New Program For Tucson Homeless Gives Housing First

TUCSON, AZ — A new program granting the homeless in Pima County a place to stay with professional support begins this month. "Housing First" will target 150 of Tucson's most needy for two years with this new pilot, a successful model others are deploying to help alleviate the growing issue.

Housing is included in the project, along with on-site case managers and recovery counselors, according to a Pima County release. A criminal justice advocate will also be on hand to help navigate the courts or finding a job.

The county says their goal, beyond improving the well-being and independence of this vulnerable group, is to reduce costs and strain the county incurs from emergency room visits and welfare checks in a cycle that strains law enforcement and courts.

More than 500 homeless people were booked into the Pima County jail more than once in 2014, and the Pima County Behavioral Health Department found nearly three-quarters of them had a history of mental illness or had previously received behavioral-health treatment.

The County's Criminal Justice Reform Unit will work with Old Pueblo Community Service and Intermountain Centers to get the project running. Property owned by the Old Pueblo Community Service will serve as their homes. The agency says about 15 people at any one time will live on their sites. The city provided the money for the housing vouchers.

While authorities estimate some 560 people in the county qualify for the program, only 150 will be accepted.

To qualify for the program, participants must be currently homeless, have a substance use or a mental health issue and have been booked into the Pima County Adult jail at least twice in the previous 12 months.

"Rather than assuming drug addiction or mental health problems cause homelessness, housing first works from the opposite premise," Director of Justice Reform Initiatives Terrance Cheung said. "This approach presumes that the stresses of homelessness exacerbate those issues and that by giving people a place to live and rest, we can give them a better chance to receive treatment than they would in a traditional shelter environment."

Over the two years, the county will work with the RAND Corporation and the Corporation for Supportive Housing to monitor how well the pilot program is doing.

“We want to collect good data and receive a sober and well-informed assessment of whether the Housing First approach works in Pima County,” Cheung said. “We want to know if it’s helping lower the jail population and easing demand of emergency health services. It also will help us partners for sustainable project funding moving forward.”

This "Housing First" approach has seen good results in Salt Lake City, Denver and Santa Clara County, program manager Matt Pate said, including more independence from those enrolled and a lowered homeless rate.

Right now three people are moved into their new place. Others will be referred by the courts until capacity is hit.