Thursday, September 20, 2012

The Conversation Continues

Two months ago, the Columbia County Board of Supervisors Human Services Committee approved a resolution authorizing Paul Mossman, commissioner for social services, to enter into a lease agreement with the Galvan Initiatives Foundation for a 37-unit facility at the corner of State and Seventh streets. A month later, that resolution was tabled by the Finance Committee at a meeting attended by about 40 Hudson residents and city officials. Now, with the number of homeless singles in Columbia County down to only 14, the committee that was ready to commit to spending $610,000 to $649,493 a year for "Galvan Quarters," is rethinking its plans. Nathan Mayberg has a summary of the situation in today's Register-Star: "Homeless population drops sharply."

Gossips has a few things to add to Mayberg's account of Wednesday's meeting of the Human Services Committee. 

Supervisor Bill Hughes (Hudson Fourth Ward), who remains tenaciously committed to working with the Galvan Initiatives Foundation to solve the homeless problem, reported that he and committee chair Betty Young (Taghkanic) had met with Galvan, "while Mossman was on vacation," to discuss downsizing the proposal. He intimated that there was a new proposal that "dramatically reduced" the size of the facility but declined to reveal how many units were involved or any other specifics. 

Several suggestions were made for ways to avoid ending up with, as Supervisor Art Bassin (Ancram) described it, "a fixed cost facility where only part of it is being used." (At $610,000 a year, the cost of housing only 14 people there would be $43,571 per person--more than the median household income in Columbia County.) Some of the possibilities mentioned were charging back for unused rooms, renting out units as affordable apartments, using the proposed Tier 1 units as "hotel style" housing. Supervisor Ellen Thurston (Hudson Third Ward) suggested that instead of one large facility, two or three smaller 10-unit facilities might provide the kind of flexibility needed to respond to homeless numbers that keep changing. In response to this idea, Hughes pointed out that, since Hudson zoning limits the area where such facilities can be located, it was unlikely that three sites could be found. It seems strange that a Hudson supervisor would automatically assume that all the facilities had to be located in Hudson until it is recalled that the Galvan Foundation has made it known that they will only work in Hudson. Another apparent drawback for spreading people out is the Mental Health Association's estimate that it would cost $25,000 per person per year to provide the kinds of "wrap-around" services the County is hoping to provide if the recipients of those services are not all in one place.

The conclusion reached by the committee's discussion seemed to be that Mossman would "look if there is another smaller scale approach." Presumably this means more discussion with Galvan. There was no mention of scheduling a public meeting for Hudson residents to share their ideas about how the problem should be addressed in our community.

8 comments:

  1. Prevention should always be the first approach to reducing homelessness and now we see that it has paid off for Columbia County with very small numbers of homeless singles and families. This figure may fluctuate depending on a number of variables but the headlong rush to build a shelter and transitional housing even on a smaller scale should be rethought. Now is the time. We know from national studies that once a shelter is up and running homelessness increases because other institutions such as hospitals, police and other institutions start using the shelter as a drop off point. We know that the chronically homeless make up a small portion of the overall homeless which means that most homeless do not require wrap around services or transitional housing. We know that prevention and Housing First initiatives greatly reduce homelessness. We also know that decent wages and affordable housing are key to preventing homelessness. What better time to untangle the County and City of Hudson from Galvan Initiatives and rethink a strategy for ending homelessness that is no longer weighed down by lousy public relations, real and perceived ethics violations, public distrust of Eric Galloway and his various real estate enterprises in Hudson, and poor advice from local Galvan staff and its many paid consultants regarding a range of issues related to homelessness.

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  2. Kate, what is a "Housing First" initiative?

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    1. John, this is a brief description from the Nat'l Alliance To End Homelessness: Housing First is an approach that centers on providing homeless people with housing quickly and then providing services as needed. What differentiates a Housing First approach from other strategies is that there is an immediate and primary focus on helping individuals and families quickly access and sustain permanent housing. This approach has the benefit of being consistent with what most people experiencing homelessness want and seek help to achieve. Housing First programs share critical elements:

      There is a focus on helping individuals and families access and sustain rental housing as quickly as possible and the housing is not time-limited;
      A variety of services are delivered primarily following a housing placement to promote housing stability and individual well-being;
      Such services are time-limited or long-term depending upon individual need; and
      Housing is not contingent on compliance with services – instead, participants must comply with a standard lease agreement and are provided with the services and supports that are necessary to help them do so successfully.

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    2. John let me add another point. The Corporation For Supportive Housing just released a "toolkit" for public housing authorities to work with local service providers to provide housing for the homeless. Is the PHA involved in discussions regarding strategies to reduce homelessness in Columbia County?

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  3. Kate, thanks for your notes and explanations. I'm not sure if the County is doing anything with anyone except the usual suspects (i.e. Galloway and themselves).

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  4. Thank- you Kate Stone,exactly.
    "What better time to untangle the County and City of Hudson from Galvan Initiatives and rethink a strategy for ending homelessness that is no longer weighed down by lousy public relations, real and perceived ethics violations, public distrust of Eric Galloway and his various real estate enterprises in Hudson, and poor advice from local Galvan staff and its many paid consultants regarding a range of issues related to homelessness. "

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  5. It is to my understanding that there presently is a 6mo to a year waiting list for apartments at Hudson's "public" gov't subsidized housing.
    The present solution is to house the homeless in local hotels/motels.
    What residences would Housing First have available for the homeless in Hudson/Col County?

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    1. That is a fairly typical wait. I assume that the PHA was involved in the development of the County Consolidated Plan. That local jurisdiction Plan should include strategies related to ending homelessness and then it is fed into the State Consolidated Plan (the current State Plan is fairly dense and my quick scan could have missed mention of Columbia County needs. For instance, I did not see any mention of the need for transitional housing in Columbia County.). Was the PHA involved in the development of the County Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness completed by CARES? If so, was any consideration given to preferences for the homeless by the PHA? A PHA has the flexibility to give preferences for housing although change in preference calls for a change in PHA administrative rules. Another avenue to house homeless families is having social service agencies team up with Section 8 landlords through Counties and regions. There are models all over the country related to these partnerships that are working to house the homeless. Maybe this is all being done by Columbia County? I guess the Human Services Committee would have those answers.

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