Undermining State and Local Efforts to Address Housing and Homelessness – Trauma-Informed Care, Not Punishment
Jessilyn Averill
The Trump Administration wants to make good on its promise to penalize sanctuary jurisdictions by preventing access to federal housing and homelessness resources. A step further, it wants undermine models of service proven effective in the state and local work to address homelessness and housing instability. More trauma-informed care, not punishment, gets us results in the work to end homelessness.
The federal government has real power. It can infuse the significant funds, programming coordination, and technical assistance necessary for state and local responses to move the needle on housing instability and homelessness. Clearly, we have never invested in housing and services at a scale needed to solve homelessness. But the current Administration threatens to undermine the progress made because of its focus to penalize and isolate specific communities and groups of people from the federal resources and services they depend on.
Concern: Right now housing advocates fear Housing First solutions will be replaced with the criminalization of homelessness, hurting people and making the problem worse.
Response: Housing First works – housing solves homelessness. In Washtenaw County, Housing First is the policy followed by its Continuum of Care. Here are four Housing First principles to consider when quickly screening a project or program:
Are applicants allowed to enter the program without income?
Are applicants allowed to enter the program even if they aren’t “clean and sober” or “treatment compliant”?
Are applicants allowed to enter the program even if they have criminal justice system involvement?
Are service and treatment plans voluntary, such that tenants cannot be evicted for not following through?
Concern: Advocates also fear proposals to not just cut Medicaid and SNAP funding but also impose severe work requirements on program recipients which could jeopardize their housing stability.
Response: Studies show that evictions go down when, for example, healthcare coverage is gained. Adding barriers to healthcare access as well as food assistance has real impact on those needing it most.