Meeting the Challenge of Homelessness

1. Meeting the Challenge of Homelessness Rev. David Lewicki, PBG Co-Chair Elizabeth J. Appley, Esq. PBG Policy Advocate Presbyterians for a Better Georgia Senate Study Committee on Homelessness October 17, 2017

2. Presbyterians for a Better GeorgiaJoining Faith, Service and Advocacy We are a partnership of Presbyterian Church (USA) congregations. We support public policy to serve our most vulnerable neighbors that will make Georgians safer, healthier and more secure. PBG achieves its goals by educating member congregations on the issues, engaging with congregations to be advocates in the sphere of public policy, and advocating with our elected representatives at the Georgia General Assembly.​

3. PBG Priority Issues Increasing access to healthcare, including mental health care. Addressing the needs of homeless people today and advocating for policies and resources to eliminate homelessness, including support for affordable housing.

4. PBG advocates for policies and resources to address the immediate needs of homeless people, and to provide the resources and policies to remedy and prevent homelessness by supporting increased access to affordable housing. PBG has worked with the Criminal Justice Reform Council to lead on efforts that help eligible re-entering persons access food stamps, insure that all leave prison with a state ID, address solutions for re-entry housing in order to prevent homelessness among those who were formerly incarcerated and better use limited state resources to support successful re-entry and prevent recidivism by increasing access to housing.

5. PBG Works to End Homelessness and Meet the Needs of Homeless People PBG joins faith, service and advocacy to address homelessness in our community. PBG congregations and partner organizations have provided emergency shelter, meals and direct services to homeless Georgians for over 50 years.

6. PBG Advocacy to Address Homelessness • Testimony on access to ID supported 2015 House Mental Health Study Committee recommendation to waive fee for Georgia birth certificates for homeless. • Advocacy with Executive Agencies led to waivers for birth certificate fee for homeless served by OAC, First Presbyterian Church, Legal Clinic for Homeless and other non-profit agencies. • Led efforts that passed legislation lifting lifetime ban on receipt of food stamps. • Helped organize the Re-Entry Housing Work Group to formulate recommendations to the Criminal Justice Reform Council.

7. Lack of Affordable Housing Causes Homelessness While there are many faces and causes of homelessness, including poverty, domestic violence, disability, mental illness, substance abuse, etc. the only way to repair and prevent homelessness requires affordable housing. • Affordable housing crisis • Shrinking federal housing subsidies • Increased competition for rental housing • Rising rental costs • Rise in family homelessness • Impact on homeless children

8. General Assembly Declares Housing of Paramount Concern to the State OCGA § 8-3-170.  Legislative findings; powers and duties of State Office of Housing “The General Assembly finds and declares that housing is an issue of paramount concern to this state which affects the health, welfare, and safety of the citizens of this state and the economic viability and planned growth of its communities. The General Assembly further finds and declares that the provision of and planning for housing and housing related matters are issues that are intrinsically intertwined with the ability to provide for the financing of housing activities.”

9. OCGA §8-3-171 “The General Assembly affirms the state's policy to provide decent, safe, and affordable housing to all segments of the population of this state.” “The State Office of Housing is authorized and directed to develop a state housing goal and shall prepare a state housing goal report for presentation to the General Assembly, commencing with the 1990 session and continuing every even-numbered year thereafter. The report shall identify housing needs and housing accomplishments and outline plans for achieving the state housing goal. The state and its agencies, institutions, authorities, commissions, bureaus, and entities which are political subdivisions of the state, cities and counties, local housing authorities, and any urban residential finance authority are authorized and directed to provide such information and perform such duties and functions as may be required to assist the State Office of Housing to prepare its reports and perform its functions.”

10. Georgia Law: The State policy is to provide decent, safe and affordable housing for all. Do we? The law requires a state housing goal be established and reports made every other year about how we are meeting this goal. Where are they?

11. The Solution to Homelessness Requires Increasing Access to Affordable housing While the causes of homelessness are multiple and complex, housing is essential for its solution. Georgia suffers from a dire shortage of affordable housing in urban, rural and suburban areas. The standard is that people should not pay more than 30% of household income for housing. In the Atlanta- Sandy Springs and Roswell area, nearly half (47.8%) of all renters pay more than this and one quarter are severely cost burdened, paying more than 50% of household income for rent. The numbers are even more dire in Augusta- Richmond County where over 50% are cot burdened and over 30% are severely cost burdened.

12. 21.4% Georgia Households Severely Cost Burdened Over 300,000 of Georgia households spend at least 50% of their household income on housing costs. 21.4% of Georgia households are defined as severely cost burdened. In Atlanta, over 25% are severely cost burdened.

13. Affordable Housing Crisis National home prices and rental market prices are going up. Fewer houses and multi family units are being built. Home ownership has declined while rental households are growing. The rental market is extremely tight. Strong demand is pushing up rents across the board. Between 2000-2015 the number of people living below the poverty threshold soared from 33.8 Million to 47.7 million. The largest and fastest increases in poverty have occurred in medium density areas outside unban core areas, in low density areas on the urban fringe and in rural areas. Moderately priced rental housing is disappearing. Number of modestly priced rental units available for under $800 per month declined by 261,000 between 2005 and 2015 (while the number renting for $2,000 or more/month jumped by 1.5M. 75% of renter households eligible for federal rental assistance on the basis of their income to not receive it.

14. Worst Affordability Trend Among large counties, Fulton County is in the top 10 in the U.S. with the worst affordability trend, with a 14% decline in available units for ELI households. • Fulton County had 43,626 ELI households in 2000 and 26,152 AAA units. • 2010-14 showed an increase to 48,336 ELI households and a decline to 22,362 units.

15. Shortage of Affordable Housing Nationwide, the market provides only 21 adequate, affordable, and available (AAA) units for every 100 renter households with income at or below 30 percent of the area median income (often called extremely low-income, or ELI, renters). Of the large counties in the US with the largest affordability gap for ELI renters, Georgia has 3 of the top 10: Gwinnett (#1), Cobb (#3), and Dekalb (#9). County ELI Renter Households AAA Units National Ranking GWINNETT 17,649 2,476 #1 COBB 18,746 3,408 #3 DEKALB 31,310 7,520 #9

16. Georgia’s Housing Gap The Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Georgia is $873/month. To afford this rent and utilities spending no more than 30% of income, a household must earn $2,910 per month ($34,921 annually). Working fulltime (40 hours per week for 52 weeks/ year) this requires an hourly housing wage of $16.79 per hour.

17. Gwinnett County Housing Gap - 34% of Households Rent • 2 Bedroom Apt cost at fair market rent: $990/month • Hourly Wage Necessary to afford a 2 Bedroom Apt at fair market rental $19.04 • Would require 2.6 full time jobs to afford a 2 bedroom apt. • Monthly rent affordable at 30% of area median income is $523/month. • Mean renter wage is $16.20 • Monthly rent affordable at mean renter wage: $407/month * * * FMR is $990 v. Rent Affordable at Mean Renter Wage is $407 Hourly Wage to Afford FMR: $19.04 v. Hourly Mean Renter Wage $16.20

18. Cobb County Housing Gap36% Households Rent • 2 Bedroom Apt cost at fair market rent: $990/month • Hourly Wage Necessary to afford a 2 Bedroom Apt at fair market rental $19.04 • Would require 2.6 full time jobs to afford a 2 bedroom apt. • Monthly rent affordable at 30% of area median income is $523/month. • Mean renter wage is $17.27 • Monthly rent affordable at mean renter wage: $898/month * * * FMR $990 v. Rent Affordable at 30% AMI $523 Hourly Wage to Afford FMR: $19.04 v. Hourly Mean Renter Wage $17.27

19. McIntosh County Housing Gap22% Households Rent • 2 Bedroom Apt cost at fair market rent: $805/month • Hourly Wage Necessary to afford a 2 Bedroom Apt at fair market rental $15.48 • Would require 2.6 full time jobs to afford a 2 bedroom apt. • Monthly rent affordable at 30% of area median income is $412/month. • Mean renter wage is $6.06 • Monthly rent affordable at mean renter wage: $315/month * * * FMR is $805 v. Rent Affordable at Mean Renter Wage is $315 Hourly Wage to Afford FMR: $15.48 v. Hourly Mean Renter Wage $6.06

20. Increasing Housing Instability Linked to Homelessness A recent Federal Reserve analysis published in Dec. 2016 addressed increased housing insecurity in the U.S. and focused on the challenge of evictions in Atlanta, with the highest eviction rate in the U.S.

21. “Housing instability or insecurity is different from the typical definition of homelessness. It describes the condition where a household or family has a residence, but because of personal and financial issues, has difficulty maintaining that residence. Families with insecure or unstable housing may move frequently, suffer eviction, or otherwise be at increased risk of homelessness. As homeownership has declined and renting increased, demand for rentals has caused urban rents to increase sharply. The number of households that are housing cost burdened has climbed, rental housing instability has increased, and there is increasing documentation of an ensuing high rate of evictions in U.S. cities, partly due to tenants’ inability to afford higher rents. Eviction rates are concerning because residential displacement has been linked to a variety of adverse outcomes for individuals and neighborhoods. Evictions can result in personal loss of property, trigger job loss, and lead to underperforming schools and poor student outcomes. Even an eviction filing that is resolved can mar a tenant’s credit record and bar that person from renting elsewhere or accessing public assistance. At the neighborhood level, high eviction rates are associated with poor housing conditions, high rates of school turnover, and neighborhood and community instability (Desmond, 2016). Despite the importance of evictions as a cause of poor outcomes among low-income tenants, and instability in disadvantaged neighborhoods, evictions are still poorly understood. This research seeks to shed light on the high rate of evictions in the city of Atlanta and its suburbs, and to place this phenomenon in the frame of a shifting institutional context for housing.“

22. “Eviction has been identified as a key cause of high levels of residential mobility within disadvantaged neighborhoods. Housing instability due to eviction is of great concern because of the long list of negative consequences for households, landlords, and neighborhoods. At worst, evicted families and individuals face homelessness (Crane & Warnes, 2000). If households are able to find another home after an eviction, their moves are characterized by greater increases in neighborhood poverty and crime compared to voluntary moves (Desmond & Shollenberger, 2015). The scramble to secure a need as basic as shelter, often with short notice, compels households to accept more dangerous environments with less opportunity. Eviction also causes families to accept substandard housing conditions. Dissatisfaction with the poor living conditions households are forced into by an eviction often leads to another move. Compounding residential instability harms children and communities (Desmond, An, Winkler, & Ferriss, 2013; Desmond et al., 2015).”

23. Many Communities Increasingly Criminalize Homelessness Laws prohibiting “camping” in public. Laws prohibiting sleeping in public. Laws prohibiting begging in public. Laws prohibiting loitering, loafing, and vagrancy. Laws prohibiting sitting or lying down in public. Laws prohibiting sleeping in vehicles. Laws prohibiting food sharing.

24. Criminalizing Homelessness is Unconstitutional The U.S. Department of Justice filed a 2015 Statement of Interest in a federal case in Idaho, Bell v. Boise asserting: “If sufficient shelter space is unavailable because a) there are inadequate beds for the entire population, or b) there are restrictions on those beds that disqualify certain groups of homeless individuals (e.g., because of disability access or exceeding maximum stay requirements), then it would be impossible for some homeless individuals to comply with these ordinances. As set forth below, in those circumstances enforcement of the ordinances amounts to the criminalization of homelessness, in violation of the Eighth Amendment.“

25. Criminalizing Homelessness For more than 50 years the U.S. Supreme Court has held that it violates the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel an unusual punishment to criminalize “status”. “Conduct” may be criminalized. The Department of Justice has interpreted this and taken the position for more than 20 years that criminalizing sleeping in public when no shelter is available violates the Eighth Amendment rights of homeless persons.

26. Housing Costs Less than Arrest • Arrest temporarily cycles people through costly criminal justice system. • Providing housing is far more cost effective. • Examples: • Utah • Albuquerque, NM In the first year of their Housing First initiative, Albuquerque saved $616,000 dollars, nearly one third of their expenses for dealing with homeless persons. The program evaluated the costs of in patient hospital care, emergency room care, medical outpatient care mental health outpatient care, shelters, jails, jail based treatment, housing first programs and housing first services before and after one year of initiation of the Housing First program. The biggest savings came from savings on in-patient hospital care, shelter and jail expenditures. • Depending on a variety of factors, the average cost to shelter someone costs a fraction of the cost of incarceration - in Georgia prison averages $21,000 per year. HUD estimates it costs taxpayers an average of $40,000 per year for a homeless person on the street. Housing makes good cents.

27. Criminalization of Homelessness Does Not Work • Collateral consequences of criminalization are steep without addressing the underlying problem: • Criminal records • Loss of photo identification and other needed belongings • Lost employment • Lost housing • Public Benefits • While the state prison system is the largest provider of mental health services in the state, they are not set up to meet the challenge.

28. Re-Entry Housing Work Group Governor Deal’s Priorities state that “Re-entry is the critical intersection between an offender’s incarceration and return to life in the free world. By removing barriers to employment, housing and education for rehabilitated offenders, a larger number of returning citizens are able to rejoin the workforce and support their families.” PBG helped organize the Re-Entry Housing Work Group with Georgia Supportive Housing Assn, Georgia Justice Project, Dept. of Community Affairs, Dept. of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, Dept. of Community Supervision, United Way, Legal Aid Society, and others that developed and presented recommendations to the Criminal Justice Reform Council and Governor that were included in the Council’s Report and recommendations for 2017.

29. CJRC 2017 Report on Re-Entry • The Governor’s Criminal Justice Reform Council’s 2017 Recommendations included these measures proposed by the Work Group to reduce homelessness among the previously incarcerated and support successful re-entry: • Changes by the Department of Corrections to implement new procedures to address the fact that more than half the people leaving prison last year had no ID so people leaving prison have an identification card in hand, which is necessary to secure housing, food, employment, healthcare and other benefits. • Reduce barriers to finding a place to live, and increase housing opportunities for people leaving prisons by clarifying that blanket bans on renting to persons based on a prior arrest or incarceration are prohibited by federal law

30. Join other states to suspend rather than terminate Medicaid eligibility upon incarceration to allow people leaving prison to secure needed access to health services, especially important for those with severe mental health issues. Add resources and staff to strengthen and expand reentry case planning to every prison that includes support for housing and other resources on release. Support access to housing options for persons who continue to be incarcerated because they are homeless. Expand access to housing for accountability court participants.

31. Support DCS creating standards for local reentry collaboratives involving sheriffs, police, public defenders, community service boards, legal services, nonprofits, faith-based organizations, and officials representing corrections and the mental health system. Successful reentry models rely heavily on collaboration and the engagement of committed community stakeholders. Several counties have begun to form their own reentry working groups to serve returning persons at the local level. The Family Connection model may be a useful example of coalition building. To ensure continuous quality improvement of reentry efforts in Georgia and also to encourage the development of additional local reentry partnerships, DCS should adopt a framework and standards to guide local reentry collaborative efforts.

32. Policy Recommendations to Address Homelessness 1. Insure Georgia is carrying out its statutory duty under OCGA §8-3-171 • “to provide decent, safe, and affordable housing to all segments of the population of this state”, and • “develop a state housing goal,” “identify housing needs and … outline plans for achieving the state housing goal”, and • Report to the General Assembly in every even numbered year. 2. Increase state resources and options for local communities to dedicate revenue to increase the supply of affordable housing to meet the needs of local communities.

33. Policy Recommendations to Address Homelessness Prioritize and provide funding for Housing First initiatives to provide housing for homeless persons with needed mental health, substance abuse treatment, access to healthcare, employment support and other needed services. Take advantage of opportunities to access federal Medicaid funds to pay for health care, mental health care, substance abuse treatment, etc. Pursue a Medicaid 1115 waiver to fund housing related services – referral, first month’s rent, move in costs, and services to support a successful tenancy

34. Policy Recommendations to Address Homelessness 6. End the criminalization of homelessness and support funding for alternatives to incarceration that address mental illness, substance abuse, domestic violence, disability, unemployment or unemployability, etc. 7. Implement recommendations of the Criminal Justice Reform Council and re-entry Housing Work Group to support successful re-entry, including provision of ID, access to healthcare, treatment, housing, and employment. 8. Implement a model framework, with standards and resources to support development of local reentry collaboratives in every county that involve law enforcement, the faith community, CSBs, legal services, nonprofits, corrections, the mental health system, etc.

35. Presbyterians for a Better Georgiawww.p4bg.org Thank You! Rev. David Lewicki Co-Chair, Presbyterians for a Better Georgia david@ndpc.org Elizabeth J. Appley, Esq. (404) 877-8772 eja@appleylaw.com