Good to see that Charlie is making some headway on the Homeless Court issue; all the work and effort Lt. Swisher and I have done to improve officer treatment of the homeless on the streets has begun paying off, as has her desire to begin seeking alternatives to incarceration by contacting outreach workers - those she's able to reach by phone, anyway.
I know Judge Eisenstien has long hoped for some new options and I'm really thrilled to see we might actually be making some progress, because it doesn't much matter if we can help folks on the outside when they've got so many convictions they're relegated to poverty and unemployment.
And by the way, I applaud Clifton's public comment regarding creating a "Housing Trust;" this idea for a Housing Fund issue has been on the table for at least a couple of years now; we brought it up at some intense commission/Tent City meetings back when they were zeroing in on a close date for the camp.
Erik Cole commented during that meeting that it was something the commission needed to look into quickly in order to provide the funds necessary for those folks who had nothing and no real promise of getting any income anytime soon, either. Believe it when I tell you that there are a LOT of folks like that languishing in alleys and camps around the city.
Granted, some of this poverty is their own fault, no doubt about it. However, the real bi*ch is that once they decided to make a change, the barriers and obstacles heaped upon them from their ramifications of their previous lifestyle now inhibit and often prohibit them from making substantial forward progress. It's a real dilemma for those of us working to assist them out here and it's extremely frustrating and disheartening for them, as well.
Homelessness Commission Eyes Alternatives to Jail
Monday, March 08th, 2010, by Daniel Potter
Nashville’s Homelessness Commission is looking for a way authorities can get help for homeless people, instead of legally punishing them. For example when police find a homeless person sleeping in a park, they could have a social worker step in, rather than a criminal court.Father Charles Strobel works on the committee on police issues with homelessness. He says the program, called Homeless Court, would be based on a model from San Diego.
“At the point where the police encounter a situation that appears to be criminal, social workers are contacted at that point to try and resolve that, rather than put it into the criminal justice system.”That ties in with another plan, which Strobel says aims to create a “single point of entry” – a unified system that gets homeless people help from various agencies. Otherwise Strobel says they’re often lost in the shuffle for medical help, social workers and housing specialists.
But Strobel cautions progress on the committee is slow, with some members preferring a more hands-off approach.
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Last month Nashville Mayor Karl Dean released a plan to address poverty, which included a call for a housing trust fund. Commission Director Clifton Harris says making homes available is vital, but raising funds for it remains a massive challenge.
WEB EXTRA:
Harris says getting the homeless into housing reduces crime, improves education among children, and leads to fewer hospital visits, by helping protect those with chronic illnesses, and those who would face conditions like frostbite if left to the elements.
“Right now we’ve put 56 people in our Housing First program. We are having success of a 92 percent housing-retention rate. And we have to go as far as getting 1,600 more homes for people.”Harris says where to find dedicated funding for a Housing Trust is the key question – “It can be a host of things, and I think we have to be creative,” he said.
