Reply #11: so -- what will be different from the one they launched less than 10 years ago, [View All]

[Hannah Bell]

where homelessness was going to be ended in 10 years?

All funded state & local gov'ts & agencies had to work up their personal plans to end homelessness in ten years.

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History of the Ten Year Plan

In 2000, the National Alliance to End Homelessness released A Plan, Not a Dream: How to End Homelessness in Ten Years. Drawing on research and innovative programs from around the country, the plan outlined key strategies in addressing the issue locally, which cumulatively can address the issue nationally. The plan outlined four key elements of a plan to end homelessness:

Plan for outcomes. Every jurisdiction should collect data that allows it to identify the most effective strategy for each sub-group of the homeless population and jurisdictions should bring those responsible for mainstream as well as homeless targeted resources to the planning table.

Close the front door. Communities should prevent homelessness by making mainstream poverty programs more accountable for outcomes of their clients.

Open the back door. Communities should develop, and subsidize when needed, an adequate supply of affordable housing.

Build the infrastructure. Ending homelessness can be a first step in addressing the systemic problems that lead to crisis poverty, including a shortage of affordable housing, incomes that do not pay for basic needs, and a lack of appropriate services for those that need them.

Since the release of this blueprint, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Bush Administration endorsed the idea of planning to end chronic homelessness in ten years, the US Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) challenged 100 cities to create plans to end homelessness. The momentum built across the country—to date, there are 234 completed plans to end homelessness across the country.

http://www.endhomelessness.org/content/article/detail/1786

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i attended a planning session on that one as a volunteer with our local homeless shelter -- a lot of whiteboard, a lot of happy talk, a lot of bullshit -- & $$$ for the well-meaning but useless consultants who ran the planning sessions.

the director said on the way to the meeting: "here's where we all pretend we believe we're going to wipe out homelessness in ten years".

sorry, i have no faith in the latest plan unless it includes guaranteed money for

1. homes
2. jobs



The current system of dealing with the homeless is, imo, part of the surveillance state.

If I were homeless, I absolutely *would not* go to a shelter.