Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor:

I have subscribed to Shelterforce for years because you generally do such a good job of clarifying the issues that are often muddled in political and policy debates and you consistently provide a progressive perspective on those debates. Unfortunately, I don't think your recent article on Housing First ("Too Much of a Good Thing?" Spring 2007) accomplished those goals. It confused important distinctions between policy discussions about HUD's take on chronic homelessness, permanent supportive housing, and Housing First initiatives.

HUD's narrow definition of chronic homelessness - one that excludes families - has been challenged by a range of advocacy groups. A recent policy brief by the Corporation for Supportive Housing and the National Center on Family Homelessness ("The Role of Permanent Supportive Housing in Addressing Family Homelessness," www.csh.org) suggests a number of ways of expanding that definition to include families that experience long-term homelessness.

There is no doubt that permanent supportive housing was developed with single adults as its most prevalent tenants. Extending that model to homeless families requires thoughtful attention to the different needs of parents and children, and the differing contexts of family homelessness. Instead, the Shelterforce article caricatured permanent supportive housing as "programs administered by social workers." In contrast, core values of permanent supportive housing include the voluntary nature of services and the use of landlord-tenant law rather than programmatic, service relationships.

Finally, Housing First initiatives need to be understood independent of the two policy issues described above. Some homeless families and individuals can benefit from transitional programs - recovery-based programs for persons with addictions come to mind - and certainly emergency shelters are needed so long as people experience homelessness. A Housing First model suggests that secure, affordable, permanent housing ought to be the first intervention and that housing stability lays the groundwork for addressing other factors that undermine health and safety. This emphasis appears to hold promise whether or not a homeless household includes children or meets a particular HUD definition.

So, if you agree that HUD should expand its definition of chronic homelessness, that shouldn't lead you to reject a Housing First emphasis. And if you are working to create housing opportunities for homeless families, you shouldn't immediately reject permanent supportive housing as a piece of your work.