In a few weeks, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will
be asked to adopt a plan submitted by the county Task Force to End
Chronic Homelessness in 10 Years. In it are
In a few weeks, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will be asked to adopt a plan submitted by the county Task Force to End Chronic Homelessness in 10 Years. In it are recommendations for a number of strategies to change the way human services and housing are provided – and funded – for homeless people who repeatedly fall through the cracks and remain on the street despite the best efforts of the agencies that serve them.
This is important to the South Valley, which has a homelessness problem. Though people on the streets are outside of the mainstream, studies reveal it actually costs taxpayers quite a lot for them to remain there. It is in the best interest of the general community that they end their homelessness and become stable.
We support the adoption of a focused effort on ending long-term homelessness if:
n It employs a specific and proven model, like Housing First. Studies show that when long-term homeless individuals are given permanent housing first, then are provided with supportive services, they have a good chance of remaining in their housing and becoming stable members of the community.
Also, providing a subsidized apartment and supportive services costs taxpayers much less than supporting an individual on the street who consumes emergency services. This approach is a proven success in expensive large cities like New York City, Philadelphia and San Francisco. However, it also works in a suburban county like Contra Costa here in the Bay Area.
n It makes a firm commitment to and has details on how to mend the gaping holes in the safety net. That means that county agencies that provide human services need to coordinate better with each other.
Barriers to services must be removed. Increased mental health services and substance abuse treatment have are a cornerstone for success. Those support services not only end homelessness, but prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place.
How do we pay for it? While we know the South Valley can benefit from a focused approach, we don’t believe that a possible tax to fund the services will survive beyond the printing of ballots. That said, as county Homeless Coordinator Margaret Gregg stated, “We can no longer take a bake-sale approach to this problem” and let local nonprofit agencies shoulder the entire burden. A tax proposal helps the public get its arms around the idea that there needs to be a dedicated funding stream for housing and services, different from the hit-and-miss patchwork that exists now.
We urge the Board of Supervisors to take a look at how services are funded in the cities where they are successful, and where, as far as we know, they haven’t had to pass special taxes.
This county set the standard in the state for finding a way to make medical insurance available for all children. Surely, we can do it again to end long-term homelessness.
