In Praise of Government Employees

HUD Staff Worry About a Rise in Homelessness

In the past, when government cut housing or infrastructure, there has always been an increase in funding for hunger and emergency shelter services to offset.  The thinking was that if there is a cut to human services or mainstream programs more people will need emergency services.  In 2011 and 2012, this is not happening and funding for emergency services are at level funding or facing dramatic cuts.  While poverty is rising in the suburbs, hunger in the suburbs is on the rise, the foreclosure crisis has not abated, and we still have a high unemployment rate in Northeast Ohio, the government is cutting back.  The proposed budget has some significant cuts to public housing, vouchers, FEMA emergency food and shelter, development block grant (which can be used for housing services), HOME dollars and on and on and on.  These two trends in rising need and decreasing budgets are dangerous for Cleveland.  The 2009 stimulus dollars are going to expire in the middle of 2012, and we already saw a giant increase in shelter for families this last summer. Will we begin turning away children from shelter in the summer of 2012?  Will we be able to serve the overflow populations over the next two winters?

With all this as the backdrop, I was able to visit senor staff at HUD Washington to talk about issues that have an impact on homeless people.  The big concern is the implementation of the funding and rules changes with regard to federal allocation of HUD homeless dollars known as HEARTH (formerly McKinney Vento).  In listening to the Tea Party and even some in the Occupy Movement there is a distorted picture of government and government employees.  There is a hostility and a sector of our society who believe that government workers are living high on the hog and milking our tax dollars while doing nothing.  From Cleveland it can look as though HUD employees in Washington just don't understand.  All these new rules are going to destabilize the shelters in a time of extreme need.  We see that there does not seem to be much coordination between the homeless veterans initiatives and the homeless priorities funded by HUD.  The planning activities seem to propose lofty goals in creating permanent supportive housing for disabled individuals while we are being overwhelmed with families demanding help.  But when meeting with these "government workers" face to face, it is a very different story.

They have a genuine concern for the rise in homelessness, and they care about the stress being placed on emergency shelters in all communities.  They seem to feel powerless as HUD employees to do much because of the demands of Congress and the current political environment.  Congress passed these changes four years ago in the way HUD funds the shelters and housing programs directed at homeless people, but never passed the appropriations level to implement the goals contained in the legislation.  This puts HUD staff between a rock and a hard place.  They have these new regulations, but not enough money for the planning or the increase in administrative support to implement these changes.  They are going forward in the next two weeks with new regulations on emergency solutions funding and the definition of homelessness.  These rules will go into place while still receiving public comment.  But the rules for distributing the bulk of the homeless dollars are stuck in the pipeline.

The HUD staff are troubled that there will only be $60 million for new projects to be spread out across the United States.  All the other HUD homeless dollars will go to renew existing programs.  HUD staff want to improve the outcomes so that the limited dollars go to provide the best possible service to the millions of homeless households.  When you look these people in the eyes, the bottom line is that they do not want harm to befall the population.  They understand that the decisions made in Washington can have an impact on the shelter beds in Kalamazoo, Kansas City, and Culver City.  They care that people still do freeze to death while sleeping outside in the United States in places like Milwaukee, Memphis and Manhattan.  These people have risen through the ranks of bureaucracy because they have a skill and can balance the needs of the executive and legislative branches of government.  They see the big picture and struggle with state governments that ignore the problem and local communities which try to use their homeless dollars for other politically popular programs.  They care and realize that sometimes HUD rules make it difficult to provide assistance, such as the Cleveland policy of forcing outreach workers to get a notarized statement verifying homelessness for those living outside.  They understand that we are all working on ending homelessness, and that government is not always the best partner.

Despite what you hear from protestors, most government employees care and do their job with a great deal of skill and compassion.  There are some that have to go, but the level of corruption and ineptitude is minimal.  Despite having to work in one of the ugliest buildings in Washington and having to undergo extreme security measures making it difficult to hear from the public, the HUD staff want to help and are concerned about the rise in poverty and homelessness.  If we could figure out a way to get politics out of the way, I have faith that these guys could figure out a way for America to significantly reduce homelessness.

Brian
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The Price of Austerity

Emergency Shelter and Hunger Funds Cut by 40%

I am supposed mention good things to balance out the depression of homelessness and poverty that permeates this blog. So, the good news was that Cleveland was not listed as one of the top 10 sickest housing markets in the United States. Our friends in Dayton and Detroit are both on the list, but Cleveland was spared from the "sickest list." Now for the bad news.... There was a great deal of debate over the last month about a double dip recession, and austerity measures slowing the economy. There were many who talked about the 1937 Congressional push to cut the debt while the country was still trying to crawl out of the Great Depression. This only caused the economy to slide back into depression, and many are afraid we are facing the same thing today.

One example was the cuts to the 2011 budget, and programs that serve the very low income. Every year the shelters and the soup kitchens and food pantries divide up funds from the FEMA federal budget as part of the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) funds. This has remained relatively stable for the last decade with a spike in dollars as part of the 2009 stimulus. This year, the shelters and hunger programs will face a 40% cut in funds. The United Way is the caretaker of these funds locally, and here is their summary of the situation:

Congress has appropriated $119,760,000 nationally to supplement the emergency food and shelter programs which represents an $80,240, 000 decrease (approximately a 40% decrease) in the amount that was allocated for phase 28. The amount of FEMA/EFSP funds awarded to Cuyahoga County for phase 29 [2011] is $572,482 which represents a $250,861 decrease in the amount that was allocated to the county in phase 28 [2010] ($823,343).

This is going to be a huge hardship for the hunger programs which received over $400,000 last year from the federal government. All of these funds are divided by formula so the shelters with the largest number of beds get the biggest allocation, and the food programs that give out the largest amount of food get the largest amount of the money. 2100 Lakeside receives a sizable amount of the dollars from the FEMA/EFSP allocation, and their residents will feel the loss.

The federal homeless dollars are relatively stable this year, but the Community Development Block Grant funds (which supports a few of the homeless programs) is facing a 30% cut over the next two years, and there are cuts coming from the State of Ohio for behavioral health programs. All of this austerity is going to hurt those who could not find help against predatory and housing bubble or those who tried in vein to find a bailout for their unemployment. At a time when food resources are stretched thin throughout the county, the federal government is cutting funds to the food pantries. At a time when more people are looking for housing in our community, the feds are cutting funds to shelters.

Brian Davis
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Illegal to Be Homeless

Myrtle Beach Restricts Access to Food

Why are most cities so horrible in dealing with poor people? Is it that they do not understand how those with a low-income live or is it just a single-minded focus on pandering to those with political connections? I can at least understand this desire on behalf of business and government to target homeless people with laws in order to hide such a visible sign of failed leadership. I do not understand when cities restrict access to food served by highly devout religious congregations. Myrtle Beach recently passed a law against feeding homeless people without a license. These groups are only allowed to apply for four licenses to feed per year. These laws are a useless waste of money. Churches will come together and fight the cities over these feeding bans. As happened in Orlando, they will sue, and the city, typically, will lose. Any questions? Ask San Francisco, Las Vegas or anyone of the many cities in Florida that tried this strategy, but failed.

NEOCH in Cleveland worked to try to come to some compromise on these feeding issues. Not until listening to all of these various interests, did I realize how deep seated the religious organizations feel about bringing food downtown. Some of these churches were far away from Cleveland, but felt that it was a part of their very existence to distribute food. After all, in this modern world that often is detached from the words contained in the 2000 year old writings in the Bible, feeding poor people is a clear directive lifted straight out of the Bible.

"Feed the hungry and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as day."--Isaiah 58:10

It is clear in the Bible (Matthew and Romans) that the Christian God commands the devout to go out and feed the hungry. There is no chance for misinterpretation or confusion. How can a city government mess with this expression of Christian faith? I was surprised how strong this faith was in the delivery of food to homeless people in Cleveland. No matter that the outreach workers were concerned about the lack of nutrition or coordination. No matter that the Public Square was nearly completely shut down with the Euclid Corridor construction project. The religious groups pressed on bringing warm soup, pasta, and their ministry to the streets in snow, rain, and opposition by downtown businesses. We were able to strike a compromise with a few of the churches to relocate the largest meals to a neutral site, but it took many months and wading through some anger. The City of Cleveland did not want to give out tickets or pass a law, but they could no longer tolerate the mess, the clean up costs, and the lack of coordination taking place on the streets.

I was quoted in one of the editorials from The Sun News by the paper, which expressed some skepticism about this decision by the Myrtle Beach City Council. Most of these fundamentalist churches who minister to people on the streets do not like each other. They come from different faiths, and are suspicious of other Christians or Jews, but when facing legal restrictions will join together to fight City hall. They will compromise, but limiting their faith to four feeding times per year is unacceptable. So, instead of working on why people are hungry or living in a park in Myrtle Beach, their City Council will spend the next year fighting to preserve this law. They will continue to get federal funds to support homeless and hunger programs, while trying to make it illegal for the faith community to help. It is always amazing how short sighted city leadership is in dealing with poor people.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Hunger and Homelessness Report

No One Really Gives This Report Much Confidence

The United States Conference of Mayors report on Hunger and Homelessness in America was released on Friday. While this report was for years, largely dismissed by advocates and by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development as pure conjecture. This is a survey of the Mayor's offices from 25 cities in America of statistics such as meals and shelter capacity etc. Even the activists in the 25 cities have never considered the information reliable. The reality was that using the Mayor's report based on the percentage increase every year would mean there were approximately 25 million homeless people in America. Anyway, it is a December tradition to get the Hunger and Homeless report, which always shows an increase in homelessness. For 20 years, this report has stated publicly that American Mayors are struggling with increases in homelessness. This has not made a damn bit of difference. During the Clinton, Bush 43, and Bush 41 administrations, this report meant nothing. Obviously, the Mayors do not carry much weight, especially if the report is so widely discredited by government and advocates alike.

I always thought that the full report was a failure, but the Cleveland numbers were usually pretty accurate. I knew the person collecting the numbers and I knew that he was relying on accurate information, so it was a good baseline for trends in Cleveland. This year, the numbers are based on the "complete count" mandated by HUD for every city. This is the once a year attempt to count everyone who is homeless in every city in America on one day. Basically, a bunch of volunteers try to count thousands of similarly colored marbles while they are in motion. The complete count is the most useless exercise ever mandated by government. This is now the basis for the Mayor's homeless report including Cleveland's listing. The hunger report is fine, because it is based on something real: meals delivered or consumed. We can all agree that homelessness has increased in nearly every City in America (including Cleveland), but the numbers in the report are useless.

Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.