shelter, located in the main building, would be closed. The Harriet Tubman women’s shelter, which is located in the old cafeteria at DC General, would continue to operate, but Director Carter committed to provide a plan for permanently closing the women’s shelter by the end of the year (December 2008). Although Director Carter did not provide a timeline for permanently closing the Harriet Tubman women’s shelter at that time, representatives from the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development stated that plans for the re-development of Reservation 13 would proceed, operating under the assumption that the women’s shelter would be relocated away from the DC General campus. The proposal of the Administration is to move the women out of the cafeteria, which is not a suitable location for housing people, into the shelter in Building 9. The capacity will be limited to 100, which is the current limit of the Harriet Tubman shelter. One major difference being that Building 9 will be operated as a 24 hour shelter, with three meals a day and a housing counselor on site. Currently, the Harriet Tubman facility operates as a 12 hour shelter (7 p.m. to 7 a.m.), and the women are forced out of the shelter during the day. This should result in less disruption to the neighborhood, as the women will not be forced out of the shelter into the surrounding neighborhood during the day. Readers have left 3 comments. (1) Untitled 2008-04-04 13:25:19 The Washington Examiner reported on Thursday (April 3) that the Fenty proposal calls for moving the homeless women from DC General on Reservation 13 to permanent quarters in Building 9 on Reservation 13. I don't see anything in the Wells news item about what impact this plan will have for Reservation 13, its development, and the Hilleast neighborhood. I would hope the councilmember from Ward 6 would represent the interests of all neighborhoods in his Ward as Councilmember Graham did in eliminating a homeless shelter on Georgia Avenue NW. Sorry to say, but Wells is earning a reputation, both on the council and within Ward 6 as a "yes man" for whatever the Fenty Administration wants to do in Ward 6. (2) Untitled 2008-04-05 10:52:23 As I recall, in the public meeting held at Blg. 9 last year, the use of Blg. 9 as a homeless shelter was repeatedly decribed as temporary with a fixed date set for when that use would stop -- for good. Please understand that it was officials who made these promises -- swore on Bibles or whatever -- and not the daydreams of community members. Could I be completely wrong? (I am currently in Montreal, so I can't check with my notes from the meeting, which drew an overflow crowd.) I hope this detail in the city's plans for homeless services can be clairfied quickly before it is reported to the Hill East community, where some will surely see the continued use of Blg. 9 as a significant broken promise. (3) Untitled 2008-04-07 14:24:53 Dear Frank and Jim, Thank you for your attention to matters regarding the Hill East community. Nothing has changed from the plan presented last November to the community other than moving the previously existing women's shelter, Harriet Tubman, from the DC General Cafeteria to Building 9 and making it 24 hours, which should be a better situation for the community. As promised, the Hypothermia Shelter for men has been closed. The following is a report I requested from my staff after seeing your comments. Tommy Wells At a community meeting at DC General on Tuesday, November 27, 2007, Clarence Carter, Director of the Department of Human Services, stated that at the end of the hypothermia season, the men’s hypothermia shelter, located in Building 9, and the family hypothermia shelter, located in the main building, would be closed. The Harriet Tubman women’s shelter, which is located in the old cafeteria at DC General, would continue to operate, but Director Carter committed to provide a plan for permanently closing the women’s shelter by the end of the year (December 2008). Although Director Carter did not provide a timeline for permanently closing the Harriet Tubman women’s shelter at that time, representatives from the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development stated that plans for the re-development of Reservation 13 would proceed, operating under the assumption that the women’s shelter would be relocated away from the DC General campus. The men’s shelter and the family shelter are currently in the process of being closed. The proposal of the Administration is to move the women out of the cafeteria, which is not a suitable location for housing people, into the shelter in Building 9. The capacity will be limited to 100, which is the current limit of the Harriet Tubman shelter. One major difference being that Building 9 will be operated as a 24 hour shelter, with three meals a day and a housing counselor on site. Currently, the Harriet Tubman facility operates as a 12 hour shelter (7 p.m. to 7 a.m.), and the women are forced out of the shelter during the day. This should result in less disruption to the neighborhood, as the women will not be forced out of the shelter into the surrounding neighborhood during the day. |
|
| Last Updated ( Monday, 07 April 2008 ) |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|