Is homelessness solvable?

Has this considerable research and investment of taxpayer’s money "solved" the problem? Well, the present rate of homelessness is 53 per 10,000 the same as 2001. At the very least, we seem to have hit the point of diminishing returns to our investment.

A modest research proposal

To fulfill the Rudd promise, the present government and NGOs in the field need to do two things -

1. Resolve the policy contest - community settings versus institutional settings
2. Set priorities - based on numbers, remedies, responsiveness, cost and time.

The policy contest is ongoing, but policy-makers should acknowledge that it is feasible to place everyone who needs accommodation under a roof. Whether they would stay is problematic.

A wonderful example of some tough thinking in the field is the Mission Australia Centre - Campbell House, Sydney. In the last few years, Mission Australia made a deliberate shift to use their funds at Campbell House to provide high quality crisis accommodation to 40 clients. Previously, the centre had accommodated 100 clients, on short term stays: a boarding house.

Under the new model 40 clients only receive 32 different professional services and training and educational services delivered on site at this homeless service based on their individual needs and strengths.

The opportunity cost of servicing 40 is to not service the remaining 60. The initial evaluation, however, suggests that the pay-off is much greater - reduced recurrence of homelessness.

A second example is the Miller Centre Liverpool, Sydney. This "Foyer model" of youth accommodation has been established to prevent cyclical homelessness for young people. Young people are trained in life skills - including skills to obtain and maintain a tenancy, healthy cooking and budgeting - as well as more formal skills. The Foyer model is being established around the country. These are institutions, not the nasty ones of Dickensian ill-fame, but institutions nevertheless; ones that increase the likelihood of getting a result and stemming the flow of homeless.

The remedy debate has to be intensified and applied to all of those who end up homeless, for whatever reason. The great dream of housing people in "the community" is failing some people and new versions of old institutional models are being developed to provide solutions.

With this background of shifting remedies, I have a modest research proposal.

Using existing knowledge, I want to assess the cost effectiveness, probability of success and timeliness of known remedies for each sector of the homeless market in order to establish priorities as a means of judging what priorities need to be set in order to achieve the Rudd goal.