Problems to Be Solved1. Large numbers of people are living on the street in squalid conditions in urban areasOver half a million people are currently experiencing homelessness in the U.S. Many of these people are “chronically homeless,” having been unhoused for a year or more. “Since 2017 there has been an increase in those living unsheltered by about 2 percent. Recent counts have found nearly 200,000 people living unsheltered across the country, making homelessness more visible. People living unsheltered tend to be concentrated in cities with booming economies and skyrocketing rents, but the problem is not limited to these locations.” 2. Many mentally ill and severely addicted people are not receiving adequate careEstimates vary widely, but more than 50% of chronically homeless people suffer from some form of mental illness and/or addiction. And approximately 25% are severely mentally ill. 3. Housing has become unaffordable in many American cities“Across the country, Americans are running out of affordable places to live. … Today, the country is 6.8 million units short of what is needed to meet new housing needs. … Between 2001 and 2019, median rents rose faster than median renter incomes in nearly every state.” 4. Homeless encampments in urban areas create a health and safety problem for housed residents and retail businesses, and many public spaces are now regularly occupied by unhoused people“Americans up and down the West Coast say they are overwhelmed by an unprecedented rise in homeless people, hazardous encampments and related trash.” Overview of Our Policy Proposal on Homelessness“The persistence of large numbers of homeless Americans is one of the signal policy failures of the past two generations.”1 We are failing to care for our neediest people, and their continuing deprivation and despair stands as a testament to our national hypocrisy. Ending the epidemic of homelessness is therefore not only necessary to alleviate the suffering of the unhoused, it is also crucial to preserve America’s dwindling social solidarity and basic sense of collective civic virtue. The causes of widespread homelessness are numerous, and the circumstantial plight of individual homeless people varies greatly. The social crisis we currently identify as “homelessness” thus encompasses a variety of distinctly different problems, each requiring its own carefully tailored solution. Our proposal accordingly focuses on the following five overlapping solutions: 1) Significantly increase affordable housing stock through federally sponsored “low regulation construction zones”; 2) Provide residential refuge and asylum for severely mentally ill and severely addicted people; 3) Distinguish between people who are “temporarily unhoused,” “severely mentally ill,” and “chronically homeless,” in order to serve the specific needs of each group; 4) Strike a “grand bargain” between local communities and service resistant chronically homeless people; and 5) Implement “backpack funding” to honor the preferences of chronically homeless people. The Home Safe Haven Fund is financed by donations from residents, businesses, and community organizations, with most funding coming from an annual campaign. Money disbursed from the Home Safe Haven must be used to benefit people experiencing homelessness in Long Beach.
