There are important steps communities and the state and federal government can take to help prevent Mainers from having to live in cars, parks, abandoned buildings, on sidewalks and in emergency shelters. They include developing enough supportive housing, providing clear access to available services, following up with people over time and expanding prevention efforts.
Homelessness has many complicating factors, but its roots are in poverty. As people across Maine continue to search for better ways to prevent and end homelessness, let’s frame the conversation that way: Homelessness is a result, not a condition.
The problem does not appear to be getting better. The number of unique homeless people in Maine has been increasing, from 6,952 in 2007 to 7,725 in 2011, and the number of nights people are spending in shelters has increased as well, according to Maine State Housing Authority data.
Anecdotal accounts claim more people with disabilities are ending up at Maine shelters; 46 percent of homeless people in a January annual point-in-time survey said they had a chronic disability.
But there also is evidence of what helps people achieve stability. In many cases it involves moving people as quickly as possible out of a shelter and into supportive housing. Research shows the longer people stay in a shelter, the harder it is for them to ultimately get housing, find work and take the necessary steps toward becoming more self-sufficient.
Getting people into supportive housing has been shown not only to improve a person’s quality of life but to save money in the long-term, through reduced shelter, emergency room, prison and ambulance service costs, according to a study sponsored in part by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services and other research completed across the country. For those who are able, the goal is to ultimately move people out of supportive housing and into a place of their own.
As the state continues its work to end homelessness, it should direct resources toward developing housing that is paired with appropriate services, such as drug and alcohol treatment.
Since the early 1990s, nonprofits, social service agencies and the Maine State Housing Authority have developed supportive housing for homeless populations. According to the most recent report from 2007, a total of about 840 units of permanent and transitional supportive housing were serving people who were previously homeless. Some projects targeted youth, the chronically homeless, victims of domestic violence and people with mental illness and addictions.
But the number of housing units is not enough to meet demand. Maine needs at least 600 more units, according to information submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Having enough housing, however, will only be effective if people are given access to resources to help them overcome the reasons why they became homeless in the first place.
The state can do more to develop career centers with targeted programs for the homeless. It can invest in community-based levels of vocational training. It can do a better job speeding up and streamlining available assistance, so people don’t have to repeat their story over and over. And it should follow through with people after they leave their homeless situation. There is very little data about people’s destinations when they depart a shelter, indicating a lack of follow-up case management — though it’s important to note that participants also need to take part fully for follow-up to work.
Prevention is key, and more can be done to protect people at risk of foreclosure or eviction. For those who do not meet the federal definition of homeless, there is homeless prevention assistance for those who instead meet the definition of “ at risk of homelessness.”
But it’s questionable whether the legal provisions allow enough time to catch individuals and families before they fall. Currently to qualify they must have income below 30 percent of median income for the geographic area and have insufficient resources immediately available to attain housing stability. It would be worth examining the overall benefit of allowing more people to qualify for certain relief to ensure they don’t become homeless.
Homelessness is a problem that affects everyone whether they see or experience it directly or not. But there are ways to help people get and keep stable housing. It’s a matter of political will, goodwill and making the systemic changes.
It would help a lot of homless people if they were able to have an address to call theirs. Wether that be a lock box or a shelter that would take their mail and hold it for them. They need a place that services can be directed toward them.
Can Maine end homelessness? In a word NO.
Create some form of free housing and homeless from the entire country will migrate here.
But after homes are created a way to feed these people will need to be created.
When these needs are filled there will be a huge increase in crime. inevetable.
It’s exactly the thinking like this that allows this to stay the same. We would obviously have to put regulations in place while helping those in our community.
What we need are jobs, so people can work and afford a home. Taxing more middle class for services will only increase homelessness, as they can no longer afford their homes.
This is a recently increasing problem, like the recent recession.
Exactly. And jobs that pay a living wage.
Homelessness has been a social issue for centuries. The causes of homelessness are plenty and the effects are enormous. While there are currently programs in place, Those programs aren’t utilized as much as they could be. Case management is a valuable resource, and with more clients becoming inelegible for mainecare, they don’t have access to those services. Mental Health and substance abuse treatment can be cost prohibitive to a client with little or no income. Without proper treatment, those clients continue to engage in risky behaviors.
Here is a suggextion: Let all the Liberals in Maine, especially those from away who live in Portland and its surrounding areas each “adopt” a homeless person by taking them into their own homes and providing them food and shelter on a daily basis. That way, they ” walk the talk” if that is possible for a liberal and it saves the state tax payer money.
As opposed to all the right-wing extemists who would rather let them starve to death or freeze to death in the cold. Or better yet, the extremists would just rather shoot them all and be done with it, right?
They could try couch surfing, like our governor did.
Yes we can end homelessness for 90%. The studies show that homelessness is circumstantial and only 10% is chosen. We need to stop allowing the buildings to sit empty, businesses like Lowes, Target, Wal-Mart and Home Depot in without them donating to their community to make it better. No restaurants or fast food places in without them donating the left over food instead of tossing perfectly good food in a dumpster. Places of employment, education, landlords and the homeless shelters should be creating a group where they work together to better their community and the community also needs to work with those as well.
We need to stop this multi-dimensional thinking and get down to the realities. Common sense is how we can fix it. I’ve lived on the streets, lived within this sytem of the unhealth and human unservices. It’s broken and those trying to fix it need to step down and let those who know it in.
We at Keeping it Real know this all too well and want to work with all of those involved to find a way to fill the gaps that are here and help recreate the Maine we were raised in. As the saying once went, “As Maine goes, so does the Nation.” We have sadly lost this title or direction and need to get back on track.
Bangor is great at setting law levels far above those of the state itself. Well how about now? It’s time to set a real standard. it’s time to challenge the norm and go far beyond what has been done before. I’m sure we can handle it and will do so with an amazing zeal.
I think you left out something here “We need to stop allowing the buildings to sit empty, businesses like
Lowes, Target, Wal-Mart and Home Depot|——| in without them donating to their
community to make it better.”
move in you mean? what do you mean donating to their community? you mean like %20 of their revenue? because they already pay taxes at the federal, state, and local level. Then those tax dollars get pumped into failing bureaucracy like DHHS. I think expecting already tax private enterprise to further “donate” is not reasonable. Hell I don’t think asking individuals like myself who have %30 of their wages taken to give any more is reasonable. I think seeking a better more efficient system for helping people is reasonable.
Restaurants and fast food places have relatively low food waste especially if they are run efficiently. However I worked for shaws for 2 years and the amount of food we threw away was crazy. We filled a 200 yard garbage compactor about every 2-3 weeks and that was just the dover foxcroft store I am sure bangor fills theirs much faster.