Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Liz Writes Life 3-6-18


March 6, 2018

Liz Writes Life


Homelessness

Several weeks ago, I attended the Siskiyou Co. Republican Women Federated February meeting held in Yreka. Lisa Nixon spoke on the recent push to truly understand and affectively deal with homelessness in Siskiyou County. Lisa is the Siskiyou Co. Supervisor for Dist. 4, which covers the Yreka area. But, basically, she serves independently as a volunteer on a county-wide coalition.

Ed Pecis is a detective with the Siskiyou Co. Sheriff’s Dept. and has been working, for years, on the homeless problem in the Mt. Shasta area – not only through law enforcement, but also as a volunteer with faith-based groups. He shared with Lisa that a locally-based concerned residents group was expanding. Its name is Team Shasta and would include representatives from the cities of Mt. Shasta, Weed, Yreka, Siskiyou Co. Dept. of Health and Human Services including Behavioral Health, Community Resource Centers, the county board of supervisors, Siskiyou Co. Sheriff Dept. and Sheriff Chaplains, Yreka Police Dept., Beacon of Hope and a variety of concerned citizens and bus owners.

There is a philosophy along with a goal: How do we give a “hand up” and not a “hand out?” A positive outcome is needed, so Team Shasta agreed that in order to provide needed services and life-changing attitudes, they must learn and address the core reasons for homelessness. Lisa was excited about this prospect and joined the Team.

When I later talked with Lisa, she sent me a 27-page report from Robert G. Marbut Jr., Ph.D, who was hired by Team Shasta to survey and research homelessness in Siskiyou County. He has spent three decades analyzing and working on this complex issue throughout the nation, including a stint as a White House staffer to President George H. W. Bush.

As most people know, homelessness is a national, state and local problem. In July 2017, he delivered this report. It is eye-opening and provided comprehensive information for a realistic county-wide discussion. Yes, mental health, substance abuse, domestic violence, medical issues and more contribute to the problem.

Lisa said that opinions and emotions run strong on the homeless issue. She, nor I, discount these beliefs and compassion -- after all we are a faith-based society.

So, here is what the Team learned from Dr. Marbut’s six-month study on homelessness in Siskiyou. Not only did he talk to involved non-profit and faith-based groups, government service agencies, businesses, cities, law enforcement, hospitals, ambulance operators and RV parks (more than 50 of these individuals), he visited the camps and even disguised himself going undercover to talk with the homeless.

Dr. Marbut reported there are four basic groups of homeless in the county.

First are the I-5 travelers. They stay close to the freeway and are always moving, but are underfunded and panhandle.

Second are the spiritual and Eco travelers, who tend to have some money, are generally good stewards, but a subgroup does beg and panhandle.

The third group is the vagrants and criminals that stay in an area a few days to all summer in encampments, where there is garbage, disregard for health and safety laws; and displace residents and tourists disrupting businesses. There have been several murders, a drowning; and out-of-control fires from this group in Siskiyou Co.

Fourth are the year-round truly homeless, who meet the federal HUD housing definition. In July 2017, Dr. Marbut identified about 85 of these people in our county.

All four groups do take advantage of street feeding, soup kitchens, voucher systems and primarily faith-based compassion and generosity.

There are government systems and services in place, but each group needs a different solution. Believe it or not, in general, providing hand-outs often continues to enable the same behavior. The Team’s goal is to transition the truly homeless to a better situation. Of course, housing, shelter and available beds for the variety of treatments and services needed are limited in Siskiyou Co. But the Team believes it now has accurate information to base their next steps.



One paragraph in Dr. Marbut’s report was particular enlightening to me. The heading is “Individuals Experiencing Street-Level Homelessness:” and is explained this way.

“Even though the number of individuals experiencing “street-level” homelessness is relatively low in Siskiyou County, there are still 12-20 individuals in Mt. Shasta, 15-32 individuals in Yreka and 23-30 in the balance of Siskiyou, for a total of 50-82 individuals within the County.  The number of individuals fluctuates throughout the month with fewer individuals living on the street earlier in month and more individuals on the street later in the month.  This phenomenon occurs because many individuals receive Federal support funds at the beginning of the month and are able to afford short-term lodging for 2-3 weeks.  Once the funding runs out, individuals move back to the street.  The harsh winter weather is the most powerful deterrence to year-round street-level homelessness within Siskiyou County.”



That makes sense to me, but still the Team’s focus is to transition people out of homelessness. Management, updating data and continued tracking of the homeless is a must and recently the Team received funding for the software to aid this aspect.



Also, there continues to be an expansion of calls for emergency medical service and law enforcement for the homeless, which adds a burden to local communities.



Dr. Marbut said we must move from a culture of enabling to engagement. Yet, it must be done with kindness and compassion. Hum, not always an easy feat.



He provided a no-nonsense guide for “Moving from Enablement to Engagement.” It includes the following: Move to a culture of transformation instead of the old culture of warehousing. Be sure to integrate as many available services as possible. Customize the management and tracking system. Reward positive behavior. Have consequences for negative behavior. Have zero tolerance of encampments. Stop external activities like street feeding or redirect for the truly poor in the community. Remember that panhandling encourages the same behavior. Dr. Marbut explained that unearned cash is very enabling and does not engage homeless individuals in job and skills training that is needed to end their homelessness.



Lisa is extremely pleased with the extensive information Dr. Marbut’s report has provided. It certainly is timely and was an eye-opener to me. This sounds practical and realistic. It feels good to be pro-active on a difficult societal issue.



Liz Bowen is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Call her at 530-467-3515.



# # #




No comments:

Post a Comment

Liz writes her last column

June 1, 2022 Liz Writes Life Well, I have some news – don’t know if it is good or bad? I have decided to end my newspaper column “Liz Wr...