Let me begin this column by saluting the efforts of Kern County’s cities and unincorporated county areas to formally address the problem of homelessness. A review of their efforts reveals:
- Untold hours of brainstorming, grant writing, coordinating among private and public agencies, and bringing scores of highly talented people and experts together to address our problem of rising public homelessness.
- Millions spent on local initiatives to bring needed assistance to those living in desperate circumstances.
- Very sophisticated surveys and studies done to drill deep into the nature of the problem, and highly useful data mined to understand how to provide shelter and other kinds of services to those who wish to avail themselves of them.
A yawning gap has been revealed in all that data though that reveals the existence of a subset of the homeless that bedevils all efforts to achieve the stated goal of zero homeless on our streets.
- Built out hundreds of beds and of various types for the homeless.
- Adapted facilities to accommodate all kinds of living arrangements for the homeless.
- Created new ways of meeting their needs by creating “continuum of care” (CoC) programs that meet the homeless on their level of need.
- Reached into otherwise disconnected agencies to create pathways and new connecting agencies for the homeless to move around and within such agencies to obtain every kind of service they may need.
- Implemented Laura’s Law and the CARE Act for the homeless mentally ill and dangerous.
No stone has been left unturned by our local leaders to find ways help the homeless find and deliver whatever they may need to get back on their feet and into a sheltered living arrangement. Health care, including mental health care and every other kind of medically related care, has been made freely available to the homeless.
According to public records (Kern County Service Gap Analysis), in our efforts to help the homeless:
- We identified 1,580 homeless potential clients still needing interim housing and shelter beds, of which only 576 are receiving this service.
- We find that only 147 of 500 new shelter beds are occupied; a 70.6 percent vacancy rate.
- We identified 2,833 homeless potential clients still needing rental assistance, of which only 1,895 are receiving this service.
- We identified 2,400 homeless potential clients still needing outreach, of which only 1,205 are receiving this service.
- We identified 1,947 homeless potential clients still needing prevention and diversion services, of which only 84 are receiving this service.
There has been no lack of very bright, highly motivated, and extremely skilled and talented people getting their heads together to get their arms around our homelessness problem. So why is there such an expansive gap remaining between what we — at great expense — have prepared ourselves to do for the homeless and what the homeless are actually getting? Is spending more money on more shelters of various types, or more services of various types the answer? Until we know the reasons behind the above-listed gaps, spending more money on what we’re already doing may not be all that helpful.
We may need to spend more time, money and talent on figuring out why so many homeless potential clients are still not receiving services designed for them. A few questions may need to be asked:
- Are homeless potential clients aware of services?
- Is every homeless person desirous of services?
- Can they get to help centers?
- Are outreach personnel or agencies, including law enforcement, sufficient in number to bring the homeless to help centers?
- What are the obstacles/barriers (removable and irremovable) that thwart access to services?
- Have we studied the budgeting and “best practices” of other cities/counties who’ve solved their homelessness problem?
- Are we giving the homeless the budgetary priority we should?
- What about the shelter-resistant homeless?
Seems like a pause to step back and rethink things, or perhaps bring in an independent systems/logistics specialist, might be in order.
Brik McDill, Ph.D., is a retired psychologist and author of “Dangerous Marriage”; “Parenting the Prodigal”; and “Raising Safety-Smart Kids.” His newest, “Instilling Ethical Excellence ... A Roadmap for Instilling Ethical Excellence in our Children,” is in production with an international publisher.
