Data says: Large-scale shelter approach to homelessness saves taxpayers $
Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter (Atlanta, Georgia) by Keizers, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Turns out, the “people-changing” model isn't just effective (90% of San Antonio's Haven for Hope grads stay in housing afterwards), but also economic: Haven for Hope, and similar shelters around the country, are saving locals money on jailing and healthcare. From the Texas Tribune.
Just 10 minutes away from the Alamo, west of San Antonio’s downtown, Haven for Hope’s massive 22-acre campus is dedicated to taking care of people experiencing homelessness. Before Abbott referenced the group’s approaches as an example for the state, he gave it the Governor’s Volunteer Award in 2017.
With an annual budget of approximately $20 million, Haven for Hope serves around 1,700 people on any given day, according to CEO and President Kenny Wilson. Around 80% of people who seek help for homelessness in San Antonio come through Haven for Hope’s $100 million campus, which has dormitories for men, women and families and an open sleeping area called the Prospect’s Courtyard.
“This is primarily people from the streets that can come in and stay with us one night or a year,” Wilson said. “And in both places, anyone who stays at Haven, they have access to good food, three great meals a day, hot meals, laundry, medical care and clothing.”
Brenda Mascorro is the executive director of the South Alamo Regional Alliance for the Homeless, the regional planning body in Bexar County that coordinates housing and services funding for homeless families and individuals. She said Haven for Hope’s shelter and collaboration with 184 nonprofit partners is a critical part of San Antonio’s response to the issue.
“The benefits of Haven for Hope are vast,” she said.
Wilson said 5,000 people have gone through Haven for Hope’s “transformational program,” where people experiencing homelessness are given personalized help finding places to live.
“We follow them, and after a year about 90% of them are still in their home,” Wilson said.
But not everyone agrees with the organization’s approach. Program participants can be asked to take a urine test or a breathalyzer if alcohol or drug use is suspected. If people are intoxicated or high, they can’t enter the campus until they are sober. Once sober, they will meet with a treatment team to discuss the situation and analyze if treatment is needed.
This approach contradicts the current trend in homelessness services, which instead aims to find housing — despite conditions like alcoholism or drug use — and then focus on solving other problems through support services. This is what experts call the “housing first” model.
In the last two decades, dozens of studies have quantified what many say is the model’s positive impact. The American Journal of Public Health published a study in 2004 that found around 80% of people helped through the housing first model remained housed after two years.
At the same time, research suggests that model saves taxpayers by cutting the costs of jailing or providing health care to people experiencing homelessness. A study published in 2006 found that in Denver, the approach led to a decline in emergency room visits that saved $31,545 per program participant. And incarceration days and costs were reduced by 76%.
Read the whole thing here.
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