A new study on homelessness found that most homeless people and vagrants are living on the street because of “social” problems, and less than half are seeking employment.
The study, “Toward a New Understanding: The California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness,” was conducted by the University of California – San Francisco and published last month.
Researchers found that only 12% of homeless people were homeless because housing costs were too high, while 22% said they left their last home because of “lost or reduced income.”
“Social” reasons were given by 63% of respondents, while less than half (47%) said there was an economic reason for their being without reliable shelter. Only 44% of homeless respondents were even looking for employment, making the majority vagrants by definition.
The study also found that 82% of those on the streets “experienced a serious mental health condition,” of which only 27% of them had been hospitalized at some point. Additionally, 62% reported having “regularly used illicit drugs.”
Despite such figures, various news outlets claimed the study supports “Housing First” policies as a solution to homelessness and vagrancy.
The federal government has promoted Housing First since the policy was adopted by former President Barack Obama’s administration in 2013.
Housing First is defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as a policy approach that offers housing without requirements such as sobriety, counseling, job training, or employment.
The Los Angeles Times claimed the study disproves the “common perception” that has “long tied the road to homelessness with mental illness and drug addiction.”
“Precarious poverty of the working poor” is a more significant cause, according to the LA Times’ interpretation of the study, despite the study drawing stronger correlations between homelessness and drug abuse and mental illness.
Similarly, The New York Times claimed the study found that “a lack of affordable housing, not a mental illness or substance abuse, was the main driver of homelessness.”
“Advocates of ‘Housing First’ as the solution for homelessness are praising a new study that supposedly proves their case,” wrote Caitlyn Axe of the Discovery Institute’s Center on Wealth and Poverty (CWP).
“The trouble is, the study … proves no such thing,” she claimed. “In fact, it highlights what federal and state officials keep dodging, the problems of drug addiction and mental illness within the homeless population.”
CWP released a report last year which found that Housing First solutions are not likely to solve homelessness or vagrancy because they fail to address the underlying causes of mental illness and drug abuse, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
According to the CWP report, Housing First solutions are “doomed to failure” because they “begin with an inadequate diagnosis of the cause.”
Housing First has served as the guiding policy of the City of Dallas in its homelessness response efforts, alongside periodic public advisories that recommend people not give money to panhandlers who may use the assistance to purchase drugs or alcohol.
Through their partnership, the City of San Antonio and the nonprofit Haven for Hope have taken a different approach to the issue.
Haven for Hope offers a one-stop shop for supportive services and emergency housing on a single campus, keeping the problems that stem from homelessness and vagrancy relatively isolated in one location. Many Dallas residents registered their favor for such a model in a recent survey conducted by The Dallas Express.
Meanwhile, a satisfaction survey from the City government found that 75% of residents believe homelessness remains a “major” problem. Additional polling conducted by The Dallas Express has shown that parents, in particular, are concerned about homelessness, vagrancy, and panhandling in the city.
