News
Public Interest
Feb. 15, 2002
Help Wanted
Forum Column - By Julio O. Edrosolan and Phillip R. Morgan - In January, a representative for Gov. Gray Davis stated that the governor intends to convene a statewide summit on homelessness this year. Given the magnitude of the homelessness problem, it must be addressed on a state, national and local level.
Forum Column
By Julio O. Edrosolan and Phillip R. Morgan
In January, a representative for Gov. Gray Davis stated that the governor intends to convene a statewide summit on homelessness this year. Given the magnitude of the homelessness problem, it must be addressed on a state, national and local level.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness estimates that 750,000 people are homeless on any given night in the United States. There are approximately 250,000 shelter beds available. Up to 2 million people will be homeless at sometime during the year.
The Clinton administration's report, "Priority Home! The Federal Plan to Break the Cycle of Homelessness," estimated that between 4.95 million and 9.32 million people were homeless in the latter half of the 1980s.
In California, the problem is acute. The Institute for the Study of Homelessness and Poverty at the Weingart Center estimates that up to 236,400 people were homeless during the year, and up to 84,000 people were homeless on any given night, in Los Angeles County.
In San Francisco, the Mayor's Office on Homelessness estimates that there are between 11,000 and 14,000 homeless people on any given night. In Santa Clara County, the Emergency Housing Consortium estimates there are as many as 22,000 homeless.
Why are people homeless? In a U.S. Conference of Mayors' study released in December 2001, city officials identified the lack of affordable housing as the leading cause of homelessness. Other causes, in order of frequency, include low-paid jobs, substance abuse and the lack of treatment services, mental illness and lack of needed services, domestic violence, unemployment, poverty, prison release and changes and cuts in public-assistance programs.
Why the lack of affordable housing? The reasons are numerous.
"Between 1995 and 1997, rents increased faster than income for the 20 percent of American households with the lowest incomes," the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reported.
Many California cities have among the highest rents in the nation. The supply of housing available to low-income people relative to the growth in population has declined over the last three decades.
In 1970, the National Alliance to End Homelessness said that "there were twice as many low-cost units available as there were low-income households."
By 1983, two low-income households competed for every available unit. Affordable housing has been lost to gentrification, abandonment, urban renewal, arson, residential-to-tourist hotel conversion and cooperative and condominium conversion.
Nationally, between 1985 and 1993, the private stock of extremely low-rent units decreased by 478,000 units.
In the 1980s, San Francisco lost 9,000 of "its cheapest housing units to demolition or conversions, and average rents increased 166 percent for Single Room Occupancy rooms and over 183 percent for studios" the Coalition on Homelessness reported.
The organization estimates that 4,000 units of San Francisco public housing were destroyed between 1996 and 1998, with "only a fraction of these units being replaced."
Who are the homeless? According to the U.S. Conference of Mayors' study, families with children make up 40 percent of the homeless, single men 40 percent, single women 14 percent and unaccompanied minors 4 percent. Fifty percent are African-American, 35 percent white, 12 percent Hispanic, 2 percent Native American and 1 percent Asian. Twenty-two percent are mentally ill, 34 percent substance abusers, 20 percent employed and 11 percent veterans. A single parent heads 67 percent of homeless families.
Domestic violence plays a role. In a 1998 study titled "Homes for the Homeless," 22 percent of the homeless parents interviewed said that "they had left their last place of residence because of domestic violence."
In San Francisco, shelters for abused women are forced to turn away four out of five women because of a lack of bed space.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors' study indicates that homelessness is on the rise. Requests for emergency shelter increased 13 percent in the 27 cities surveyed over the previous year. Emergency shelter beds increased only 9 percent. Shelter requests by homeless families increased 22 percent. Thirty-seven percent of the requests for emergency shelter by homeless people overall, and 52 percent of the requests by homeless families, were unmet.
In Los Angeles, 15 percent of shelter requests were unmet. San Diego officials estimated that the average period of homelessness was nine months. Nationally, the average is six months.
Government-subsidized housing does not satisfy the need. Nationally, applicants must wait an average of 16 months for public housing in the surveyed cities. The wait for Section 8 vouchers, where the applicant pays 30 percent to 40 percent of their income for housing and government pays the remainder, is 20 months.
In some California cities, the wait for government-subsidized housing is longer than the national average. The average wait in Los Angeles is three years, and in San Diego, it is five years. An applicant in Los Angeles may wait 10 years for a Section 8 voucher. Los Angeles County had 150,000 eligible families on its waiting list last May. The wait for Section 8 in San Diego, with 20,000 on its waiting list, is 61/2 years.
Even those who finally receive a coveted Section 8 voucher are sometimes disappointed. Landlords often are reluctant to participate in the Section 8 program, even though they are guaranteed a significant portion of the rent.
The San Francisco Mayor's Office of Housing's "Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Report" of 1998 states, "Besides discrimination experienced by racial and ethnic minority populations, very low-income households face housing discrimination based on their household type or income source."
Rent subsidies will not provide housing if there are no vacancies or landlords willing to participate in a program.
With unemployment growing, it is likely that the number of homeless will increase. The U.S. Labor Department states that the increase in the number of unemployed workers between November 2000 and November 2001 was the largest since 1982. In November 2001, there were 8.2 million unemployed. Cuts in social-service programs also may exacerbate the problem of homelessness.
Yet Davis has proposed budget reductions from human-services programs for fiscal year 2002 of $742 million, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
What do we do to reduce the problem of homelessness? Criminalization is not the answer. The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty said that "at least 72 cities have pursued efforts to criminalize activities associated with homelessness."
In San Francisco in 1996, 17,532 citations were given out "for so-called 'quality of life' crimes such as sleeping and camping," the Coalition on Homelessness said.
Making it a crime to sleep in parks or on the streets is not fundamentally fair when there are no alternatives.
We need to increase shelter beds and services. The 27 cities surveyed in the U.S. Conference of Mayors' study spent approximately $290 million for homeless services during the last year. Since 1987, when Congress enacted the McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, the federal government has distributed more than $11 billion in McKinney funds at the local level. States and cities have spent billions more but have failed to solve the problem.
According to the Coalition on Homelessness, in 1996, 154 homeless people still died in San Francisco. In 2001, there were about 1,400 people on waiting lists for substance-abuse programs.
The homeless need assistance in overcoming problems such as physical and mental illness, domestic violence, substance abuse, lack of education or training and other problems that interfere with their ability to maintain independent living. They must have child care and adequate transportation when they obtain a job or attend training or school.
Government must work with nonprofits to create or make available affordable housing for poor and low-income people. Adequate subsidies to make existing housing affordable must be provided. Affordable housing must be created through rehabilitation or construction.
Those who work need living wages that will ensure their ability to secure housing. Many homeless want and need a job. In the 1996 National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients, 42 percent of the homeless said what they most needed was assistance in finding work.
Supplemental Security Income levels must be adequate so that the disabled who are unable to work are not forced to become homeless. In 14 states and 69 metropolitan areas, the maximum Supplemental Security Income grant does not cover the Housing and Urban Development Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment according to the National Resource Center on Homelessness and Mental Illness.
In Los Angeles, the 2001 Fair Market Rent was $618 or 82 percent of a Supplemental Security Income grant of $750. This is far more than the 30 percent of income that the federal government estimates is affordable.
While the cost to prevent and end homelessness is large, the failure to do so will be even more costly in dollars as well as the cost to our humanity.
Phillip R. Morgan, a staff attorney, and Julio O. Edrosolan, an advocate, are employed in the Housing Unit of the Bay Area Legal Aid San Francisco Regional Office. Justice for All is a monthly column written by BayLegal staff about public interest law issues.
By Julio O. Edrosolan and Phillip R. Morgan
In January, a representative for Gov. Gray Davis stated that the governor intends to convene a statewide summit on homelessness this year. Given the magnitude of the homelessness problem, it must be addressed on a state, national and local level.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness estimates that 750,000 people are homeless on any given night in the United States. There are approximately 250,000 shelter beds available. Up to 2 million people will be homeless at sometime during the year.
The Clinton administration's report, "Priority Home! The Federal Plan to Break the Cycle of Homelessness," estimated that between 4.95 million and 9.32 million people were homeless in the latter half of the 1980s.
In California, the problem is acute. The Institute for the Study of Homelessness and Poverty at the Weingart Center estimates that up to 236,400 people were homeless during the year, and up to 84,000 people were homeless on any given night, in Los Angeles County.
In San Francisco, the Mayor's Office on Homelessness estimates that there are between 11,000 and 14,000 homeless people on any given night. In Santa Clara County, the Emergency Housing Consortium estimates there are as many as 22,000 homeless.
Why are people homeless? In a U.S. Conference of Mayors' study released in December 2001, city officials identified the lack of affordable housing as the leading cause of homelessness. Other causes, in order of frequency, include low-paid jobs, substance abuse and the lack of treatment services, mental illness and lack of needed services, domestic violence, unemployment, poverty, prison release and changes and cuts in public-assistance programs.
Why the lack of affordable housing? The reasons are numerous.
"Between 1995 and 1997, rents increased faster than income for the 20 percent of American households with the lowest incomes," the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reported.
Many California cities have among the highest rents in the nation. The supply of housing available to low-income people relative to the growth in population has declined over the last three decades.
In 1970, the National Alliance to End Homelessness said that "there were twice as many low-cost units available as there were low-income households."
By 1983, two low-income households competed for every available unit. Affordable housing has been lost to gentrification, abandonment, urban renewal, arson, residential-to-tourist hotel conversion and cooperative and condominium conversion.
Nationally, between 1985 and 1993, the private stock of extremely low-rent units decreased by 478,000 units.
In the 1980s, San Francisco lost 9,000 of "its cheapest housing units to demolition or conversions, and average rents increased 166 percent for Single Room Occupancy rooms and over 183 percent for studios" the Coalition on Homelessness reported.
The organization estimates that 4,000 units of San Francisco public housing were destroyed between 1996 and 1998, with "only a fraction of these units being replaced."
Who are the homeless? According to the U.S. Conference of Mayors' study, families with children make up 40 percent of the homeless, single men 40 percent, single women 14 percent and unaccompanied minors 4 percent. Fifty percent are African-American, 35 percent white, 12 percent Hispanic, 2 percent Native American and 1 percent Asian. Twenty-two percent are mentally ill, 34 percent substance abusers, 20 percent employed and 11 percent veterans. A single parent heads 67 percent of homeless families.
Domestic violence plays a role. In a 1998 study titled "Homes for the Homeless," 22 percent of the homeless parents interviewed said that "they had left their last place of residence because of domestic violence."
In San Francisco, shelters for abused women are forced to turn away four out of five women because of a lack of bed space.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors' study indicates that homelessness is on the rise. Requests for emergency shelter increased 13 percent in the 27 cities surveyed over the previous year. Emergency shelter beds increased only 9 percent. Shelter requests by homeless families increased 22 percent. Thirty-seven percent of the requests for emergency shelter by homeless people overall, and 52 percent of the requests by homeless families, were unmet.
In Los Angeles, 15 percent of shelter requests were unmet. San Diego officials estimated that the average period of homelessness was nine months. Nationally, the average is six months.
Government-subsidized housing does not satisfy the need. Nationally, applicants must wait an average of 16 months for public housing in the surveyed cities. The wait for Section 8 vouchers, where the applicant pays 30 percent to 40 percent of their income for housing and government pays the remainder, is 20 months.
In some California cities, the wait for government-subsidized housing is longer than the national average. The average wait in Los Angeles is three years, and in San Diego, it is five years. An applicant in Los Angeles may wait 10 years for a Section 8 voucher. Los Angeles County had 150,000 eligible families on its waiting list last May. The wait for Section 8 in San Diego, with 20,000 on its waiting list, is 61/2 years.
Even those who finally receive a coveted Section 8 voucher are sometimes disappointed. Landlords often are reluctant to participate in the Section 8 program, even though they are guaranteed a significant portion of the rent.
The San Francisco Mayor's Office of Housing's "Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Report" of 1998 states, "Besides discrimination experienced by racial and ethnic minority populations, very low-income households face housing discrimination based on their household type or income source."
Rent subsidies will not provide housing if there are no vacancies or landlords willing to participate in a program.
With unemployment growing, it is likely that the number of homeless will increase. The U.S. Labor Department states that the increase in the number of unemployed workers between November 2000 and November 2001 was the largest since 1982. In November 2001, there were 8.2 million unemployed. Cuts in social-service programs also may exacerbate the problem of homelessness.
Yet Davis has proposed budget reductions from human-services programs for fiscal year 2002 of $742 million, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
What do we do to reduce the problem of homelessness? Criminalization is not the answer. The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty said that "at least 72 cities have pursued efforts to criminalize activities associated with homelessness."
In San Francisco in 1996, 17,532 citations were given out "for so-called 'quality of life' crimes such as sleeping and camping," the Coalition on Homelessness said.
Making it a crime to sleep in parks or on the streets is not fundamentally fair when there are no alternatives.
We need to increase shelter beds and services. The 27 cities surveyed in the U.S. Conference of Mayors' study spent approximately $290 million for homeless services during the last year. Since 1987, when Congress enacted the McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, the federal government has distributed more than $11 billion in McKinney funds at the local level. States and cities have spent billions more but have failed to solve the problem.
According to the Coalition on Homelessness, in 1996, 154 homeless people still died in San Francisco. In 2001, there were about 1,400 people on waiting lists for substance-abuse programs.
The homeless need assistance in overcoming problems such as physical and mental illness, domestic violence, substance abuse, lack of education or training and other problems that interfere with their ability to maintain independent living. They must have child care and adequate transportation when they obtain a job or attend training or school.
Government must work with nonprofits to create or make available affordable housing for poor and low-income people. Adequate subsidies to make existing housing affordable must be provided. Affordable housing must be created through rehabilitation or construction.
Those who work need living wages that will ensure their ability to secure housing. Many homeless want and need a job. In the 1996 National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients, 42 percent of the homeless said what they most needed was assistance in finding work.
Supplemental Security Income levels must be adequate so that the disabled who are unable to work are not forced to become homeless. In 14 states and 69 metropolitan areas, the maximum Supplemental Security Income grant does not cover the Housing and Urban Development Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment according to the National Resource Center on Homelessness and Mental Illness.
In Los Angeles, the 2001 Fair Market Rent was $618 or 82 percent of a Supplemental Security Income grant of $750. This is far more than the 30 percent of income that the federal government estimates is affordable.
While the cost to prevent and end homelessness is large, the failure to do so will be even more costly in dollars as well as the cost to our humanity.
Phillip R. Morgan, a staff attorney, and Julio O. Edrosolan, an advocate, are employed in the Housing Unit of the Bay Area Legal Aid San Francisco Regional Office. Justice for All is a monthly column written by BayLegal staff about public interest law issues.
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