A study says Boise’s apartments for the homeless work. So why is homelessness still rising?

BOISE – A new Boise State University study says that housing Boise set aside for chronically homeless people in 2018 has saved millions in emergency services, including ambulance, police, detox services and other costs.

The report by Boise State’s Idaho Policy Institute provides support for proponents of a “housing first” model that advocates for placing chronically homeless people into apartments and then providing case management, physical and mental-health care once they are stably housed. Ada County commissioners have expressed skepticism of this approach, arguing that drug treatment should be a larger focus, the Idaho Statesman previously reported.

The study found that over its lifespan, Boise’s permanent supportive housing for this population has saved nearly $9 million and tens of thousands of man-hours in emergency services. That compares with the nearly $1 million the Boise City/Ada County Housing Authorities have spent on rental assistance to house 91 residents at New Path, a 40-unit apartment complex in West Downtown that incorporates wraparound services for residents exiting homelessness.

The cost of those services is just over $700,000 per year, said Maria Weeg, a spokesperson for the city of Boise. Tenants pay 30% of their income, if they have any, for rent. The rest is covered by a housing voucher. A standard apartment includes a bedroom, a bathroom, a living room, a refrigerator, stoves and ovens, and several closets, the Statesman previously reported.

The city and its development partners plan to bring nearly 200 permanent supportive housing units online in the coming years, according to a Tuesday news release by Our Path Home, a Boise-led organization that works with other city, county, nonprofit and private organizations to prevent homelessness.

Casey Mattoon, the manager of Our Path Home, said these projects include:

A 95-unit New Path 2.0 Community Housing

• apartment building that is under construction at 2200 W. Fairview Ave., next to the existing New Path apartments.
• The 47-unit

• in the Lusk District at 860 W. Sherwood St., which is expected to be ready to lease by next fall.
• The 50-unit

, which is still being designed and

and would be built on a city-owned parcel at 215 S. 15th St., next to Rhodes Skate Park and the city’s

Despite these efforts, homelessness is still climbing in Ada County, according to January data released Tuesday.

Our Path Home’s annual “point-in-time” count found nearly 800 homeless people in Boise, a 14% increase in homelessness from 2023 and a 22% increase from 2020, according to the release. Our Path Home conducts the voluntary survey of people, including families with children, who are accessing emergency shelter or sleeping on the street.

Rising housing prices and a shortage of housing stock in the Boise area are driving the continued increase in homelessness, Mattoon said.

“The issue is, we are so far behind in terms of the total investments that the community is making, so we’re not able to meet that demand today, nor were we able to meet the demand several years ago,” Mattoon told the Statesman by phone. “That’s coupled with, we have more people that are entering homelessness for the first time ever now than we have ever before.

“That isn’t about what we’re doing that’s working. That’s about the lack of housing, and the lack of affordable housing that’s putting families across the Treasure Valley into crisis.”

More than 90% of the people experiencing homelessness in the Boise area are from the Treasure Valley, Mattoon said.

“This is a local program,” he said. “This is our neighbors, and this is our problem to solve.”