Comments for Poverty and Inequality

Comment on Providing housing for the homeless saves money by d

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 21:17:19 +0000

you know, that is true, but just giving them a free housing unit in a complex designated for them, and the same free medical benefit that others get, plus a bus pass; would do the trick for many. then they wouldn’t be homeless and desperate any more. they would have safety, a shower, a place to cook, sleep etc. to start out freah and maybe get a job that way. hard to get a job when homeless, for those reasons- no way to make yourself presentable, receive mail, phone calls, etc.
“supportive housing” unfortunately, the way it is currently designed with huge costs via the middlemen (nonprofits and agencies), are eating up inordinate amounts of housing dollars for these kinds of programs. They may cost 5 times the usual cost of housing.
So that means these organizations are scamming together to get their share of the public dollar pie, and it is huge.
Putting up 100 people in supportive housign for some reason , is costing so much, that 1000 other people are being left out on the streets with NO roof over their head. THIS HAS TO STOP.
the first step even in the chronically homeless cases, is always, GET THEM INTO SHELTER. so for all other homelss as well. because then they can function more normally. SO THIS SHOULD BE THE PRIORITY; GET EVERYONE INTO A HOUSING UNIT FIRST. then start with teh supportive services, which require for some reason, funding fromt he same sources as housing funding. Which mayb eis the key. Fund the supportive services from something other than housing funds, so the poorest who are now homeless , are not robbed as “Peter”, to pay the nonprofits, who are “Paul” or more accurately, the fat self-righteous Pharisees.

Comment on Segregation just isn’t news any more by Big Brother

Big Brother — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 14:22:19 +0000

Interesting statistics. Diversity/integration are important. But what’s more alarming is the destruction of inner-city schools and education, which impacts minorities most(http://townhall.com/columnists/WalterEWilliams/2009/12/23/black_education). The recent elimination of the D.C. voucher program (which would allow inner-city students to attend private schools like the ones the Obama girls attend) is also troubling.

Comment on Segregation just isn’t news any more by rhonda meister

rhonda meister — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 05:41:01 +0000

This is such important information to get out there. Thank you so much for publishing this. I think I am up on the date and poverty stats. This is truly depressing and something I will spread to my network.
Happy Holidays.

Rhonda

Comment on And the winner is… by Simon Fraser

Simon Fraser — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 01:05:07 +0000

Great post, Bill.
This is a creative way to bring the attention to a set of statistics that are paradoxically all to easily forgotten and at the same time hard to ignore.
Long may the world cup analogies continue!
-Simon

Comment on Providing housing for the homeless saves money by Los Angeles study shows fiscal wisdom of supportive housing «

Los Angeles study shows fiscal wisdom of supportive housing « — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:31:45 +0000

[...] now can demonstrate its own success. Last month, United Way of Greater Los Angeles released a case study report of four individuals that showed a 40% decline in public [...]

Comment on Evidence from Los Angeles that housing the homeless saves money by Oscar

Oscar — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:21:23 +0000

Very interesting. Would it be possible to find supportive housing for as many as 10,000 people? That’s not a minor undertaking given the lack of affordable housing in L.A…

Comment on Providing housing for the homeless saves money by Evidence from Los Angeles that housing the homeless saves money « Poverty and Inequality

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:48:15 +0000

[...] 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 [...]

Comment on New Homeless Numbers for L.A. What did we expect? by Gary Blasi

Gary Blasi — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:49:23 +0000

LAHSA’s comments interpreting their report go far beyond the data they present.

The only way to compare point in time estimates from one time to another is to use the same methodology each time. It is not clear from LAHSA’s reports how their methodology has changed, as Bill reports that it has. In addition, when one is counting “visibly homeless” people, as LAHSA did, one has to assume that the proportion of “visible” homeless people does not change. As many people who work at the ground level know, increased police pressure in many areas has caused homeless people to seek out locations where they are less likely to be seen.

LASHSA’s data are also inconsistent with other information, including recent administrative data from the General Relief program, from which the County says that about 50,000 of the 83,000 on General Relief are homeless. And previous studies have consistently found that only a fraction of homeless people are receiving General Relief.

LAHSA credits the change in numbers counted to economic and policy changes, which may or may not be the case. LAHSA makes claims about, for example, the contributions of increases in permanent supportive housing and extremely low income housing to the reduced estimates. But there are much more direct ways for LASHA to determine, and tell the public, what those numbers are. It is much easier to count housing units than homeless people.

By any acceptable methodology, which LAHSA’s may turn out to be after a full vetting, the key point is the one made by Bill Pitkin: The number of unsheltered and unhoused people in Los Angeles is still extremely large by the standards of any other community in the U.S. It is a little early for self-congratulation.

Comment on Rise in Poverty in the U.S. by New Homeless Numbers for L.A. What did we expect? « Poverty and Inequality

New Homeless Numbers for L.A. What did we expect? « Poverty and Inequality — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:49:44 +0000

[...] over the past year, leading many of us to assume that social conditions have been worsening. Poverty and unemployment, and foreclosures have clearly been on the rise, and certainly we’ve [...]

Comment on Why by Roxy Cross

Roxy Cross — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:34:47 +0000

Hi Bill, Just found your blog through one of my followers on Twitter, @Meryl333. I am growing food for the homeless in Ogden UT and love learning what is working in other areas. My project is uber-beta, but we’ve had some success and are working on a winter location indoors! Thanks, Roxy