Anthony G.

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Jaya Dubey
Writing 39C: Research and Argument
30 May 2014
Into Our Line of Sight: Bringing the Homeless Home

While walking past a homeless man, the man sits there holding a sign that says:
Homeless, please help. God Bless. He has an empty can out in front of him and slouches
against the wall. The blanket he is sitting on top of is worn out and dirty. You can see that his
face has been brought down from stress and time. His pain stops you in your tracks and you take
out your wallet. You give the man five dollars to help him survive his day-to-day life. But what
if you were able to give him so much more than five dollars. What if you are able to give the
man so much more? What if you could provide him a new place to live, food, or even hope? The
homeless population in Los Angeles has grown over the years and as the population grew the
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homeless population became even more concentrated in Skid Row. With an increasing homeless
population and focusing the population into one area it creates new problems that arise.
As a result of the homeless situation, issues like a disease outbreak, economic issues, and
land depreciation. Due to stressful living situations, poor diets, or are sick with other diseases
(The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Response to Community Concerns
About Active Tuberculosis (TB) Disease Among the Homeless) the homeless people are more
likely to become sick and susceptible to diseases as well. In the past five years, more and more
homeless people are being reported to contract tuberculosis, a bacterial disease that has
symptoms of coughing, coughing up blood, weigh loss, night sweats, fatigue, and fever
(Lupkin). And although it has not become a major epidemic outbreak, the tuberculosis outbreak
can become out of hand if left uncontrolled and only to continue spreading. As the homeless get
sick they may get sent to hospitals, but how are they to pay for the hospitalization? By the
Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTLA), hospitals are required to give anyone
who enters the emergency room care despite race, gender, or ability to pay. So how do the
homeless pay for the treatment they get? The money comes from taxpayers who end up paying
for the homeless. Each visit
costs $3,700; thats $18,500 spent
per year for the average person
and $44,400 spent per year for the
highest users of emergency
departments (The Cost of
Homelessness Facts) and 80%
of emergency room visits made by people struggling with homelessness is for an illness that
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could have been treated with preventative care (The Cost of Homelessness Facts). As
homeless people enter the emergency rooms for illnesses that could be easily be prevented if
they had the resources or access to the resources the taxpayer money allocated to this could be
used for something else. Slowly as the homeless population continues to grow and increase,
adversely the value of the area they inhabit continues to decrease. Consumers and people tend to
stray away from the homeless population and thus also straying from the surrounding businesses.
In a way, [the homeless] cost [them] business ("Downtown Businesses Want Homeless Camp
to Move"). Without a source of consumers for these there is no way to keep the businesses up
and running.
The homeless population expanded, as there was a decrease of affordable housing, job
losses, substance abuse, lack of available options after leaving an institution, and disabilities.
From the United States Housing Crisis, there were 846,982 home foreclosures that lead to a
significant increase number of people experiencing homelessness leaving them unable to pay for
their homes in turn increasing the homeless population. Alongside lack of affordable housing
there is also a lack in jobs. As there low wages, falling incomes, and lack of secure jobs, people
are unable to pay for housing let alone also paying for things like health care and collecting for
their savings. Other factors that also contribute to the growth of the homeless population include
people who have been detained in institutions like prison or a mental hospital and are released,
but have no place to go back to. This connects to people who are affected by factors like
substance abuse and different mental or physical disabilities. All these factors contribute to the
overall growth of the homeless population in Los Angeles.
One great solution that needs to be implemented here in the Los Angeles is one that was
started New York. A nonprofit organization called Common Ground focuses their efforts
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towards bringing chronically homeless population in New York into permanent housing and
keeping them off the streets. Common Ground focuses on one of the major reasons why
homelessness persists and continues to grow throughout time: lack of affordable housing. One of
the most success programs that Common Ground continues to implement is their systematic
approach of getting the hard to house individuals on the streets of New York into permanent
housing. Although the organization focuses in New York and is main goal is to get the homeless
in New York into permanent housing, by adopting key ideas that the Common Ground has and
their programs, we can help fight against
homelessness in Los Angeles as well. With a
program like Common Ground, it is an
excellent solution since the program aims
towards focusing on one of the major causes
of homeless which is affordable housing, the
program can continue to spread and cover
more parts of the United States, and because
of how effective a program like this is so
successful in such a major city like New York it can work in Los Angeles and perhaps maybe the
rest of the world. Common Grounds Street to Home is the systematic program how they
identify and prioritize [chronically homeless individuals] for housing those who have been
outdoors the longest and who have the highest risk of premature death on the streets (Street to
Home). The program takes the time to obtain the trust of the chronically homeless people and
offering them housing even without conditions. Street to Home is able to show that even the
hard to house do want a home and can put into permanent housing.
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Bringing a program that is modeled from one like Common Grounds Street to Home to
Los Angeles can work here as its goal is to affect the housing situation which cause many
people to become homeless. Lack of housing affordability is a leading cause of homelessness in
America (Housing Affordability Challenges), so by focusing our efforts towards one of the
major causes of homelessness will make a difference. Somewhere between 1.6 million and 3.5
Americans were homeless at some time during 2008 (Housing Affordability Challenges). The
Street to Home program does not just assist the homeless population into temporary housing
situations, but instead helps keep them there within permanent housing and off the streets for
good. The caring, individually tailored attention clients receive at each stage of their journey
from street to home ensures that more than 90% of people who Common Ground places remain
stably housed (Street to Home). This system that Common Ground has is able to keep the
homeless people they help away from ending back on the streets. They start off by having
outreach workers head out onto the streets to talk and build trust with homeless individuals and
offer to help them to shelters and other transitional housing available and most importantly to
help with securing permanent housing. The homeless individual will have a case opened where
they will be determined if they are eligible to be considered chronically homeless and be part of
the extensive Street to Home program. Soon after determining the eligibility of the individual
there is an in depth application on personal information which include questions regarding health
assessments, income, and hospital histories to match that homeless person to supportive housing
that meets the clients mental health and substance use needs. Eventually there is an interview
with the housing provider and final reconfirmation before the individual moves into their new
home. Even after the new tenants are settled into their homes, Common Ground has supportive
services to address health issues, substance abuse, and other barriers to continued housing
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stability (The Journey from Street to Home) to help the individuals become integrated within
the community once more. The program has a major focus on providing affordable housing for a
specific people and bringing the homeless home individually. The affordability of housing was
really effected by the Housing Bubble Crisis and although the program itself is not lowering the
prices of all housing, Street to Home is able to assist the homeless find the limited affordable
housing that is available.
Common Ground and its partners are responsible for covering the entire boroughs of
Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens (Street to Home) and with a program like theirs in Los
Angeles it can cover majors parts like the concentrated homeless area of Skidrow. The area that
Street to Home covers in New York is much larger than the concentrated area of Skidrow.
Although there are more homeless people beyond the area of Skidrow, the major concentration
of homeless people in the Los Angeles County is within Skidrow itself. Knowing the program
can cover over a decent amount of area, this solution is very viable and can make a difference in
the homeless problem that persists in Los Angeles. Even though the program can cover a great
amount of area, the program itself tends to target individuals and bringing them one by one into
permanent housing. Critics would say this process would be too slow and make no difference in
the increasing homeless population. On the contrary though, the Street to Home program is able
to keep more than 90% of people who Common Ground places [into homes] remain stably
housed (Street to Home). Unlike other agencies like People Assisting the Homeless (PATH)
and Los Angeles Family Housing (LAFH), Common Ground is able to keep the homeless off the
streets and back integrated back into the community. Having a homeless individual move from
the streets, into permanent housing, and staying there is much more beneficial compared to a
homeless individual struggling and going from the streets to transitional housing, only to remain
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back into the streets.
It costs $74 per night
to house a single adult
in a shelter, $220 per
night to imprison
someone in a New
York City jail, and
$1,185 per night to
treat an inpatient in a
New York City
hospital (Why
Common Ground Works). Specifically the cost of homelessness of one mentally ill individual is
up to $58,350. Each homelessness person adds up and can become very costly in the end. All
these expenses that are a result of homelessness are paid through the government and taxpayer
money. If the homeless population started to dwindle, the government would be able to save a
great deal of money that could go to other persisting issues within our nation.
According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in their 2013
Homelessness Report New York City (with 64,060 people
who are homeless) was the top city for homelessness
followed by Los Angeles County (53,798) (Where Is The
Homeless Capital of America?). If an agency like
Common Ground could work and be effective in New
York, another one that is similar in Los Angeles could
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make a difference in the homeless population in the LA county. The homeless populations in
both New York City and in Los Angeles are very similar, so by bringing the solution here to Los
Angeles as well it could make a difference here too. Even though there are agencies in Los
Angeles that do have an aim to help the homeless population, they are not like Common Ground.
Agencies in Los Angeles like People Assisting the Homeless (PATH), I Hate My Life, and Los
Angeles Family Housing (LAFH) all have a similar drive and goal to help the homeless
population in Los Angeles, but do not
focus on one of the main causes of
homelessness. Instead these agencies offer
a several services to help the general
homeless population instead of getting
them straight off the streets. Each of these agencies provides resources for
individuals to use, but focus on a specific problem a homeless individual
had. By being able to expand programs like Street to Home to Los
Angeles and being successful, it can show that programs like this one
could help bring an end to the issue of homelessness in the rest of the
United States. By looking at how Common Ground works in New York,
we can compare it to work and become successful in Los Angeles as well. A major roadblock
though is how will an agency like that start in Los Angeles. Funding is a key component to
starting a new agency, but with the help of supporters, governmental funding, and donations it
can still be possible.
Even though agencies like Common Ground and programs like Street to Home are able to
make great strides and impacts to the homeless population, they are still not enough to end
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homelessness though. Effort must not only come out from people who work for these agencies
that focus on helping the homeless but also by the government and the rest of society. One
proposal that is currently being circulated in Congress is H.R. 2767: Protecting American
Taxpayers and Homeowners Act of 2013. This act wants to remove the Federal National
Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie
Mac) and create the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) as a fully government entity. The
Federal Housing Administration would then have the ability to provide residential mortgage
insurance and other credit enhancement related activities; supplement private sector activity;
and deliver housing mortgage insurance and credit enhancement in a non discriminatory
manner (H.R. 2767: Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners Act of 2013). Many
critics though believe that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should not be terminated since they
contributed greatly to home ownership for Americans and not a cause of the mortgage crisis.
This act only has a 20% chance of being enacted upon with a number of 52 cosponsors all of
which are Republican. There are no Democratic or other parties supporting this legislation which
make it very one sided. This act also does not fully address a major causation of homelessness,
but instead is a preventive measure to help prevent those on the verge of becoming homeless stay
off the streets by providing them mortgages. Even as a preventative measure that could slow the
increase of the homeless population, this act does not help those that are on the streets already.
According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), they estimate that enacting H.R. 2767
would increase direct spending by $229 million over the 2014-2018 period, but decrease direct
spending by $6.6 billion over the 2014-2023 period (Congressional Budget Office Cost
Estimate). In addition to that the CBO also has stated, this legislation would result in
discretionary spending of $41.2 billion over 2014 period assuming enactment of future
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appropriation laws necessary to implement the legislations provisions (Congressional Budget
Office Cost Estimate). With this act, although there are long-term benefits, we need to end up
spending more initially. These estimates also assume that the act receives all the legislation it
needs to fully be effective. Homelessness is also a problem in todays society and waiting for
Congress to enact this can continue to take a while. H.R. 2767 was introduced in July 22, 2013
and as of June 2014 it is still committee. The last action that was done was on July 24, 2013 for
Committee consideration. By the time Congress has finally be able to implement this act, the
homelessness is continuing to increase and grow. H.R. 2767 may have good intentions, but is not
good enough to help with the issue of homelessness. The legislation only acts as a preventative
measure, takes too long to be enacted upon, is only supported by Republicans and seems to not
be progressing in Congress at all.
The issue of homelessness is an ongoing issue that needs to be addressed. The increasing
homeless population in Los Angeles and especially within the concentrated area of Skidrow
continues to grow out of the sight of the public eye. Due to factors like lack of jobs, mental and
physical disabilities, or even lack of direction or support after leaving an institution all contribute
the increase of homeless population. A major factor that affects this increase is the lack of
affordable housing and an effective means of finding it. As the homeless issue lingers, new
problems within public health, economics, and property value arise. The homeless population
poses a threat for an epidemic, a costly burden on taxpayers, and harm to businesses. A step
towards ending homelessness in Los Angeles though is adopting a program like Common
Grounds Street to Home. A program like Street to Home works and can be effective in Los
Angeles since the program focuses on a major cause of homelessness, which is affordable
housing. The program is also able to cover a great deal of area in Los Angeles and seems to be
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working in New York. If programs like this can work in the top two cities with the highest
counts of homeless, it can make an impact on the problem of homelessness throughout the rest of
the United States. This program does have its own flaws like focusing on individuals and very
costly to start up in Los Angeles, but is one of the best solutions to tap on the problem of
homelessness. There are other solutions like legislations in Congress like H.R. 2767 that are
great efforts to prevent homelessness, but are not as effect as adopting a program like Street to
Home. Even though these solutions are not perfect, one solution that is very feasible and can be
very effective is for everyone to get educated and changing their views of homelessness. Many
people have very stereotypical views on homeless people being all addicts or harmful, but in
reality each homeless individual has their own story and taking the time to understand the real
problem at hand is a major step to ending homelessness as a whole.