We can afford to help the homeless

THIS IS National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Every year in the week before Thanksgiving people across the nation organize events to bring greater awareness to the plight of people experiencing homelessness and the fact that we now have a body of research about solutions that we can put to work - if we choose.

In 2012, nearly 35,000 Pennsylvanians spent at least one night in an emergency homeless shelter or transitional-housing program. This is more than the entire population of Easton, Pa. And it does not include those living on the street, under bridges, in parks or sleeping in someone else's house whom we can't count.

According to the recent report by People's Emergency Center, "Childhood Homelessness in Pennsylvania," more than 9,000 Pennsylvania kids experienced homelessness last year. Given that this number does not include those living doubled-up with family and friends or on the streets, it is a very conservative estimate. Forty-six percent of all homeless children fall between the ages of 1-5. Research shows that chronic, unrelenting stress in infancy and early childhood can adversely impact early brain development - which can lead to lifelong problems in learning, behavior, and physical and mental health. In other words, children pay the price of early homelessness - and so do we as a society - throughout their lives.

The good news is that we know a lot more these days about what works. For example, rapid rehousing helps prevent long, disruptive shelter stays by helping people either stay in or return to their homes. Permanent supported housing couples services with rental assistance for those with mental illness. Housing authorities are a critical piece of the puzzle because of their role in helping those most in need. Transitional housing for families, coupled with intensive therapeutic services, can break the cycle for children. The Low Income Housing Tax Credit can help provide more homes within reach of extremely low-income people.

Since we know how to address homelessness, why do we still see so many people suffering? Quite simply there are not enough resources to invest in proven solutions that work.

Since 2008, renter median income and rental costs have diverged sharply: gross median rents have increased by 28 percent while gross median rental family income has increased by only 10 percent. The shortage of rental units that are both affordable and available to Pennsylvanians living on about $20,000 a year or less (that's about $11 an hour, full-time) has grown from 220,000 units in 2005 to 266,000 units in 2010. In 2005 there were 43 units available and affordable to every 100 extremely low-income renters; in 2010 there were 36.

State and federal budget cuts have undermined growth in the affordable market by eliminating proven, effective production programs and incentives that make it possible to produce units affordable to the low-wage, elderly and disabled people in the market.

For those of us who believe that no child should be homeless, we are at another critical juncture in the federal budget debate. Although the entire HUD budget represents just 3 percent of the total federal budget, it continues to be the focus of budget cuts. If HUD were eliminated entirely, it would have nearly no impact on the federal deficit. In fact, the homeless programs funded through HUD actually save taxpayers money. For example, a 2010 study by University of Pennsylvania researchers, sponsored by Project HOME, found that permanent supportive housing costs less than alternatives:

An inpatient hospital stay costs $1,300 per day; emergency room care visits, $230; detoxification, $215; prison, $91; emergency shelter, $34; and permanent supportive housing, $25.

Yet sequestration, if it is not repealed or replaced with a more rational, data-driven approach, will impose as much as 10 percent cuts on the already weakened homeless system and hurt the most vulnerable people. Sequestration does not distinguish between good and bad programs, effective or not.

So, during this Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, as you reflect on being well-fed and having a warm, dry, safe place to come home to, we urge you to renew your commitment to ending homelessness by volunteering, by donating to local charities and by reminding our elected officials that the federal budget is a statement of our values as a society and we should invest in opportunity - a shot at a better lif e- through our choices.