Is homelessness solvable?

Who are homeless?

Although the headline figure for homelessness is 16, 000 sleeping rough at any one time, the numbers are inflated to 105,000, with those who are in boarding houses, in supported accommodation, or are temporarily living with friends and family.

This definition of homelessness is strange; homeless are mostly defined by their housing solution! Does the "inflation" suggest that boarding houses, supported accommodation, and friends and family are no longer part of the solution? Indeed, the numbers in supported accommodation increased from 2001 to 2006, precisely because more funds were made available for such accommodation.

The idea that some are at risk of, but not actually, homeless is entirely valid. But the numbers invite the response that the sector is not sure of its solutions. For example, the 2008 National Youth Commission Inquiry into Youth Homelessness, published shortly after the government’s White Paper (bad timing to say the least), concluded that the government should give the sector a billion dollars, and come up with a strategy to solve youth homelessness! Muddy thinking indeed.

Accepting that the search for best remedies is on-going, it would be a powerful tool to have the market for homelessness broken down into its constituent parts, by cause and by remedy. The research would assess numbers of homeless according to cause and remedy, assess the effectiveness of each remedy, and then for each remedy assess cost, probability and timeliness of reducing homelessness. The existing data should be available to fill out the matrix in Table 1. Setting priorities in the homeless market.

The woman escaping her violent husband will have needs far different from those with mental health or substance abuse problems, different again from Aborigines living in remote areas with no economy to generate employment. But an honest assessment of the parts of the problem and the likelihood of a remedy for each (accepting that many will have multiple causes) may be a way to set priorities and "solve", that is reduce, homelessness.