All too often, the issue of homelessness becomes mired in a circular argument. Regardless of how much time and money is spent addressing the problem, there always is a need for more time and money.
Homelessness, for a variety of reasons, will never be eradicated. But because of the social, economic and quality-of-life costs the issue creates for a city, efforts must be made to minimize its prevalence. And because of a moral imperative to provide as much human dignity as possible to others, ignoring the homeless is not a viable option.
Those notions must remain the foundational thinking as Clark County reconfigures how it addresses homelessness. An overhauled plan providing a road map for the county and its partner organizations has been unveiled and soon will be presented to the county council for approval. The plan examines goals for a three-year time frame, rather than the previous 10-year period, and it focuses on families with children, the chronically homeless and unaccompanied youth. “We’ve addressed these groups before, but we’re calling them out specifically to try to reduce homelessness,” said Peter Munroe, manager of Clark County’s Community Development Block Grant program.
In so doing, local officials would be wise to heed the lessons provided by Seattle. As the nation’s fastest-growing metropolis, Seattle has provided an abject lesson in how to deal with homelessness. Since instituting a 10-year plan formulated in 2004 by a private-public partnership called Committee to End Homelessness, about $1 billion has been spent in the city addressing the issue. The impact, it could be argued, has been disappointing. As NPR reported earlier this month, Seattle has “seen its ranks of homeless surge over the past decade. More people are now homeless in Seattle than anywhere except New York City, Los Angeles or Las Vegas.”