Then there is the issue of
homelessness. I am surely not the first one to observe that though research is
important, it ends up backing up common sense, almost always, so much so, that
it leaves you saying to yourself and others, “Duh!” Homelessness is a result of
poverty? Duh! Kids that grow up homeless are more likely to be homeless as
adults. Really?! We can end homelessness by (wait for it…) housing people.
Who’d have thunk it?!
The importance of research
in the area of homelessness is not to tell us something we don’t know. It is to
remind of what we do know, prod us to stop flogging dead horses, and get on
with delivering solutions that really work. Daniel Patrick Moynihan may have
said that you are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own set of facts,
but we all know that today that seldom holds true. We need to be reminded of
what the data indicates, so can get on with finishing the job of ending
homelessness, instead of just managing it.
This study reported last
week by the Seattle Times’ Caitlin Moran is a perfect example of this. The
title is clearly in the dog bites man category, “Study finds housing vouchers
best way to keep kids in same school.” The subtitle won’t make you fall off
your seat either, “Students who change schools are likely to fall behind
academically, and helping families get stable housing can prevent that.”
In the introduction to the study
itself Katherine M. O’Regan, Assistant Secretary for Policy Development &
Research, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, says, “This report
documents outcomes at 18 months, presenting striking evidence of the power of
offering a permanent subsidy to a homeless family. Families who were offered a
housing voucher experienced significant reductions in subsequent homelessness,
mobility, child separations, adult psychological distress, experiences of
intimate partner violence, school mobility among children, and food insecurity
at 18 months. Moreover, the benefits of the voucher intervention were achieved
at a comparable cost to rapid re-housing and emergency shelter and at a lower
cost than transitional housing.”
To summarize the study, one
word, “Duh!”
