As everyone knows, Nutter has asked all city departments to forecast cuts of 10%, 20% and up to 30%.

What would that mean the City’s homeless or potential homeless population?

• For the Office of Supportive Housing (OSH), this would mean cutting between $3.4 million and $10.2 million out of $34 million in General Fund dollars (details here).
• This could mean the loss of up to 500 family to 350 single adult beds.
• This could mean 2,550 individuals per year losing their beds (based off of a turnover rate of 3 per year).

The first round of cuts already have already had a limited though deleterious effect. A small unit in the Department of Behavioral Health, case management in emergency shelters, and 20 ‘safe haven’ beds were lost. (It is unclear how someone can move out of an entry shelter without case management.)

These cuts could come at a time when more people will likely become homeless. The head of OSH anticipates an increase in homelessness here due to the recession. While the street population is down slightly from last year, there has been an increase in the last two years in homeless families asking for services. And that is before the recession. Nationally NAEH estimates that 1.5 million new people will become homeless in the next two years without new services.

The emergency shelter system is already overburdened. During the past year, the 3,000 city beds have been at an average of 95 percent capacity. Without any place to go, approximately 300 people were counted sleeping on our streets and other places not meant for dwelling in January, despite the bitter cold. Because these resources are inadequate to meet the myriad needs, we know of ten deaths of homeless individuals just in the month from December 27 to January 27, 2009 (from Laura’s report).

While there are no easy answers in this crisis, I’d like to echo One Phila’s call that ‘Essential Services are Essential.’

I am hopeful that the Mayor will not make further cuts to OSH. During the PhillySTAT meeting on Feb 12th he described the potential 10% reduction as "an almost impossible situation, a major step backward," in the progress that has been made.

Mayor Nutter has already shown his resourcefulness and dedication toward alleviating homelessness in Philly. I hope that we can help him find a way to keep the relatively small budget for homeless services off the chopping block.

See http://voteforhomes.org for updates.

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The following is a brief update on Nutter’s initiatives and the state of homelessness in Philly. I feel like this is helpful for context:

Brief History

Philadelphia was seen as a national model for its ability to reduce its homeless population only a few years ago. In the late 90s a number of new resources as well as better coordination between the City and service providers resulted in a significant decrease in the number of folks out on the street. Since then the street population has increased year by year more than doubling between 2000 and 2005. The spike hit its zenith last summer with over 600 sleeping out in the summer in Center City alone. This year's summer census showed a small decrease in this number.

Nutter's Initiatives

Nutter inherited a rising homeless population but also a strong community of organizations and service providers with the ability to turn that tide.

Nutter's solution was, in a nutshell, to take recommendations of the service providers and allocate some new resources in critical places as well improve coordination between agencies. This is the essence of the 'New Day, New Way' approach that is both inspiring and disappointing. The Nutter administration would be more engaged and responsive (to service providers), smarter (because of that engagement), with higher expectations and more efficiency. For activists this approach is better than the last guy, probably better than the other mayoral candidates would have done (purely speculative of course, and Fattah did run on 'reduce poverty' platform), arguably the best that could be done given the political will do reduce homelessness, though disappointing because it will most likely not significantly change the landscape for folks suffering from homelessness.

Here are the bullet points (more here):

• Two Year-round ‘Cafes’
• 500 PHA units (300 PHA Family + 200 PHA Singles Openings)
• 75 Safe Haven Beds
• 125 new Housing First slots (rental assistance + support)

Here are what folks were asking for singles / families

The good news is is that many of these new resources have not been utilized yet (this data is as of two weeks ago).

Of the 300 PHA family openings, 83 (28%) have been filled. These units open up for homeless families as the units become available which is why I'm told they are not filled. Again while I applaud getting families off the street I wonder what happens to those families who no longer are in those units.

Of the 200 PHA singles openings, 75 (38%) have been filled. The reason that these are not 100% filled is that not enough Department of Behavioral Health case managers have filled applications for these units. This sounds incredibly frustrating since we are half-way through one of the coldest winters in recent memory. However the City says that there are 100 individuals pending without application and is working hard to get those applications in. So the number percentage of filled slots should rise soon.

Of the 125 Housing First slots, 22 (17%) have been used though the contract only started on November 1st.

Hopefully the utilization of these resources will help alleviate what may be a growing need.

Where we are now

Here's my analysis of the current situation. I could spend a lot of time breaking down each of these initiatives but will try and keep it brief. The Café’s used to only be open in the winter. They save lives, make placements in more supportive environments that wouldn’t otherwise be possible, though only offer a devoted staff and a spot on the floor of a crowded room. The PHA housing is significant number of units, is well supported by services from DBH, though take spaces from other poor families. The 200 safe haven and housing first slots are in my opinion the most significant element of the new initiative. They will help get hundreds of the most vulnerable off the streets and into supportive environments.

A brief critique of these initiatives is that, though they are a step forward, they do not go far enough. The system of housing thousands every night (an average of 3,000) in temporary shelter will not change. Even with limited resources I’d like to have seen, as Nutter called for during the campaign, "an overhaul of the emergency shelter system." Conditions in places like Ridge avenue are still so bad, again as Nutter himself said, "we wouldn't have pets sleep," there.

More 'housing first' resources to put folks from the street into supportive environments, enforcement of shelter standards, an engagement center downtown, and a 'homeless advocate' would all help. I don’t think doubling or tripling the OSH budget is unrealistic. I might pay for this with business taxes from large corporations or through some of the suggestions here.

As activists and Philadelphians we could do more to help organize and advocate for better conditions and put forward a vision for a better society.

Of course an increase in OSH resources would only go so far. More jobs, better public schools, affordable housing, resources for mental illness, and better access to health care are parts of the puzzle. These are all attached to budget lines, but as a society we need to make a fundamental change in the way we think about ourselves, our responsibility toward each other, and how we prioritize our resources.