Poverty and Inequality » Affordable Housing

Evidence from Los Angeles that housing the homeless saves money

Bill — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:47:48 +0000

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) today released a study by the Economic Roundtable that provides even more evidence that providing permanent supportive housing for the chronically homeless can ultimately provide public cost savings. These savings have been documented in research in cities across the nation, with the early work being done by Dennis Culhane and colleagues on New York.

Finally, we are beginning to have numbers that show similar savings in Los Angeles. Last month, United Way of Greater Los Angeles released a case study report of four individuals that showed a 40% decline in public costs.

Economic Roundtable’s Where We Sleep report shows similar levels of savings, but with a much more comprehensive data set (including 10,000 recipients of General Relief in the County). This chart from the report shows how much public costs decline after someone is placed into supportive housing.

Average Monthly Public Costs for Persons in Supportive Housing and Comparable Homeless Persons

Source: Economic Roundtable, Where We Sleep, 2009

That’s a 79% reduction in average public costs. Even when accounting for the cost to provide permanent housing (average of $750 for capital and $352 for operational costs per month), there is a 41% decline in costs.

For years, studies around the country have shown similar cost savings; but a common response in Los Angeles has been, “well, we don’t know if that’s true for L.A.” (we are special here after all). With this evidence, what’s our excuse for not doing everything we can to provide permanent supportive housing for those who need it? Not only is it the right thing to do: it’s the smart thing to do.

Los Angeles Foreclosures

Bill — Tue, 19 May 2009 04:50:00 +0000

We hear nearly everyday about the growing number of foreclosures in our country, particularly in boom-and-bust markets like Los Angeles. This chart provides a historical picture that shows what a unique moment we are in.

In the last LA housing bust during the early 1990s, foreclosures doubled from under 15,000 in 1992 to over 33,000 in 1996 and 1997. As the economy boomed, the number of foreclosures declined steadily to under 1,000 by 2005. That eight-year decline was reversed in three quick years, with 2008 skyrocketing to nearly 40,000 foreclosures.

The early part of this decade looks like a nice, slow coast downhill. Too bad we didn’t put on the brakes; maybe we could’ve avoided this current steep uphill climb.

Homeless children: a national disgrace

Bill — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:50:30 +0000

The National Center on Family Homelessness NCFH today released a report outlining the extent of homelessness among children in the U.S. In America’s Youngest Outcasts: State Report Card on Child Homelessness, NCFH researchers found:

More than 1.5 million children are homeless annually in the United States—one in every 50 American children.
42 percent of homeless children are younger than age 6.
Homeless children have twice the rate of moderate to severe health conditions compared to middle class children, and twice the emotional problems.
More than 1 in 7 homeless children have moderate to severe health conditions, such as asthma.
Homeless children struggle in school, with an average 16% lower proficiency in math and reading, and an estimated graduation rate below 25%.

The report includes data for all 50 states along four major domains (extent of child homelessness; child well-being; risk for child homelessness; and state policy and planning efforts) and rankings by state, as well as a policy platform to address the problem of child homelessness.

There is a wealth of information on the report and the Campaign to End Child Homelessness at http://www.homelesschildrenamerica.org