This past April Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski issued an executive order creating a state “Ending Homelessness Advisory Council.” Over the summer I was asked to serve on the council as the faith community representative. My first council meeting was today. From the governor’s press release:
The 24-member Ending Homelessness Advisory Council (EHAC) will serve as the designated state entity in the fight to end homelessness, the Governor said. In addition to serving as an advocate for the homeless within state government, EHAC will develop a 10-year plan and collaborate on implementing local plans to end homelessness. It will also recommend needed changes in the law to the Governor and the legislature, and will prepare an annual report that summarizes Oregon’s progress in the effort against homelessness.
“We have all seen the statistics,” the Governor said. “On any given night, more than 10,500 Oregonians endure the darkness and the cold of homelessness. Even more troubling, 37 percent of these are children who are 17 or younger. More than 2,000 are children under 12.”
I start my service on the council with some concerns but also some praise. The governor’s council includes a number of high level state and local officials – including members of the Legislature – and is chaired by the director of the Oregon Department of Housing and Community Services. That kind of involvement by prominent members of government is needed and the governor should be applauded for the creation of the council.
What will be the impact?
Oregon and local communities are following the lead of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and focusing their efforts on fighting chronic homelessness. Homeless advocates have been critical. The National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Policy and Advocacy Council have said:
First, the "chronic homelessness" initiative does not address the reality of homelessness in our states and communities. We have witnessed growth in the scale and severity of homelessness among families with children, unaccompanied youth, and other populations who do not fit neatly into the "chronic homeless" paradigm. Yet current federal mandates are forcing our communities to overlook these gaps and needs in favor of a narrowly-constructed national priority. Non-disabled populations in our communities face service gaps that, if left unaddressed, have the potential to cause irreparable harm. For example, children who experience homelessness are at a much higher risk of developing disabilities, suffer from increased rates of illness, and encounter numerous academic difficulties. By ignoring their plight now, under the questionable assumption that families move through homelessness more quickly and are therefore unaffected, the Administration is all but guaranteeing the perpetuation of "chronic" homelessness into the foreseeable future.
We are also concerned that the "chronic homelessness" initiative, as currently envisioned, fails to end homelessness even for those individuals who fit the initiative's priorities. While supportive housing is a critical component of ending homelessness for many individuals with disabilities, by itself it cannot prevent people with disabilities from becoming homeless. Similarly, "discharge planning" is a laudable goal, but when no affordable housing exists to which people can be discharged, it becomes merely an exercise in problem management. Only a sustained effort to address the systemic causes of homelessness, including lack of adequate health care, affordable housing, and livable incomes, will prevent and end homelessness for people with and without disabilities. This is perhaps the most perplexing aspect of the "chronic homelessness" initiative: the complete absence of any discussion of poverty. To separate homelessness from poverty is to fundamentally distort its causes -- which is precisely what the chronic homelessness dialogue appears to have accomplished.
The Bush Administration is thrilled with the governor’s new council.
But Oregon will never end homelessness without addressing poverty. Neither will the United States. Unfortunately, we know that poverty has increased under the Bush Administration and the U.S. Conference of Mayors reports that cities are seeing increasing numbers of people seeking emergency shelter – and many of those folks are families with children.
Could the governor make a dent in the number of people experiencing homelessness in Oregon? Yes. What we need is a plan to fight poverty in our state. But that isn’t likely. In the meantime, I’ll do what I can on the council to raise the important issues. There is the potential for some progress and I respect the people involved. At least the issue of homelessness is on the governor’s agenda.