The El Paso Example
Recent report highlights the success of El Paso County.
This past week, the Common Sense Institute released a report on homelessness in Colorado. The study compares several communities, analyzing the homeless population, money spent, and theoretical approaches. They manage to get lots of good data into a user-friendly format, it's easy to read.
This is essentially a comparison between two approaches, Housing First and what they call “work first.” That title indicates that services come before housing, not necessarily work. I prefer to use the term “Person First,” referring to the idea that the needs of the person are considered individually, not simply placed in an existing program structure. It may be the case that someone does need a job first, but it is also just as likely that they need medical treatment or addiction recovery. Common Sense Institute seems to lump all of these interventions into “Work First.”
The data, from a macro perspective, supports an intervention or work-first approach. Communities that have utilized exclusively housing-first have seen their homeless population consistently grow. El Paso County is given as an example of service and program success, recording several years of homelessness population decline.
Another finding highlighted is the danger of unsheltered homelessness. The leading cause of death recorded by the Denver Medical Examiner for those experiencing homelessness in 2023 was overdose. Bringing people into emergency shelters and transitional housing provides a level of protection that camping does not.
The institute advocates for reducing the restrictions on federal homelessness funding. Currently, these dollars have to be used in a Housing First program. Similar to a recommendation by the Cato Institute, this report recommends a shift to a block grant style of funding.
Apart from my quibbles with the term “Work First” I do believe that this approach saves money and provides a higher quality of life for those exiting homelessness. There are benefits for the community at large as well. Permanent supportive housing is a good solution for a few of those experiencing homelessness, not the majority.
Thank you everyone. Have a great day.
Great post, Joel! I like how you frame it as "person first" and your reasoning behind it. Culturally, to survive, it is vital to teach people the life skills needed to navigate the dominant culture. There are expectations if a person wants to keep a job, etc. The Hope Program at SRM is doing important work in this area.