EDITORIAL: Solutions can be found to help homeless

Aug. 25—In 2016, the city of Santa Monica, California, invested $600,000 to create the Homeless Multidisciplinary Street Team to help obtain housing and meet other needs, including mental health services and substance abuse recovery.

Census counters figured there were 918 homeless people in the city.

A study by the Rand Corp. found that the locally focused effort succeeded in getting most of the residents into housing and reduced their use of public services, essentially offsetting city costs for the program by as much as 43%. However, only one of 26 people in the program became stable enough to transition into less-intensive care.

Vienna in Austria houses the homeless in large, well-maintained complexes. Helsinki got rid of temporary shelters and placed people in homes to get their renewed life underway. Seattle and Los Angeles have created villages of tiny one-room homes. Some cities have reconditioned former motels or vacant business buildings into temporary housing units.

There are success stories in tackling homelessness. There are disappointments. Santa Monica points to both.

Some smaller cities throw their hands up in frustration when they can't, or refuse to, seek funds to explore solutions.

After evicting people from a homeless downtown encampment along White River, Anderson now has concerns over the homeless camping at the Rangeline Nature Preserve, an 180-acre eastside area with mountain bike trails.

Members of the Rangeline Nature Preserve Mountain Biking group asked the city to address homeless use of the preserve. But by the time their concerns were reported, the campers had departed, leaving trash behind.

The group suggests that "no overnight camping" signs be posted. But this challenge requires more than signage.

One Anderson City Council member recommended that a committee be appointed to address homelessness. For some decades, Anderson had a task force. In 2016, it was revived. Another revival is in order.

One recent widespread approach to addressing homelessness is the concept of Housing First. Through it, the homeless are provided permanent housing with no preconditions, such as sobriety or participation in mental health services. Then, in order to make a participant's life more stable, supportive services must be provided.

It perhaps sounds too simple. We know that many choose to be homeless; others have found themselves trapped in the government morass that requires proof that they are "worthy" of a home.

We also know that Anderson has limited resources to address homelessness by providing mental health and substance abuse recovery services, employment assistance and other support.

Yet the point is that many cities around the world are solving the issue of homelessness. With an estimate of 150 million homeless on our globe, finding the answers is paramount.

Madison County is far from immune to the problem. It's time we found an answer that benefits all.