For Immediate Release: Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Councilmembers Knapp, Leventhal Unveil New County Approach to Reduce Homelessness
They Announce Proposal for Montgomery County That Would Provide Permanent, Not Temporary, Homes
ROCKVILLE, Md., December 18, 2007—Montgomery County Council President Mike Knapp and Councilmember George Leventhal, chair of the Council’s Health and Human Services Committee, today announced a proposal that would have the County change its approach to significantly reduce homelessness by aggressively seeking to match the homeless with permanent, instead of temporary, residences.
Councilmember Leventhal and Councilmember Knapp, the co-sponsors of the initiative, were joined at a news conference to announce details of their plan by Sharan London, executive director of the Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless, and Nan Roman, president and CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. The new conference was held at the Seneca Heights Apartments in Gaithersburg.
Most traditional programs geared toward helping the homeless involve temporary housing, such as overnight shelters or transitional housing. Following a national philosophy of “Housing First,” Councilmembers Knapp and Leventhal want the County, in its Fiscal Year 2009 budget, to allocate $4 million for the program that would not only provide permanent housing for the homeless, but also would fund a variety of services that would help residents maintain living in those permanent homes.
By using $4 million from the County’s Housing Initiative Fund (about 10 percent of its annual budget), the cutting edge Housing First program could be implemented without additional County funding. In future years, Leventhal and Knapp propose that no less than 10 percent of the total Housing Initiative Fund be devoted to housing for the very lowest income residents of the county.
“We often talk about ways to help the homeless, but simply, the best way to help the homeless is to find them permanent homes rather than by constantly finding them temporary assistance,” said Councilmember Leventhal. “Keeping people in temporary and transitional housing, in actuality, just prolongs their homelessness.”
A key element of the Housing First approach is that funds could be used for development of affordable housing; for rental subsidies in addition to other housing assistance that homeless individuals or families may already be entitled; for counseling; and for other services that will enable the homeless to upright their lives.
“One of the many good things about this approach we want to take in Montgomery County is that we will be using money that we already have identified,” said Council President Knapp. “We are determined to significantly reduce homelessness and now we are going to take an approach that is better and smarter. In this case, we are going to try to end homelessness by giving people permanent homes—what a novel idea.”
Another aspect of the plan will be to seek out homeless people to interest them in the program. Many other programs geared to the homeless often wait for homeless people to approach the providers—often at a point when their situations are already dire.
Under the Leventhal/Knapp proposal, Housing Initiative Fund dollars could be used to construct or rent housing and also to employ social workers. The social workers would seek to persuade homeless people to participate in the program and identify resources the homeless may already have, including eligibility for other federal, state and local benefits and family and personal resources. Prior efforts to help the homeless have much relied on homeless people to seek help of their own volition.
“We are thrilled that the County Council is taking a leadership role in dealing with Montgomery County’s housing crisis in both a compassionate and cost-effective way,” said Ms. London. “They have made this holiday season much brighter for the 1,100 men, women and children in our community who are in desperate need of a home everyday.”
The news conference was held at Seneca Heights Apartments, which has been part of an ongoing County program to provide permanent housing for the homeless. However, since the County Council and former County Executive Douglas Duncan embraced a goal in 2002 to "end homelessness by 2012," many involved in programs for the homeless believe too few units have been constructed to make a significant reduction in homelessness in the County.