Halving number of homeless will be expensive

In 2004 – the last year for which complete statistics are available – Spokane and Spokane County saw nearly 7,300 persons seeking assistance for homelessness.

On any single day, officials said, the number of homeless runs about 1,900 residents. One fourth of them are in families with dependent children.

A 2005 state law calls for cutting that number by half in 10 years. The federal government has a separate requirement for ending what it considers chronic homelessness, a condition affecting about 250 people in the survey, according to the one-day count in January 2005.

A new survey says it would cost nearly $100 million initially for the city and county to meet the state goal. That money would provide housing and support services needed by the homeless population.

On top of that, an additional $40 million would be needed annually to pay for maintenance and continued support.

A large part of the ongoing annual cost would go for social services typically needed by those individuals defined as chronically homeless. They often are coping with problems such as drug abuse, mental illness or developmental disabilities, conditions that can make it more difficult to maintain housing.

“We are really working with a pretty fragile population,” said June Shapiro, Spokane’s city director of human services. “It’s hard to keep a lot of these homeless people housed without the supportive services.”

Earlier this month, the Spokane City Council and Spokane County commission adopted a 10-year regional plan to address the problem. Nearly 100 people from dozens of local agencies participated in drafting the document.

“This can truly only be solved if we work as a team,” George Nachtsheim, a Spokane architect who served on the steering committee for the study, told the City Council in December.

Despite the daunting amount of money and the number of homeless residents needing help, Nachtsheim said he believes the city can achieve its state-mandated goal through a communitywide response. “This is a do-able thing,” he said. “Let’s get to work.”

The 100-page survey also points to the need to prevent additional residents from becoming homeless.

“Poverty, illness, disability and violence are primary risk factors,” the survey states. “Developing the ability within the homeless-service system to aid individuals and families with pending evictions or utility shutoff notices due to financial crises, and enhancing the regional response to violence, is paramount.”

Currently, the city receives nearly $2 million a year in federal grants to assist homeless persons.

That is considered only a fraction of the $100 million or more needed to build 1,450 housing units and to provide support services to the residents.

The 10-year plan outlines benefits that might come from the effort.

“The homeless who are stabilized might begin to contribute to the community through volunteer and for-pay work. Their esteem and sense of identity would increase, raising the bar within the region ever so slightly, but assuredly,” the survey says.

“The prevalence of street panhandling would diminish. The business community and their customers would feel safer and more comfortable. Enterprises considering relocation or start-up would more likely find the environment pleasing and appreciate that we are a compassionate and proactive community,” the survey concludes.

Shapiro pointed out that the cost of homelessness is already immense in terms of its drain on existing resources, particularly in areas of criminal justice and health care where the costs of incarceration or treatment have become major problems.

“As long as they are on the street, they are an expense to the community,” Shapiro said.