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400 of 'Most Vulnerable' Homeless to Get Apartments
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The philosophy behind the District's Housing First plan was pioneered in New York in the 1990s by the nonprofit group Pathways to Housing, which promoted housing as a basic human right that should not be denied, regardless of mental disability or substance abuse problems. Housing First programs have been replicated in San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta and Denver.
On a small scale, Pathways to Housing has been operating in the District for five years and has placed 140 chronically homeless people in housing, said Sam Tsemberis, the program's executive director.
Although it costs about $22,000 to house and provide support services for a homeless person, it can cost more than $50,000 to provide social services if that same person drifts in and out of shelters, hospitals, detox programs and jail, he said.
The District's Department of Mental Health and the Housing Authority have provided funds to help find housing, pay rent and supply social workers, psychiatrists, nurses, peer counselors and employment specialists to give support to the formerly homeless.
Now the city will embark on a large-scale program, which will be financed by a special Housing First Fund, supported by the lease or sale of some city properties, Fenty said. The $19.2 million fund will be administered by the Department of Human Services.
The 400 homeless people will be picked using a "vulnerability index" that will consider the length of time the person has been homeless and any chronic issues "that make that individual more susceptible to disease, death or calamity based on homelessness," Carter said.
In fiscal 2009, the city plans to place 480 more chronically homeless people in permanent housing, officials said.
Staff writer Yolanda Woodlee contributed to this report.
