The O-R is to be
congratulated on the recent awards bestowed on its yearlong series about
homelessness in Washington and Greene Counties.
These deep dive articles attracted the interest of the National Low Income
Housing Coalition (NLIHC). This
organization gives annual recognition to “a print journalist who has made a
dedicated effort to inform the public about the inequities in housing and to
aid in the understanding of the disparities between the well housed and the
poorly or un-housed in a community.”
While other awards
for these articles were given to the O-R for journalism excellence, it is the
NLIHC annual media award which drew my attention. The NLIHC works to help
acquire capital for the National Housing Trust Fund which was established as a
provision of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. The stated purpose of the trust fund is to
provide communities with funds to build, preserve, and rehabilitate rental
homes that are affordable for extremely and very low income households. According to NLIHC “But for the 7.1 million
American households for whom even a modest rental home is unaffordable and
unavailable, life is a daily struggle for survival. Families in this situation
find themselves making impossible choices between food and rent. When illness,
job loss or other tragedy strikes, they often become homeless.”
The homeless
problem in Washington and Greene Counties is epidemic for several well known
reasons. In the discussion below, my points
are derived from my knowledge of Washington County. In some cases they may be appropriate for
Greene as well.
First, at a time
when the local economy is booming, rental properties are scarce at any price,
because of oil and gas workers who have absorbed all available resources. Landlords are able to command top dollar,
freezing out the working poor and low income families.
Second, the
recession, state and federal budget battles and deficit freezes have left
minimal resources to fund or expand low cost housing, including the above
mentioned National Housing Trust Fund.
Those individuals who cannot afford Obama Care even with its generous
subsidies are simply below the safety net for any type of traditional housing.
Third, the
infrastructure of the mental health system has collapsed, leaving no long term
institutional care or treatment in place for the chronically mentally ill. These individuals with their unique set of
problems are forced into the larger pool of homeless people to compete for
limited resources. In many cases the
County Jail has become the institution of last resort for the mentally sick and
addicted individuals of our area.
Fourth, compared
to the rest of Appalachia, Washington County is a virtual social service
paradise. We have become a magnate for
the down trodden from less fortunate areas.
Two square meals a day at the City Mission is better than starving. Leaving an out of town alcoholic uncle at the
Salvation Army is a common occurrence.
Fifth, whatever
resources are available are confined to designated “dumping grounds” within the
City of Washington where the social service agencies are located. This creates a situation where one small area
of the County is expected to absorb all of the homeless, addicted and mentally
ill in group homes and faith based programs like the City Mission. The City tax base continues to shrink,
special needs children are disproportionately centralized in a small City
school system and a large percentage of the area’s crime and drug use is
concentrated in the City. When much of
the County has no skin in the game, it is difficult to get excited about the
homeless.
The result of this
growing problem is to place an undue burden on the City and its residents, with
inadequate assistance from County, State or Federal revenue sources. There are only so many low cost housing and
special needs group homes that the City can support. The City Mission is bursting at its seams.
So what is to be
done? First, Washington County is in a
unique position to attack the problem on its own, without waiting for
federal/state assistance that may never materialize. County leaders are right to crow about 10
billion in new capital expenditures, a byproduct of the expanding oil and gas
industry. They are not right to ignore
the plight of its poor, homeless and mentally ill residents. Funding must be earmarked for low income
housing, rehabilitation services and long term facilities for the mentally ill. Local government is not the sole province of
gaming interests, real estate developers and large mining corporations.
Experience has
taught us that simply providing housing to the homeless with addiction or other
untreated socialization issues, without addressing the underlying problems,
does not work. In this regard, the City Mission is a phenomenal resource for
Washington County. While its faith based
approach is not everyone’s cup of tea, for thousands of homeless individuals,
it has been the first step back to a productive life. Why not provide the
resources for the Mission to build a modern campus in a rural area to expand
its services and unlock its full potential?
Give them a piece of land with gas revenue and they could be self
sufficient and a model for other jurisdictions.
Second, the City
of Washington must be decoupled from the plight of the County’s homeless and
mentally ill. A place to start would be
to open satellite social service offices in hard to reach areas of the
County. Municipal officials need to be
open to changing zoning requirements to permit low cost housing, group homes
and other resources to operate within their boundaries. Of course this needs to follow a sea change
in public opinion from “not in my back yard” to “we are all in this together.”
Third, and this
point may create legal issues, Washington County must find a way to develop its
plan without being overwhelmed by outsiders seeking to take advantage of the
new programs. A time based residency
requirement, discouraging immigration to receive benefits, would be crucial to
getting new programs established.
My proposals are
elementary. I am sure that the much
wiser and battle hardened social service professionals of Washington and Greene
Counties can come up with better ones. The point is that the next expose published
by the O-R on the homeless will hopefully be able to focus on how one section
of South Western Pennsylvania, using its new revenue and tax base, was able to
attack the problem with resolution and vigor.
