Let's Copy Portland's Efforts Here
By John Mohan

In Winnipeg, emergency shelters are caught in an unending cycle of adding beds, yet never reducing the line. Police and paramedics are frustrated with picking up the same people over and over again, always at great financial cost to our city and province.

Everyone is tired of the years of committee formations, meetings and reports that rehash the same old issues, but accomplish little.

Every year, Winnipeg spends millions of dollars in emergency manpower to help a few dozen chronic street people. Over a sixteen-month period between Jan. 15, 2006 and May 15, 2007 the same 38 people were responsible for 1,066 calls for emergency services. One person alone used as much as $250,000 worth of emergency services.

According to the U.S. based National Alliance to End Homelessness, the simple definition of chronic homelessness is "long-term or repeated homelessness, often with a disability, serious mental illness and/or addiction. They have been homeless either continuously for an entire year or four or more times in the past three years." Albeit an American definition, homelessness plays out the same across Canada, including Winnipeg.

It's complicated, expensive, and it's growing. As you read this column, I am in Portland, Oregon, along with eight community leaders. We're on a fact-finding mission: to study that city's highly acclaimed "Home Again: A 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness." We represent the business, government and social agency sectors. We commonly believe more can be done than just managing homelessness. We're commonly committed to finding workable solutions that are positive, healthy and long term.

To say the Portland strategy is working is an understatement. Reports indicate the inter-agency, inter-governmental coalition has reduced the numbers of people experiencing chronic homelessness by 70%, and the overall number of people sleeping outside is down nearly 40% since the strategy's implementation three years ago.

The plan utilizes nine strategies and is built on three principles: 1) Focus on the most chronically homeless populations. 2) Streamline access to existing services in order to prevent and reduce other homelessness. 3) Concentrate resources on programs that offer measurable results.

There is general acknowledgement among service providers that solving homelessness is more complicated than just getting people off the streets and into a room with four walls and a ceiling.

Portland's Home Again strategy has strong emphasis on addressing the contributing issues. Nearly three quarters of the housing units are alcohol and drug-free and part of their intake system includes a detoxification centre. For those with special needs, support services are available.

A supportive housing strategy for the hard-to-house doesn't come cheap (Portland's supportive housing annual budget is $27 million) but there are real cost savings to the public. One Vancouver study estimated supportive housing will reduce costs from $55,000/year to $38,000 per homeless person.

A wise friend once said, "Unless things change, they're going to stay the same." The delegation going to Portland feels the same.

Originally printed in the Winnipeg Sun, Wednesday, July 16, 2008.
Reprinted with the permission of Sun Media Corporation.