Who are the chronically
homeless?
Santa Barbara County’s chronically homeless population
is composed of single adults and families with children
who have
- a disabling condition1
- been continuously homeless for a year
or more or have had at least four episodes of homelessness
in the past three years
- been sleeping in a place not meant for
human habitation (e.g. living on the streets) or in an
emergency shelter during that time.2
It is estimated that the chronically homeless
make up only 10% - 15% of the total homeless population,
yet they consume 50% or more of local resources spent on
homeless services. A trademark characteristic of chronically
homeless people is the repeated failure of the traditional
system of care to assist them through their need to a more
stable place. Most of these individuals have serious mental
illnesses; two-thirds of all people with serious mental
illness have been homeless or have been at risk of being
homeless at some point in their lives.3
People with untreated mental illness often
lose their housing due to problems with neighbors; because
they present a threat to themselves or others; miss rent,
utility, or mortgage payments; or neglect their housekeeping.
Additionally, many have severe substance addiction issues
which can mask symptoms of mental illness, further complicating
appropriate treatment and compounding the difficulties of
maintaining a stable home.
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How can homelessness
be costing tax payers money?
Due to their continued movement through the service system
without obtaining the help they need, chronically homeless
people consume more than 50% of all the services provided
to homeless people. Chronically homeless individuals are
also frequent users of other costly public services, such
as hospital emergency rooms, psychiatric emergency wards
and the criminal justice system. According to an unofficial
study completed in January 2006, homelessness costs the
City of Santa Barbara between $600,000 – $700,000
each year for police, public works, parks and recreation,
library and fire services. Although the City would not likely
have an annual budget savings of this amount, services could
be redirected to other needed areas.
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How can developing
supportive housing save money?
| Type of “Housing” |
Cost
per Day5 |
| Santa Barbara County Jail |
$86 |
| Private Health Care Facility |
$800 |
| Hospital Bed |
$1600 |
| Permanent Supportive Housing |
$28 |
Funding that pays for people to be “housed”
in high service facilities can be redirected to develop
and sustain supportive housing beds. The costs of chronic
homelessness cannot only be reduced, but, because people
are able to achieve true stability and maintain tenancy,
chronic homelessness can be eradicated.
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Won’t Bringing
Our Community Home just bring more homeless to our community?
Although communities are often concerned about developing
services and housing because they fear that their community
will become a “magnet” for homeless individuals
from other areas, pervasive research has shown that homeless
people do not move to communities for services and housing.
Homeless people move to areas for the same reasons as non-homeless
people: to be closer to family, for new jobs, the mild climate,
etc. They do not come to an area because of the quality
or availability of assistance.
Studies have shown that 75% of people remain
in the city where they become homeless.6 Santa
Cruz, Santa Barbara County’s coastal neighbor to the
north, which shares Santa Barbara County’s combination
of high-priced housing, coastal amenities and significant
number of low-wage jobs, found that more than two-thirds
of its homeless population’s last permanent home was
in Santa Cruz and that more than half of its homeless population
had lived in Santa Cruz for over ten years.7 Service providers in Santa Barbara County can attest to
similar statistics for the homeless population they serve.
Further, chronically homeless individuals, who by definition
have additional disabilities and fewer resources, are even
less likely to follow the magnet theory pattern because
of the difficulties involved with relocation.
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Why are we developing
housing for the chronically homeless? I can’t afford
to live here.
Through research and local experience, Bringing Our Community
Home maintains the critical nature of stable, affordable
housing as a solution to chronic homelessness. We also recognize
that the lack of affordable housing is not just an issue
for the severely disadvantaged, but is a reality for many
people in our community. What is significant about the chronically
homeless population is the amount of resources (tax dollars,
emergency room visits, volunteer efforts, etc.) that are
required simply to keep them alive on the streets. For many,
their exit from homelessness is death. In both humane and
fiscal terms, investment in permanent supportive housing
for this population is a cost-saving measure that, over
time, will pay for itself.
Isn’t
developing a Ten-Year Plan just creating more bureaucracy?
The Santa Barbara County Region enjoys a diversity and quality
of housing and homeless services. However, we have failed
to fully coordinate these services and establish a unifying
entity with the responsibility of making change. As a result,
we have not had as great an impact on reducing homelessness
as we would like. Recognizing a need to change the way we
respond to the issue of homelessness, local government,
businesses, faith, service providers, philanthropists, civic
leaders, and homeless and formerly homeless individuals
and their advocates joined together and created Bringing
Our Community Home.
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What’s
Different about the Ten-Year Plan?
One of the striking differences in this effort is the broad
range of partners who have invested in it. In addition:
- It calls for broad integration of systems
and services among non-traditional partners, including
County departments
- It reconfigures the homeless system into
a housing system
- It recognizes that, by reducing
homelessness and the costs of maintaining our current
expensive system, we can reallocate resources to better
serve vulnerable populations
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What Are
the Priorities of the Ten-Year Plan?
- Prevent homelessness
Work together to make sure an adequate supply of appropriate
housing and supportive services are available to help
people stay in their homes. These services include rent
and utility assistance, job training, employment and education
assistance, health care, mental health counseling, foster
care and alcohol & drug treatment.
- Move people
rapidly from homelessness to housing
Place homeless people as quickly as possible in permanent
housing and then help them to stabilize and function independently
by providing them with the supportive services they need
to be successful in their homes.
- Build the public
and political will to end homelessness
Expand our community’s commitment to ending homelessness
by educating the public, tracking our successes and building
on them, and establishing steady funding
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Who is in
Charge of Implementing the Plan?
The Leadership Council of Bringing Our Community Home is
ultimately charged with implementing the plan and ensuring
that its goals and objectives are met. The Committee is
comprised of leaders of the business, faith, government
and civic communities, as well as providers, formerly homeless
individuals, and philanthropists. Currently the Leadership
Council is supported by other multi-disciplinary committees
who contributed to the Plan’s creation: the Finance
Development & Implementation Committee, the Transition
Committee, the Housing Committee, and the Program Committee.
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How Much Will
It Cost?
We are beginning the process of identifying what it will
cost to fund the housing and supportive services needed
to implement Bringing Our Community Home. It is important
to remember, however, that a large portion of the funds
we need are already committed to housing and homelessness
programs and will continue to be devoted to these programs.
We know we will also need to develop new local, state and
federal funding streams, both public and private.
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Is It Possible?
Yes, if we can develop and sustain the funding and public
and political will to make it happen. The Plan estimates
that over ten years we will need to secure from 900 to 1200
permanent affordable units to succeed. Promising Best Practices,
such as the “Housing First” model, are demonstrating
success. We need to expand such programs countywide. Also,
a strong spirit of partnership now exists. We need to sustain
and build upon this.
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How, do you
expect to develop that much housing?
It is important to remember that by “units”
we don’t necessarily mean individual housing units,
such as a studio apartment. Rather we are referring to appropriate
housing for a person, which could also mean a single bed
in a shared living situation. By partnering with public
and private developers, rental assistance programs, and
property management agencies, we will pursue many avenues
to increase the amount of permanent housing available to
the chronically homeless, including master leasing, rehabilitation
of existing housing, recruitment of existing rental units
and development of new housing.
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Do we really
have the resources to do this?
We have a lot of the resources, but we will need more. Part
of Bringing Our Community Home is developing the public
will to generate those resources.
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What is the
role of our regional partners?
This is truly a regional plan. Representatives from across
the county participated in developing the Bringing Our Community
Home. Each of the committees involved in the creation of
this Plan had membership representation from throughout
the County. The Plan acknowledges that there is no “one
size fits all” solution to homelessness, and that
we need to address regional differences with appropriately
targeted strategies.
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Aren’t
there some people you just can’t help?
Actually, it turns out than when you combine intensive services
with housing even those who might be viewed as the very
most difficult to house respond and are able to stabilize
their lives.
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Does “ending
chronic homelessness” mean that there are never any
persons without a home?
Ending chronic homelessness does not mean that there will
never be a chronically homeless person in the county. It
does mean that we identify persons at risk of losing their
home and prevent them from becoming homeless. It means that
we identify people without housing and quickly provide them
safe and appropriate short-term and long-term housing options
and that people are given the services necessary to move
from short-term solutions to stable long-term housing as
quickly as possible.
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What is
permanent supportive housing?
Supportive housing is a successful, cost-effective combination
of affordable housing with services that help people live
more stable, productive lives. Supportive housing works
well for people who face the most complex challenges—individuals
and families who are not only homeless, but who also have
very low incomes and serious, persistent issues that may
include substance abuse, mental illness, and HIV/AIDS.
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Why is supportive
housing so important?
Supportive housing is important because it works and it
is a key factor in our ability to end chronic homelessness.
Studies show the following effects of supportive housing
programs across the country8, 9, 10, 11, 12:
- Decreases of more than 50% in tenants’
emergency room visits and inpatient days
- Decreases in tenants’ use of emergency
detoxification services by more than 80%
- Increases of 50% in earned income and
40% in the rate of participant employment when employment
services are provided in supportive housing
- Decreases in dependence on entitlements—a
$1,448 decrease per tenant each year
- Increase in successful housing for mentally
ill people (83.5% remained housed a year later)
- Increase in tenants’ ability to
remain sober (90% compared to roughly 55% of residents
in half way houses).
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Does the community
already have permanent supportive housing?
Yes. The Housing Authority’s El Carrillo project has
just opened and houses 61 formerly homeless persons. They
have two full-time case managers on-site to work with residents.
In addition, over the years, many homeless have used the
New Faulding Hotel as a step off the streets into housing.
In recent years, management of the hotel has seen the need
for increased supportive services to help their residents
retain successful tenancy.
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What will
it mean if the City approves the Ten-Year Plan?
The Leadership Council has “Adopted” the plan,
which means “to take up and practice as one’s
own” or “to accept formally and put into effect”.
The County and cities are being asked to “Approve”
the plan, which means “to give formal or official
sanction to”. This means that the City acknowledges
that chronic homelessness is a real issue in Santa Barbara
and that the TYP is a humane, cost effective way to solve
the problem. The City will play a small part in the implementation
of the TYP, and approving it means that we will address
our part. The City is not being asked to commit funds at
this time, but they are being asked to keep the plan in
mind when making housing and funding decisions.
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1 Santa
Barbara defines a disabling condition the same way HUD defines
it: a “diagnosable substance use disorder, serious
mental illness, developmental disability, or chronic physical
illness or disability, including the co-occurrence of two
or more of these conditions”
2 The HUD
definition of chronically homeless is identical to the definition
Santa Barbara has adopted except HUD’s definition
is limited to unaccompanied homeless individuals and does
not include families.
3 Tessler,
R.C. & Dennis, D.L. A synthesis of NIMH funded research
concerning persons who are homeless and mentally ill. Rockville,
MD: National Institute of Mental Health. 1989.
4SAMHSA.
Blueprint for Change: Ending Chronic Homelessness for Persons
With Mental Illnesses and/or Co-Occurring Substance Use
Disorders. 2003.
5 Heroux,
Roger, A Report on Homelessness Services in the County of
Santa Barbara. Feb 2006. Available at http://www.sbhomelessservices.org/weblog/docs/homelessness_report206.pdf (Supportive housing cost provided by Santa Barbara City
Housing Authority based on the El Carrillo Apartments).
6 Martha
Burt, “What We Know About Helping the Homeless and
What it Means For HUD’s Homeless Programs” Testimony
presented to the Housing and Community Development Subcommittee
of the Banking and Financial Institutions Committee of the
U.S. House of Representatives 1. March 5, 1997.
7 Community
Action Board of Santa Cruz, Inc. “Housing and Homelessness
in Santa Cruz County – 2005.”available at http://www.cabinc.org/Research/housing-and-homelessness-2005-report.htm
8 CL Caton,
RJ Wyatt, A Felix, J Grunberg and B Dominguez. Follow-up
of chronically homeless mentally ill men. Am J Psychiatry
1993; 150:1639-1642
9 Drake,R.
E., Antosca,L., Noordsy,D. L., Bartels,S. J. & Osher,F.
C. (1991). Specialized services for the dually diagnosed.
In K. Minkoff & R. E. Drake (Eds.), Dual diagnosis of
major mental illness and substance disorder (New Directions
in Mental Health; pp. 57-67). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
1 0 Baker,
Ph.D. Tenure in Supportive Housing for Homeless Persons
With Severe Mental Illness. Psychiatr Serv 51:479-486, April
2000
11 Ridgway
P, Rapp CA: The Active Ingredients of Effective Supported
Housing: A Research Synthesis. Lawrence, Kans, University
of Kansas, 1997
12 Tsemberis
S, Eisenberg RF: Pathways to housing: supported housing
for street-dwelling homeless individuals with psychiatric
disabilities. Psychiatric Services 51:487–493, 2000
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