Latest news with #HousingFirst
Irish Times
2 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Hundreds of homes for homeless in Dublin at risk as tender to manage them attracts no bids
Hundreds of homes, planned for Dublin's most vulnerable homeless population, are in jeopardy as a tender to manage them has attracted no bids, according to the Housing Agency and the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive . Dozens of people, who have been sleeping on streets or who have spent long periods in emergency accommodation and should have been offered housing, have not received offers. The Housing First programme, where entrenched rough-sleepers are provided with own-door housing along with wraparound supports to help sustain their tenancy, has been managed in Dublin by the Peter McVerry Trust , the homeless housing charity, since 2019. With the expiration of the trust's contract last year, the Housing Agency led a procurement process for the management of 540 tenancies and to meet targets to create hundreds more. READ MORE The agency sought bids for three 'lots' of tenancies. Though tenders were received from housing bodies for two smaller 'lots' of about 125 current tenancies each, the largest lot of 250 existing tenancies attracted no bids. There are currently 540 Housing First tenancies in Dublin, with a further 581 across eight regions outside the capital. The programme's current difficulties are limited to properties in Dublin. The programme for government set a target of expanding the scheme – regarded as hugely successful in tackling long-term homelessness among single adults – to 2,000 nationally, including hundreds more in Dublin. [ Child-focused homelessness strategy needed, says Ombudsman Opens in new window ] A target of 143 additional tenancies were to be created this year, with another 143 next year in Dublin. Sources say fewer than 10 have been created so far this year. 'The scheme has effectively been paused,' said a senior housing sector source. 'It means really vulnerable people who would be put forward for housing with all the wraparound supports, or individuals who have been a long time in emergency accommodation and need those extra supports going into housing, are just being left.' In addition, supports for existing tenancies are said to 'stretched', with staff from other charities, including Depaul and Focus Ireland assisting Peter McVerry Trust's Housing First staff. 'The Government has made a complete mess of this tender process,' said Sinn Féin's housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin. 'As a result, existing Housing First tenants are not getting the support they need and vital new housing first tenancies are not being created.' [ 'A grim situation': Number of homeless people rises further Opens in new window ] The Dublin Region Homeless Executive, which provides statutory supports to the scheme, said the delay incompleting the tender has 'hindered the growth of the service in 2025″. 'However, all stakeholders are working collaboratively to consolidate the Housing First programme and support the current Housing First tenants.' A Housing Agency spokeswoman said its Housing First national office was working to ensure current tenancies are protected and future tenancies will be created under the tender process. She said 'challenges' facing Housing First included sourcing enough one-bedroom units and recruiting and retaining tenancy support staff.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
NC House bills will undercut services to homeless vets
People experiencing homelessness in Raleigh pack to leave an encampment off of Highway 70 near Interstate 40. (Photo: Greg Childress) As a U.S. Navy veteran, I am honored to manage a team that serves other veterans who find themselves without a home in North Carolina. In my role as director of outreach for Veterans Services of The Carolinas (VSC), our team collaborates daily with the faith-based community, mental health and substance use providers, LME/MCOs, law enforcement, housing providers, and others across all 100 counties of North Carolina. That experience has provided us with deep insight into what works and what doesn't. Two pending bills in the North Carolina General Assembly will have a direct impact on our communities, service providers, law enforcement, and those we serve. Both are promoted—as they were in other targeted states —by an interest group out of Austin, Texas, called Cicero Action. Joe Lonsdale, its founder, is a venture capitalist with ties to those in private prison contracting, including technology for the newer field of e-carceration. One bill – House Bill 437 – would criminalize nonprofits like ours by threatening felony charges if drug activity occurs within 100 feet of our facilities — an extreme and unworkable standard that punishes service providers for circumstances beyond their control. The other — House Bill 781 — establishes new requirements on cities and counties to set up state-sanctioned homeless encampments for up to a year without additional funding. Going after nonprofits and supporting unfunded mandates is not on-brand for the state of North Carolina, but neither is disrespecting our faith-based and veteran leaders who the Cicero lobbyists characterize as unserious activists. Representatives for four bishops overseeing 1200 North Carolina Episcopal and United Methodist churches joined VSC and other veterans in sharing concerns about these bills and the impacts they will have at multiple House committee podiums. And yet, the bill passed out of the House and now awaits a round of committee hearings in the Senate. Under the guise of a self-described think tank, the Cicero Institute—in the absence of data—blames the Housing First model for the increase of homelessness. From Texas, it declares there is no lack of affordable housing in North Carolina and glosses over how two out of three of its residents experiencing homelessness in recent years are experiencing it for the first time. Prioritizing housing with wrap-around services—the housing first model—has been the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs approach since 2012. More than 133,000 veterans were housed and provided with supportive services to help them retain housing over the last three years. The practice was first introduced by the George W. Bush Administration and has enjoyed subsequent bipartisan support because of data showing its effectiveness. The average number of returns to homelessness across the state utilizing Housing First is less than 13%. The City of Raleigh estimates it costs $96,000 a year in emergency services, law enforcement and health care for a homeless person living outside. As Raleigh's News & Observer reported recently, putting someone in a home and making services available costs $20,000 — saving taxpayers' $76,000 per person. In contrast, another local government projected the cost of installing just one Greenflow unit to provide the bill's requirement of running water and restrooms at up to $200,000 alone. Will local governments have to add this cost and others in their capital improvement or their regular budgets to meet the state's approval? Will property tax increases be required to move the state-sanctioned encampments around each year? Additionally, legal counsels from local governments have raised concerns about increased liability and incarceration along with decreased local control–as reported by their colleagues in states where the Cicero bills have passed into law. Cicero offers no data to indicate its proposal will do anything to end homelessness—just make it less visible. A month after the Florida encampment law went into effect last year, the first lawsuit was filed, resulting in a hasty sweep of an encampment without a plan for where people would go. Ongoing treatment for substance use and medications for mental illness are interrupted or lost when caseworkers and peer support specialists cannot find those they serve. State-sanctioned, compulsive homeless encampments will drive unsheltered veterans further from the resources needed and further away from sustainable recovery, while putting the onus on our local law enforcement. Especially in the context of yesterday's annual observance of Memorial Day, it makes no sense for our leaders to pass laws that criminalize those who have given up so much for the freedoms we enjoy. Our General Assembly members would serve their communities more effectively by investing in solutions that have been proven to work and are cost effective.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
NC House bills will undercut services to homeless vets
People experiencing homelessness in Raleigh pack to leave an encampment off of Highway 70 near Interstate 40. (Photo: Greg Childress) As a U.S. Navy veteran, I am honored to manage a team that serves other veterans who find themselves without a home in North Carolina. In my role as director of outreach for Veterans Services of The Carolinas (VSC), our team collaborates daily with the faith-based community, mental health and substance use providers, LME/MCOs, law enforcement, housing providers, and others across all 100 counties of North Carolina. That experience has provided us with deep insight into what works and what doesn't. Two pending bills in the North Carolina General Assembly will have a direct impact on our communities, service providers, law enforcement, and those we serve. Both are promoted—as they were in other targeted states —by an interest group out of Austin, Texas, called Cicero Action. Joe Lonsdale, its founder, is a venture capitalist with ties to those in private prison contracting, including technology for the newer field of e-carceration. One bill – House Bill 437 – would criminalize nonprofits like ours by threatening felony charges if drug activity occurs within 100 feet of our facilities — an extreme and unworkable standard that punishes service providers for circumstances beyond their control. The other — House Bill 781 — establishes new requirements on cities and counties to set up state-sanctioned homeless encampments for up to a year without additional funding. Going after nonprofits and supporting unfunded mandates is not on-brand for the state of North Carolina, but neither is disrespecting our faith-based and veteran leaders who the Cicero lobbyists characterize as unserious activists. Representatives for four bishops overseeing 1200 North Carolina Episcopal and United Methodist churches joined VSC and other veterans in sharing concerns about these bills and the impacts they will have at multiple House committee podiums. And yet, the bill passed out of the House and now awaits a round of committee hearings in the Senate. Under the guise of a self-described think tank, the Cicero Institute—in the absence of data—blames the Housing First model for the increase of homelessness. From Texas, it declares there is no lack of affordable housing in North Carolina and glosses over how two out of three of its residents experiencing homelessness in recent years are experiencing it for the first time. Prioritizing housing with wrap-around services—the housing first model—has been the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs approach since 2012. More than 133,000 veterans were housed and provided with supportive services to help them retain housing over the last three years. The practice was first introduced by the George W. Bush Administration and has enjoyed subsequent bipartisan support because of data showing its effectiveness. The average number of returns to homelessness across the state utilizing Housing First is less than 13%. The City of Raleigh estimates it costs $96,000 a year in emergency services, law enforcement and health care for a homeless person living outside. As Raleigh's News & Observer reported recently, putting someone in a home and making services available costs $20,000 — saving taxpayers' $76,000 per person. In contrast, another local government projected the cost of installing just one Greenflow unit to provide the bill's requirement of running water and restrooms at up to $200,000 alone. Will local governments have to add this cost and others in their capital improvement or their regular budgets to meet the state's approval? Will property tax increases be required to move the state-sanctioned encampments around each year? Additionally, legal counsels from local governments have raised concerns about increased liability and incarceration along with decreased local control–as reported by their colleagues in states where the Cicero bills have passed into law. Cicero offers no data to indicate its proposal will do anything to end homelessness—just make it less visible. A month after the Florida encampment law went into effect last year, the first lawsuit was filed, resulting in a hasty sweep of an encampment without a plan for where people would go. Ongoing treatment for substance use and medications for mental illness are interrupted or lost when caseworkers and peer support specialists cannot find those they serve. State-sanctioned, compulsive homeless encampments will drive unsheltered veterans further from the resources needed and further away from sustainable recovery, while putting the onus on our local law enforcement. Especially in the context of yesterday's annual observance of Memorial Day, it makes no sense for our leaders to pass laws that criminalize those who have given up so much for the freedoms we enjoy. Our General Assembly members would serve their communities more effectively by investing in solutions that have been proven to work and are cost effective.
Black America Web
08-05-2025
- Business
- Black America Web
Trump's Continued Assault On The Poor, Explained
Black America Web Featured Video CLOSE Source: SAUL LOEB / Getty Last week, President Trump proposed a budget that, if approved by Congress, would essentially wipe out a large portion of government housing assistance (more commonly known as Section 8 housing) meant to serve those who are unhoused or housing insecure. Meanwhile, Trump continues to play fast and loose with tariffs, which the president refuses to acknowledge will increase prices on many common household items. And let's not forget the blatant destruction of the Black middle class at the hands of the mercilessly ruthless Department of Government Efficiency run by Apartheid's most famous son, Elon Musk. Because an oligarchy is not complete unless the poor are underserved, unemployed and unable to live in affordable housing. If approved as it's presented, this latest budget would gut Section 8 housing, including a '$33.5 billion in proposed cuts to the Housing and Urban Development department, a 44% reduction from current levels,' news site Cal Matters reports. It's important to understand that budgets are rarely approved as is and usually undergo several iterations before they're passed through Congress, but this latest budget shows where the president's interest lies. From tax cuts to the wealthy, to his manipulation of the stock market, to attacks on Black and brown federal workers disguised as the elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion, Trump is waging an all-out war on those of us who are less fortunate. From The Nation: The attacks are many-pronged. Rural development grants, food banks, and environmental protection measures have all been slashed in the name of 'ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs.' Planned Parenthood and other life-saving healthcare services for poor and marginalized communities have been defunded. Homelessness has been ever more intensely criminalized and Housing First policies vilified. The Department of Education, which has historically provided critical resources for low-income and disabled students, has been gutted, while the barbaric conditions in overcrowded immigrant detention centers have only worsened. Billions of dollars in funding for mental health and addiction services have been revoked. Worse yet, these and other mercenary actions may prove to be just the tip of the spear. Tariff wars and potential cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and SNAP could leave both the lives of the poor and the global economy in shambles. If Trump's budget is successful, it would destroy several decades of federal housing laws that were set in place to help millions of people who struggle with not only affordable but livable housing. 'By following through on such a huge level with so many proposals that are going to gut assistance to low-income people across the country, including his own party's states, he's putting his own members of Congress in a very difficult place,' Matt Schwartz, president of the California Housing Partnership, a nonprofit that champions the rights of the unhoused, told Cal Matters. 'The level of carnage that would be involved in doing these things is probably going to send some Republican senators running for the exits.' Thankfully, the plan is so egregious that some Republican members have already pushed back on the president's proposal. Cal Matters notes that, 'the largest single cut in federal housing policy would target the Housing Choice Voucher program. Better known as Section 8, it's currently administered by the federal government and helps low-income tenants with their rental payments. The White House is proposing shifting responsibility for the administration of that program, which it calls 'dysfunctional,' to states, while cutting its funding in half.' And get this: The Trump administration would also want to place a two-year cap on those who receive assistance. While rent continues to rise and incomes remain stagnant, the proposal is a joke to those who have trouble finding work in this economy, but it also laughs at those who need assistance being able to rectify their circumstances in a laughable two-year time span. Not to mention, it would ruin the middle-class landlords who rent specifically to Section 8 families because the income is guaranteed from the federal government. That change is 'completely out of touch with what people are facing in the housing market,' Alex Visotzky, senior California policy fellow at the National Alliance to End Homelessness, told Cal Matters. That isn't all, Trump wants to cut four other housing voucher programs to save some $27 billion annually. 'You'd be looking at millions of people out on the street virtually overnight,' said Schwartz. 'There's no way states could maintain the same level of assistance.' SEE ALSO: Trump Wants To Pay Migrants To Self-Deport Trump Claims He Won't Run For President, Again (Probably Because He Can't) SEE ALSO Trump's Continued Assault On The Poor, Explained was originally published on
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill banning camping on public property continues march through the legislature
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways The alcove of a vacant building in downtown Raleigh provides temporary shelter for North Carolina's homeless population. (Photo: Clayton Henkel/NC Newsline) A bill that would make it illegal for local governments to allow or authorize camping or sleeping on public property continues to wind its way through the state House. On Tuesday, a 'committee substitute' to House Bill 781 to make 'technical corrections for clarity and conformity' received a favorable report in the House Committee on State and Local Government. The bill was referred to the House Rules Committee. 'This gives local governments a chance and a vehicle in order to deal with the homeless population in a sanitary and safe way,' said Rep. Brian Biggs (R-Randolph). 'Right now, we have local municipalities that really don't have guidance.' Biggs, one of the bill's cosponsors, said he is still looking for ways to improve the bill. Benjamin Horton, director of outreach for Veterans Services of the Carolinas, told the committee that Housing First, an approach to homelessness that prioritizes providing permanent, is the best strategy for addressing homelessness. Horton noted that the Veterans Administration's use of the Housing First model since 2010 has helped to reduce homelessness among veterans by 55.6% when proper wraparound services are provided. HB 781 will place additional burdens on law enforcement officers by forcing them to become mental health care providers, Horton said. 'This bill will drive unsheltered veterans farther from the resources needed and farther away from sustainable recovery,' Horton said. The N.C. Coalition to End Homelessness has also opposed the bill. On Monday, the group issued a statement condemning the bill and tech-industry capitalist Joe Lonsdale who it contends is behind the legislation and similar bills across the country. Lonsdale founded the Cicero Institute, a conservative think tank, that has led efforts to pass similar legislation in Arizona, Missouri, Tennessee, Iowa, Georgia, Florida, Wisconsin and Kentucky. Cicero has been a staunch opponent of the Housing First approach to addressing homelessness. 'While Cicero describes itself as a think tank, its policies promote industries that potentially profit from criminalizing poverty,' said Dr. Latonya Agard, executive director of NCCEH. 'States that adopted Cicero laws find they are funneling more public money into incarceration, so while these bills could lead to the financial enrichment of out-of-state investors of privatized jails and prisons and monitoring technologies, they will worsen conditions for North Carolinians without housing.' HB 781 would allow local governments by 'majority vote' to designate local government-owned property located within its jurisdiction to be used for a 'continuous period of up to one year for public camping or sleeping purposes.' Local governments can renew the one-year period. Under HB 781, local governments would be responsible for: Ensuring the safety and security of the designated property and the people lodging or residing on the property. Maintaining sanitation. Coordinating with the county health department to provide access to behavioral health services. Prohibiting illegal substance use and alcohol use. The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services would have to certify the designated area before it could be used by people experiencing homelessness. To obtain certification, the local government would be required to verify:
