U.S. Vows Major Cut in Homeless

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry G. Cisneros unveiled a new federal effort to combat homelessness Tuesday and pledged that the Clinton Administration will reduce the number of homeless Americans by one-third before the end of its first term.

In a report by Cisneros’ department that was a year in the making, the Administration contended that on any night, 600,000 of the nation’s people are among the ranks of the homeless and that 7 million people were without a permanent residence at some point between 1985 and 1990.

The Administration vowed in its report to take a new approach to the problem by giving local governments more responsibility for creating comprehensive programs designed to establish emergency housing and to treat substance abuse, mental illness and other problems believed to be at the root of homelessness.

The report’s release Tuesday coincided with the Administration’s attempts to push legislation for a variety of programs through Congress and was designed to help defend its proposal to double federal funding for homelessness programs to $1.7 billion in 1995.

Homeless advocates applauded the report as the first federal acknowledgment of the extent and complexity of homelessness in the United States. But they cautioned that even the resources being contemplated by the Clinton Administration would be dwarfed by the need.

“It’s doomed to disappoint because for the first time the federal government understands the problem and because of political reasons it cannot respond at the level necessary,” said Fred Karnas, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, which represents homeless advocates in 40 cities.

Louisville, Ky., Mayor Jerry Abramson, president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, said that the report marks the first time the White House has responded to the mounting demand for services for the homeless.

“Each year we appealed to the federal government to intervene, to help cities and service providers keep pace with the alarming growth of the problem,” Abramson said. “The response during those years came largely from Capitol Hill, not the White House.”

Traditionally, the federal government has granted money on a competitive basis to nonprofit organizations with the expectation that they would provide emergency shelter and services to the homeless. But the Administration argues that the problem is too intractable to be alleviated in such piecemeal fashion and must be addressed through coordinated, comprehensive public policy headed by local government with guidance from federal officials.

While responses will certainly vary from city to city, depending on the extent of the problem, each would be expected to use the federal funds to provide:

* Emergency shelter.

* Transitional and rehabilitative services, including substance abuse treatment, short-term mental health services and independent living skills instruction.

* Permanent affordable housing.

“This comprehensive approach to homelessness should be instituted and coordinated by localities,” the report says. “Unlike not-for-profit providers, the locality can view the entire system in the jurisdiction to ensure that transitions from each stage can be smooth. Unlike the federal government, the locality is intimately familiar with the needs of its neighborhoods.”

The Administration has been working with the District of Columbia--the first municipality awarded a special $20-million grant to create a model approach to homelessness--since soon after President Clinton took office.

Los Angeles, the second winner of a pilot grant, is drafting its final proposal on how it will use the $20 million it is scheduled to receive. Other cities qualifying for pilot programs have yet to be announced.