We have done everything else first," he said. "We told them to take their medical pills, treated them for mental health first; we tried to get them clean and sober first, we've given them tenant training first. Why would we do everything else, when what they need is housing, and it should be obvious? It's housing first."
What's more, he continued, "in study after study," housing the homeless - whether they have been diagnosed with mental illness, or alcohol or drug problems, or with a prior history of being unsuccessful tenants- - has proven vastly more successful than any other approach. With the change to "housing first," success in reconstructing the lives of the chronically homeless has gone, he said, from 15 percent to 85 percent."
It turned out that getting stable housing provides the fundamental security these people need; a platform for recovery from alcohol, for treatment, for being able to hold down the job and stay sober," Carlson said. "All that won't happen if you are living on the street. They need permanent supportive housing, housing first, and then after that we can offer them drug treatment or mental health treatment. When they have a home they will take you up on your offer" of other kinds of assistance.
Carlson's got it right: HOUSING FIRST!
However, what's important to realize is that, instead of being the effect, homelessness and dire poverty may often be the cause of alcoholism, psychological disorders, etc. In many places, there is comparably less assistance available to "ordinary" people, those without psychological problems and without alcohol/drug problems, should they end up homeless. Since funding tends to be slated for treatment of those suffering from the likes of mental illness or substance addition, little is slated for programs to help those who don't fall into categories stereotypically attached to the homeless. It may be a matter of time until "homelessness" itself leaves an ordinary, healthy person suffering from alcoholism or mental disorders.
With no other options, any ordinary person who ends up broke and homeless might use alcohol to kill the pain of a tooth ache or to stay warm in the winter. Imagine yourself living outdoors in the middle of town for months or years, with no income and no resources, in front of all your well-fed acquaintances who, for whatever reasons, refuse to help you, no matter how obvious your need. Would you keep your cheerful demeanor after staying awake for several days because it's illegal to be caught sleeping under an awning during prolonged rain? Would you keep on smiling and laughing after months or years of being expelled, threatened with arrest, for trying to get warm at indoor establishments where you can't afford to be a paying customer? After moths or years of a diet that depends on random scraps from dumpsters? After days, weeks, months or years with no bath? After being threatened or attacked by vigilantes, just because you're a convenient scapegoat whose tattered and dirty clothes spoil the scenery? After months or years of trying to hide your homelessness in order to avoid being a target of violence, arrest, or ridicule? Or, contrarily, after swallowing your pride in order to suffer months or years of scorn for begging and pleading for help? Would it not be enough to drive almost anyone to drink, if but to avoid going nuts? Quite likely, only the most extraordinarily strong-spirited could endure unscathed.
To the extent that homelessness itself causes mental problems, drug addiction, alcoholism, etc, the expense of paying for rehabilitation and/or for a range of other health problems may be avoided by providing housing first. In short, "housing first" may also be the economical thing to do.
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