Portland State University 2019 Homelessness report

cover of report

[originally part of article Right to housing ]

Portland State University Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative on August 21, 2019 issue a report, "Governance, Costs, and Revenue Raising to Address and Prevent Homelessness in the Portland Tri-County Region." [Zapata et al 2019]. 
 

Summary / analysis 

Introduction:

"This report takes a comprehensive look at the scale of homelessness and housing insecurity experienced in the Portland tri-county area. Our goal in producing this report is to help community members understand the scope and scale of the challenges we face when addressing homelessness and housing insecurity. We examine governance options, provide cost estimates for providing housing, supports, and services, and present revenue-raising options for our local governments to address homelessness and housing insecurity."

Expanded definition of 'homelessness' and widened scope to include precariously or unsuitably housed: 

"Many of the available counts of those experiencing homelessness use a narrow definition. We believe this leaves people behind. For example, the official Point-in-Time counts do not include those living doubled up, those sometimes described as the hidden homeless or precariously housed. This vulnerable population is sleeping on friends’ couches or cramming in unsafe numbers into bedrooms."

 

 

 

Right to Housing aspect

This report does not explicitly articulate a "Right to Housing" concept, but it notably uses broad definitions and makes wide estimates of how many people in the region experience homelessness in some form, or are considered vulnerable to falling into homelessness. By proposing government assistance, in the form of housing provision and rent assistance, for these entire populations, it in effect approaches an idea of "Right_to_housing." 

"This report takes a comprehensive look at the scale of homelessness and housing insecurity experienced in the Portland tri-county area. Our goal in producing this report is to help community members understand the scope and scale of the challenges we face when addressing homelessness and housing insecurity. We examine governance options, provide cost estimates for providing housing, supports, and services, and present revenue-raising options for our local governments to address homelessness and housing insecurity.

Before getting too far into the report, we want to make sure to note a few things. Many of the available counts of those experiencing homelessness use a narrow definition. We believe this leaves people behind. For example, the official Point-in-Time counts do not include those living doubled up, those sometimes described as the hidden homeless or precariously housed. This vulnerable population is sleeping on friends’ couches or cramming in unsafe numbers into bedrooms..."  

 

 

Public responses to report

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Questions / critique

1. What are the implications of basing the cost estimates on a static figure for current homeless population, rather than current population plus observed or estimated typical rate of 'inflow' to homelessness? 

The report states: 

"The type of modeling needed to capture the inflow and outflow of people experiencing homelessness is complex, data intensive, and time consuming. We opted to go in the opposite direction, and created replicable, straightforward estimates completed in just a few months. Our goal was to provide a general sense of the number of households and associated costs, and we believe that adding layers of complexity where assumptions are added to assumptions would not get us to a better estimate."

Is that true? It seems there are simple estimates routinely given for rates of inflow into homelessness, based for example on considering counts of people who were placed into housing, versus subsequent Point in Time counts. In any case, we know this inflow is substantial, certainly nonzero, and so isn't any simple nonzero estimate a better estimate than zero?  The consequence of assuming zero inflow is a likely underestimate of response costs, perhaps to a major degree. 

In addition, in debates over homelessness, it is common for parties of all types to consider that provision of services could motivate or facilitate greater use of those services. 

 

 

 

2. Likewise, how valid is it use a static figure for housing-vulnerable (107k people?) who might receive rental assistance? Could we make some simple/reasonable prediction of rate of inflow into this group, and include that as a baseline, rather than baselining on zero inflow? 

 

3. What are the implications and credibility of assuming / modeling:

1. that large-scale rent assistance, given the Portland area's supply constraints or supply inelasticity, won't raise rent levels?
2. that large-scale new public-funded housing development wouldn't crowd out housing that would otherwise occur, creating a price-raising factor?
   
    

4. Why would or should we assume that housing creation to address homelessness at large scale should be done all with current conventional housing forms? 
 

5. To what degree do the estimates of housing needs and remedy costs follow from general area housing prices, which are strongly affected by economic climate and general rate/type of housing creation? If this factor is large, then it seems policy recommendations concerning this general housing creation would be an integral part of this report/project's scope. 

 

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References 

• Zapata MA,* Liu J,** Everett L, Hulseman P, Potiowsky T, & Willingham E. [2019]. Governance, Costs, and Revenue Raising to Address and Prevent Homelessness in the Portland Tri-County Region. Portland State University.https://www.pdx.edu/syndication/sites/www.pdx.edu.syndication/files/HRAC-NERC%20Final%20Draft%20JG%207AM8_20_2019.pdf.
  *First author & **second author. All other authors listed in alphabetical order. For questions, please contact: Marisa A. Zapata (mazapata@pdx.edu).
   
• Sand, Kaia. "To confront the housing crisis, it is time to think big." Street Roots (Portland, OR), 23 Aug 2019. https://news.streetroots.org/2019/08/23/confront-housing-crisis-it-time-think-big.