It's hard to have a conversation about homelessness in America.
Even in progressive cities like Seattle and San Francisco, coverage of our historically high levels of homelessness has become so hyperpartisanized that it's impossible for people to agree on the causes of the housing crisis. Some people see homelessness as an economic failure and others see it as an individual failure, blaming it on mental illness or a drug addiction problem.
Some urbanists claim that building large amounts of housing won't solve the housing crisis. Personal failing from economic pressures is not homelessness. According to a study done by Zillow, cities with rents over a third of the average income have an increase in homelessness of anywhere from 6 to 32%. Tens of thousands of Americans are being pushed out into the street for the first time every year, because median rents in some cities have skyrocketed by up to 91% over the past decade.
University of Washington Professor Josephine Ensign talked about her 40-year career working with homeless people around the world on the "Pitchfork Economics" show. Her newest book, "Skid Road: On the Frontier of Health and Homelessness in an American City," explores the history of homelessness in Seattle.
How did we get to a point where almost every American city has tent camps? The Department of Housing and Urban Development has had a steady de funding of its services through the last half of the 20th century.
There is no one who can point to the root cause of America's homelessness crisis. A wide array of policy failures worsened by American leaders' 40-year love affair with trickle-down austerity have led to this moment. Europe doesn't have the same growing number of unhoused people as we do.
Many of the issues that push Americans onto the streets would be solved by a universal healthcare system.
We need more affordable housing in American cities right now because rents and housing prices are rising so fast. It's cheaper to house homeless people than it is to put them through the endless cycle of homeless shelters and services that cost taxpayers between $30,000 and $80,000 per homeless person per year. Physical shelter needs are only part of the problem.
It's not just a problem with inadequate low income and supportive housing. It is the sense of belonging, the sense of community, the community supports in terms of health and social services that are needed for people to be safe and healthy in low-income and long-term permanent housing.
People who are homeless experience trauma before they are forced into homelessness. The homeless populations will continue to rise if we don't have systems in place to address emotional damage.
What would she do if she could establish policies to end homelessness in a major American city? She said that she would fund high-quality mental health and substance abuse programs for homeless families and individuals if they were sustainable.
"With quick interventions and appropriate counseling and treatment for the child and for the family, those traumas can be overcome and can actually become sources of strength," he said.
