The Liaison

“Homelessness as a Public Policy Problem”

Jacob Galfano

According to Senator Robert Cupp, “The goal of public policy is the greatest good for the largest number with protection for the rights of the minority.”

This philosophy – known as utilitarianism – is a contradiction, as “the greatest good” trumps the “rights of the minority” and many slip through the cracks. Government ought to check this by including civil society (consisting of advocacy groups, academic institutions, private foundations, the media, and religious organizations) in pluralistic decision-making processes.

In the Seattle area, recent incidents have local media scrutinizing the manner in which city governments regulate their respective homeless populations.

On Friday, February 9th, the City of Olympia pressured Camp Quixote – a temporary encampment of about 40 people – to relocate. The very next day, the City of Redmond threatened Tent City 4 (to be held at St. Jude Catholic Church) with a daily fine if they elected not to move. Although the circumstances for the latter incident differ from the former, both resulted in policies that marginalize the homeless instead of those that address the systemic roots of the problem.

Although the City Council remains adamant that it is not ignoring Olympia’s homeless, Camp Quixote was constructed to protest an ordinance that renders downtown squatting illegal. Threatened with trespassing, the group decided to canvas local churches in order to avoid arrest.

Redmond’s Planning Department repealed a temporary permit that it issued to Tent City 4 in December. Because there are three schools in proximity to the camp, appeals were made to overturn the permit – which occurred just days before the campers were to arrive.

To date, church staff refuses to close down the encampment.

Communities in Seattle and its outlying suburbs have long debated how they ought to treat the city’s 8,000 estimated homeless – and have enacted policies that allow “tent cities” to rotate between locations (qualifying the descriptor transient). Without access to encampments or shelters, the homeless resort to the streets.

The Seattle/King County Coalition for the Homeless conducted its annual One Night Count earlier this month – and found approximately “2,140 people trying to survive without housing or shelter throughout King County.” Although the organization cites a reduction in the quantity of homeless from the previous year’s count, the estimate can be askew.

“Due to its flaws, the One Night Count is not indicative of the actual number of homeless on the streets, as many cycle in and out of friends’ places or social service programs. It can reflect as little as two-thirds of the real population,” said Dr. Joshua Ginzler, clinical psychologist and research scientist at the University of Washington’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute.

Whether rotating between churches or risking survival on the streets, the homeless need access to resources and support in order to address personal problems and cultivate a sense of human dignity.

“Housing should not be contingent upon conditions such as sobriety, when in fact it may well be the lack of housing that is maintaining the stress largely responsible for the substance use problems in the first place,” said Ginzler. “Housing First (DESC) provides housing so harm-reduction programs can be applied, which – we expect – lead to a lower overall cost to society.”

Because the problem of homelessness is complex and those impacted by it extend beyond the homeless per se, policy makers would be remiss to continue to push them to the periphery and ignore the input of a civil society dedicated to stable solutions.

Seattle/King County Coalition for the Homeless:

http://www.homelessinfo.org/

Housing First:

http://www.blogger.com/www.npr.org/news/specials/housingfirst

Downtown Emergency Services Center:

www.desc.org/1811.html