A New Kind of Homeless Policy

[babylonsister]

http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/02/20/a-new-kind-of-homeless-policy/

A New Kind of Homeless Policy
Posted by Amy Sullivan


Homeless policy usually focuses on those who are already homeless, getting them off the streets or out of shelters into transitional or permanent housing, and providing mental health or substance abuse treatment to the chronically homeless. And that's what much of the $1.6 billion in grants that HUD announced yesterday for programs that help the homeless will focus on.

But in the current economic and housing crisis, preventing homelessness has become an issue of equal concern. So the administration is devoting almost as many funds--$1.5 billion--to helping individuals and families on the brink to avoid homelessness. If the housing plan announced on Wednesday was targeted to homeowners struggling to pay mortgages and forestall foreclosure, these funds are intended to help renters, a population HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan described in a press call yesterday as traditionally more vulnerable than homeowners.

The $1.5 billion was included in the economic stimulus package, and will fund programs that help people pay security deposits, utility bills, and rent. An inability to cover these kinds of housing expenses can get a family kicked out of an apartment or force them to stay with relatives instead of moving into their own place.

[KharmaTrain]

1. There's A Serious Lack Of Rental Properties

For the past 30 years, developers went crazy flipping apartment complexes to condos and the inventory of rental properties plummeted. I've read of people who were forced out of their homes and either couldn't get an apartment or afford one due to the high rents. Right now, when someone loses a home, they have few alternative. If they're lucky, they'll find a realtive who will let them move in, but many are now ending up at homeless shelters.

While I'm no big fan of public housing...there is and will be a big need for more rental units as this mess gets worse and more people are driven into the streets. If the private sector won't adjust to this new reality...and help provide low income housing for the many who are or will be displaced, then the government needs to step in.

Nothing is more important to a person's self esteem as being independent and having a place of their own. The humiliation of being homeless is a devestating experience, especially for children...and has and is a major shame on a country that claims to be the "richest in the world".

Thank goodness we now have an Administration that is sympathetic to this plight rather than trying to blame the crisis on them.

[izquierdista]

3. It's not for lack of properties

With the last housing boom, there is plenty of developed floor space that could house the homeless. There are plenty of timeshares, vacation condos, ski chalets, beach houses, mountain cabins, and mobile homes that sit vacant but for a few weeks a year. There is no need to build more rental units, but there is a need to make more properties into rentals. Just look at ol' Johnny McCain. Why he and Cindy take half a dozen families from off the streets and still not be cramped in their lifestyle.

A good way to start would be to revise the tax rules and give owners a break for providing a "below market rental" and encourage them to give people struggling to make ends meet a break.

[KharmaTrain]

5. Very Good Points...

I'm in the northern climes where the housing game isn't as seasonal. But there are plenty of developed properties that could be converted to rentals and plenty of people who would take advantage of tax breaks if it meant making some money rather than letting a property sit vacant.

The problem in our area is that many of the foreclosed properties are being held by banks who have too many on their hands now and have no clue what they're going to do. Many are waiting to see if the government comes in to bail out those properties and the worse condition they are, the bigger write down they'll get. Call it a race to the bottom. There's no incentive to rent...only to try to short sell.

[izquierdista]

6. Banks need a good spanking

Instead of being able to go after prior owners for a deficiency judgment if the property does not fetch appraisal, they need to be feel the sting of the maintenance and upkeep that they just blow off. If they were to be penalized for property deterioration and rewarded for housing the homeless, you would see them turn around on a dime.

[mia]

2. Good news.

Glad to see that the housing part of the stimulus program is reaching out to more than the homeowners. Safe and affordable shelter is the first step toward providing the emotional security that can help to stabilize individuals and families.

[treestar]

4. There should be no homeless people in this still relatively wealthy

country.

It is sickening that the government builds prisons for illegal aliens rather than simple shelters for those who don't have a roof over their heads.

The illegals are being housed at taxpayer expense just to be deported and very possibly just come back again. What an endless source of income for the prison industrial complex.

Yet the very poor and/or mentally ill sit under bridges.