HONOLULU (AP) — A newly released study shows that the state’s Housing First program worked for an overwhelming majority of homeless people who participated in the Oahu project.
HONOLULU (AP) — A newly released study shows that the state’s Housing First program worked for an overwhelming majority of homeless people who participated in the Oahu project.
The program aims to move chronically homeless people directly into homes from streets and shelters without preconditions. The University of Hawaii report released Wednesday says the program worked for 97 percent of participants last year, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported (https://bit.ly/29r8aAu).
The study shows five out of 166 homeless people didn’t make it through the program. Two people who were placed into rental units were later incarcerated, two were “noncompliant with landlords” and the other left voluntarily.
Jack Barile, an assistant psychology professor at UH who led the study, said the statistics attest to the effectiveness of the program’s philosophy of housing individuals without requiring them to be sober or attend treatment programs.
“It works,” Barile said. “I would say confidently that it works.”
Barile and graduate student Anna Smith got feedback from homeless clients to measure the effectiveness of the city’s first-year contract with the Institute for Human Services and its effort to get homeless people into fair-market homes.
The study’s preliminary results had showed that Housing First participants reported having more days in which they felt better, had more energy and were more active compared to when they were homeless. They also reported having fewer stressful days and experienced more days when they were generally satisfied with life and were optimistic about the future.
“These are individuals that have a lot of support around them and more or less come with guaranteed rent that will be on time, that’s essentially guaranteed by the state,” Barile said. “If I was a landlord — and this is my honest opinion — these are the people I would rent to. I would definitely rent to someone who has this support compared to those that don’t and may or may not be able to pay rent each month.”
The study was released Wednesday during the launch of an exhibit in Honolulu of pictures taken by 18 Housing First clients. The participants were provided with digital cameras and weren’t given instructions on what to photograph, Smith said.
Thomas Lamberton, 55, captured a picture of the cardboard he used to sleep on near the state Capitol.
“Housing First gave me my self-respect back,” Lamberton said. “It worked for me.”
The exhibit featuring the work of those now living in Housing First units will run through July 19.