File #7: "UnitedtoEndHomelessness_South County Faith April 2018.pdf"

UnitedtoEndHomelessness_South County Faith April 2018.pdf

Text

Homelessness in
Orange County:
The Costs to Our
Community

HOMELESSNESS IN ORANGE COUNTY:
The Costs to Our Community
An Orange County United Way, Jamboree & UCI Sponsored Study
Research Team
David A. Snow and Rachel Goldberg
Professors of Sociology
Sara Villalta and Colin Bernatzky
Graduate Research Assistants
University of California, Irvine

COST STUDY DESIGN
Street
Homeless
Municipalities

InstitutionalOrganizational
Cost
Data

Emergency
Shelters

Hospitals with
ERs

NonGovernmental
Agencies

County

Costs

Bridge Housing

Rapid
Re-Housing
Permanent
Supportive
Housing

Interview
Service
Utilization
Data

Key Findings

WHO ARE OUR HOMELESS?
• Mainly long-term Orange County residents: 68% of those surveyed had
been here over 10 years
• Predominantly US-born individuals: 90%
• Middle aged: 52% are age 50 or older
• Mostly non-Hispanic White: 47%
• Primarily male: 57%
• Live with Children under 18: 17%
• Reporting Fair/Poor Health: 45%

SELECTED CHILDHOOD CONDITIONS THAT
INCREASE VULNERABILITY TO HOMELESSNESS:


32% experienced sexual and/or physical abuse as a child



42% had parent or other adult household member with alcohol or drug problem
when growing up



14% had parent or immediate family member who spent at least one night
homeless when growing up



18% spent time living with non-parental relatives, foster parents, or in orphanage
in childhood

TOP 3 REASONS FOR HOMELESSNESS
• Securing or retaining jobs with sustainable wages: 40%
• Finding or retaining affordable housing: 36%
• Family issues: 28%

4. What is the annual cost of addressing homelessness in
Orange County?
a) $50 Million
b) $16 Million

c) $299 Million
d) $150 Million

Annual Cost of Addressing Homelessness Across
$299M
Four Institutional Sectors in OC:_________
$140,000,000
$120,000,000

$120M

Dollars

$100,000,000

$77M

$80,000,000

$62M

$60,000,000

$35M

$40,000,000
$20,000,000
$0
Municipalities
(21 reporting + 13 imputed)

Hospitals

County

Housing agencies
(20 reporting plus 21
imputed)

Notes: Housing agencies are agencies providing Emergency Shelter, Bridge Housing, Rapid Rehousing, or Permanent
Supportive Housing services. The figure provided totals the program budget spent on homelessness across these agencies.

Annual Cost of Addressing Homelessness
By Cost Cluster
$140,000,000

$120,000,000

$121M
$106M

Dollars

$100,000,000

$80,000,000

$60,000,000

$40,000,000

$23M
$20,000,000

$0
Health Care

Housing

Police/Legal

Note: Each cluster contains costs spanning institutional sectors (e.g., counties, municipalities, non-governmental agencies)

CHRONIC VS NON-CHRONIC ON THE STREETS
AVERAGE COSTS PER PERSON, PER YEAR
$120,000

$100,759

Column1

$100,000

Dollars

$80,000

$60,000

$42,010

$40,000

$20,000

$0
Chronic - street
Non-chronic street
Notes: Cost estimates consider utilization of soup kitchens, food pantries, substance abuse services, ambulance services, ER services,
inpatient hospital stays, mental health services, other health services, motel/voucher/rental assistance services, shelter nights, transitional
housing nights, rapid rehousing nights, PSH nights, policing, nights in jail/prison. These estimates do not capture other potential costs,
including probation, changes in property values, park maintenance costs, etc. Reports from the last month are annualized.

TREATMENT FIRST MODEL
Philosophy: One size
fits all. Every issue
(health, addictions,
employment etc.)
must be addressed
before someone can
“graduate from
homelessness” and
move into
permanent
housing.

REWARD
Case
Management
Transitional
Shelters

Support
Services

$$$
Hospital
Visits/Stays

Emergency
Shelters

Soup Kitchens

Law
Enforcement
Time on
Streets

THE TURNING OF THE TIDE
• George H.W. Bush: Research findings change the federal
conversations on homelessness
• George W. Bush: push for communities to create ten year plans to
end chronic homelessness using evidence based practices
• Clear distinction made between chronic and non-chronic homelessness
• Foreword movement with new model: Housing First

• Obama: expands goal to end ALL types of homelessness, chronic,
non-chronic, youth etc.

Hospital

HOUSING FIRST MODEL

Visits/Stays

Law
Enforcement

Time on
Streets

Philosophy:
People should be permanently housed
AND provided support services as
quickly as possible. Homelessness is
viewed first and foremost a housing
problem and is treated as such. E.g.
Permanent Supportive Housing and Rapid
Re-Housing.

.

.

Stable Housing
Support Services
Case Management
.

.

$

NON-CHRONIC STREET VS NON-CHRONIC IN RAPID RE-HOUSING
AVERAGE COSTS PER PERSON, PER YEAR
$45,000

$42,010

Column1

$40,000
$35,000

Dollars

$30,000
$25,000
$20,000
$15,000
$10,000
$5,000
$0

$9,175
Housing
AND
Support Services
Non chronic - street
Rapid Re-Housing
Notes: Cost estimates consider utilization of soup kitchens, food pantries, substance abuse services, ambulance services, ER services,
inpatient hospital stays, mental health services, other health services, motel/voucher/rental assistance services, shelter nights, transitional
housing nights, rapid rehousing nights, PSH nights, policing, nights in jail/prison. These estimates do not capture other potential costs,
including probation, changes in property values, park maintenance costs, etc. Reports from the last month are annualized.

CHRONIC STREET VS CHRONIC HOUSED
AVERAGE COSTS PER PERSON, PER YEAR
$120,000

$100,759

Column1

$100,000

Dollars

$80,000

$60,000

$40,000

$20,000

$0

$51,587
Housing
AND
Support
Services

Chronic - street
PSH
Notes: Cost estimates consider utilization of soup kitchens, food pantries, substance abuse services, ambulance services, ER services,
inpatient hospital stays, mental health services, other health services, motel/voucher/rental assistance services, shelter nights, transitional
housing nights, rapid rehousing nights, PSH nights, policing, nights in jail/prison. These estimates do not capture other potential costs,
including probation, changes in property values, park maintenance costs, etc. Reports from the last month are annualized.

NUMBER OF CHRONIC PHYSICAL HEALTH CONDITIONS REPORTED BY
STREET/SHELTER HOMELESS, BY LENGTH OF TIME ON THE STREET
100%
90%
80%

15%
35%

Percent

70%

23%

33%

44%
38%

60%
50%
40%

50%

30%

33%

20%

29%

10%
0%

0-12 months
0 conditions

1-2 years
1-2 conditions

3+ years
3 or more conditions

Note: Chronic physical health conditions include arthritis, asthma, cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic bronchitis,
chronic obstructive lung disease, cirrhosis or severe liver damage, diabetes, emphysema, epilepsy or other seizure
disorder, HIV/AIDS, hypertension, leukemia, and lymphoma

MOST COSTLY 10% OF CHRONIC HOMELESS
On the Streets

Housed WITH Services

$439,787

$55,343

Per person, per year

Per person, per year

TO HOUSE AND PROVIDE SERVICES
TO ALL OF OC’s CHRONICALLY
HOMELESS WOULD

SAVE $42M

DIFFERENCES IN PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR AND WELLBEING ACROSS
HOUSING CATEGORIES
Variables

Street

Shelter

Housed

Total

Trans/Int

RR

PSH

# times ticketed*

0.68

0.10

0.11

0.05

0.08

0.30

# times arrested*

0.15

0.02

0.02

0

0

0.06

# times in ambulance

0.20

0.15

0.02

0

0.06

0.11

% had trouble getting things done because of alcohol or drugs in last
month*

22%

13%

0

0

10%

12%

% Find it difficult or very difficult to find safe place to sleep

49%

29%

5%

4%

2%

25%

% Find it difficult or very difficult to find place to wash/shower

56%

13%

12%

0

0

24%

% Find it difficult or very difficult to get clean clothes

40%

15%

2%

0

12%

20%

% Find it difficult or very difficult to find toilet

47%

19%

0

4%

4%

21%

% Find it difficult or very difficult to feel good about self

43%

33%

12%

12%

18%

28%

89

48

41

24

49

251

Total number interviewed

* Differences between housing categories are statistically significant at p<0.05 level

THREE MAJOR TAKE-AWAYS
and a QUESTION
1. The primary cause of homelessness is the gap between the cost of
rental housing and the availability of living wages to access that
housing.
2. The cost of homelessness decreases markedly with the provision of
housing, and this cost reduction is most pronounced for the chronic
homeless.
3. Many of the troublesome issues associated with homelessness
disappear or diminish markedly with the provision of housing.

SO WHY NOT HOUSING FIRST??

Executive Summary
&
Full Report Available at
https://www.unitedwayoc.org/resources

Launched – February

th
28

2018

Goals of United to End Homelessness
Our overall goal is to end homelessness in Orange County. Key to achieving this is
implementing the recommendations laid out in the groundbreaking 2017 UCI
Homelessness Cost study. To that end, we will:
• Rally our community in support of a permanent supportive housing solution for
chronically homeless individuals.

• Identify homes for our chronically homeless neighbors in need through accessing
existing rental units and by working with our partners to support and champion efforts
to develop new units.
• Work with the County and others to leverage data that can help the community gain
detailed insights so that we may enhance the overall system of care.

Public Awareness Campaign: The Proclamation

Public Awareness Campaign: The Survey

Public Awareness Campaign: Stories

Video from the other Orange County

Unique Role of the Faith Based Community
Currently recruiting for our Faith Leaders Committee
Phase One
1.
2.

3.

Equip faith leaders through training and accurate information so they can help build a movement of
champions in the community
Build movement of champions for homeless solutions:

“From the pulpit”

Homelessness 101 trainings

Public Awareness Campaign/Social Media trainings

Advocacy trainings: speaking at City Council/Board of Supervisor meetings, writing effective
letters etc.
Mobilize the champions:

Participation in Public Awareness Campaign

Advocating for solutions: speaking at public meetings, petitions, letters of support etc.

Phase Two

Train and mobilize faith community to provide support and fellowship for people once they are housed.

Action Items
 Complete the contact card
 Join the Faith Committee
 Follow us on social media
 Proclamation: sign and share!
 Survey: sign and share!
 Stories: please send us leads
 Spread the word!

UnitedToEndHomelessness.org
#EndHomelessnessOC