The Housing First program follows a model that achieved success in the state of Utah and has begun to spread to larger cities like Los Angeles (in concept, at least). The "housing first" approach breaks from traditional policies, where "individuals would receive support services to help deal with the cause of their chronic homelessness — such as substance abuse, alcoholism or mental illness — before a home is made available to them."1

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The success of the Housing First program is based on providing a safe, stable environment for formerly homeless individuals, said Philip Connelly, director of housing at the Guest House, an organization that serves the homeless in Milwaukee.

“The flexibility of this program will allow for (individuals) to be successful in ways that, in the past, they were not able to,” Connelly said. “Once people are in a safe environment, they are comfortable, allowing service providers to build programs around the person.”

In addition to the social impact the program has had, Housing First is saving taxpayer money, county officials said. The program costs about $25 a day per person, which includes an average of $17.25 in rent and $7.50 for case management services. This compared to the $110 per day that is typically spent on detainment, law enforcement and emergency room services for chronically homeless individuals, several studies have shown, according to county officials.

The Housing First initiative received $1.8 million in funding for its first year, from the city, the city housing authority and the county. The limited availability of federal rental subsidies, a key part of being able to provide free housing to chronically homeless individuals, is a major challenge in reaching the county’s goal of eliminating chronic homelessness by 2018, according to Mathy.

“To get to the last 30 percent, this is probably our biggest barrier,” he said. “We do think we can get there, but we do need to find more rental assistance resources to see if we can get to zero.”

• 1. Source: Planetizen