Sun
Homelessness has been a priority item on the public agenda for at least five years. In that time, there have been dozens of studies and reports, and countless programs and initiatives on which hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent. But the problem appears to have only grown worse.
The number of people living on the streets has nearly doubled since 2002 to 1,291, according to estimates by the Pivot Legal Society last year, and will triple to 3,200 by 2010 unless something is done.
Vancouver city council will meet Tuesday to review the latest report on homelessness, which proposes a radical new structure and funding model to get the job done. It was prepared by Ken Dobell, special adviser to Premier Gordon Campbell, for which he was paid $300,000 by the city. If what he proposes is implemented and proves effective, it will have been worth every penny.
However, the plan is complicated. It would create two new bodies: The Vancouver Homelessness Limited Partnership, which would raise $60 million in equity and subordinated debt to help develop supportive housing; and the Vancouver Homelessness Foundation, a charitable organization that would acquire properties donated by the city to lease back to the partnership. This structure requires significant federal tax changes that would result in a loss of tax revenue, a donation from the city of $50 million in land and a waiver of property tax, and a major financial commitment (approximately $48 million a year) from the province for rent subsidies and support services.
The report concedes that the proposed bodies introduce new costs into the system. But the opportunity they offer for greater community involvement, broader fundraising and possible donation of partnership units for reinvestment in supporting housing or services justifies the expense, it argues.
Under the plan, 1,500 housing units would be built on the donated land and 500 residential hotels rooms would be upgraded at a cost of $10,000 per room. The aggregate annual operating costs set out in the report amount to more than $400 million between 2008 and 2017. All this will supplement — not replace — homelessness initiatives already under way.
Recognizing that the plan demands a buy-in from many levels of government and other agencies, the report’s main recommendations are that council approve in principle the upgrade and construction of housing units, as well as instruct city staff and Dobell’s consulting team to conduct more consultation and legal analysis, then to report back in April.
If it all goes according to plan, Vancouver will have a stock of 3,000 units of supportive housing in a decade, which might not make homelessness disappear entirely, but would be a vast improvement over the existing situation.
While it may seem unwieldy and expensive, the plan deserves careful consideration. Will the cost of implementing it be lower than the cost of doing nothing? One estimate put the cost of the homeless to taxpayers through services such as hospitals, ambulances, emergency shelters and police at $51 million a year, or roughly $40,000 per person. The Pivot society estimated the cost of social housing at $22,000 to $28,000 per person, making the economic case clear. The higher cost of the Dobell plan might weaken the economic gain, but it still has merit on compassionate grounds. It targets the most vulnerable — and most disruptive — of the homeless population, the mentally ill and addicted. It not only provides supportive housing, essential to stabilizing their lives, but connects the most marginalized to social services that can provide treatment, counselling and supervision.
Whether this plan presents the best option to alleviate the scourge of homelessness is for council to decide. As it debates and deliberates, one thing it might keep in mind is that nothing else has really worked.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007