Homelessness has been persistent across United States cities and states. In Vermont, the number of people experiencing homelessness has been rising slightly, even before the COVID-19 pandemic, which nearly doubled that number from 1,110 to over 2,000 at its height. As a percentage of population, Vermont has the 10th highest rate of homelessness in the country. However, new strategies across the country are being utilized to successfully place people experiencing homelessness in stable homes.
In mid-July, the Urban Institute released a report on an initiative in Denver, Colorado aimed at decreasing and uplifting their population of chronically homeless people and disrupting the pattern of cycling through jail, detoxification centers, and emergency rooms. Their program utilized a Housing First approach, which is based on the philosophy that a person's basic needs like food and shelter must be met before issues such as unemployment, substance abuse or mental health can be addressed.
The Denver Supportive Housing Social Impact Bond Initiative (Denver SIB) provided an apartment and other services for chronically homeless Coloradans. The results from a four-year evaluation were overwhelmingly positive. After one year in the supportive housing program, 86 percent of participants remained in stable housing and 77 percent remained after three years. Providing evidence against the myth that those experiencing homelessness prefer to live on the streets, those housed with the Denver SIB lived in permanent housing an average of 560 days more than the control group which received typical services in the community such as shelters. This is an increase of 594 percent. Their average number of days with shelter stays also decreased by 35 percent.
People who were referred to supportive housing had 34 percent fewer interactions with police and a 40 percent reduction in arrests. This is largely because they were no longer engaging in illegal but often inevitable behavior like loitering and sleeping in parks. This translated to an average of 38 fewer days spent in jail.
The Denver SIB's supportive services also connected people with the medical care that they could not access otherwise. People referred to supportive housing visited the emergency department nine times on average as opposed to fifteen for the control group. They also had eight more office-based health care visits with a psychiatric diagnosis and received three more unique prescription medications. The treatment population also decreased their number of city-funded detoxification facility visits by 65 percent.
The housing assistance was paid for with vouchers funded by the state and federal government. Due to the costs associated with emergency room visits, ambulance trips, time spent in jail, and other public services, each participant in the Denver SIB represented $3,733 less per year for the city than the control group who did not receive the supportive housing and services. Denver used a "pay for success" social impact bond model to cover upfront costs. This means that the financial risk was shifted to private investors and the city will repay them over $1 million more than initial contribution because of the program's success. If Denver were to expand the SIB to all 1,209 people experiencing chronic homelessness, they could save $8.3 million in other services.
Vermont has its own Housing First initiative organized by Pathways Vermont which has supported over 200 Vermonters and boasts an 85% housing retention rate. Pathways has also partnered with the Vermont Department of Corrections (DOC) and helped 150 former inmates re-enter the community, decreasing long-term incarceration of participants by 81%. By reducing the incarceration rate, Housing First policies in Vermont have saved the state money in the long run.
However, the need for supportive housing remains significant. As of 2017, over 1,125 former inmates in Vermont prisons had no home to return to upon release and required housing assistance from the Department of Corrections (DOC). Meanwhile, 80 percent of all prison admissions in the state are caused by a violation of the terms of furlough, probation, or parole supervision from 2017 to 2019—a statistic the DOC is hoping to change through prioritizing stable housing after release. The department recently announced it will invest $5.8 million in transitional housing to shift away from group living situations. Some of this funding has been granted to Pathways Vermont. While not all of the housing providers with which the DOC has partnered utilize the Housing First approach, it is becoming clear that providing safe, stable housing may be the first step in breaking the homelessness-jail cycle.
If you are or anyone you know is experiencing homelessness or at risk of being homeless, you can find assistance through the Vermont Coalition to End Homelessness, or call 211.