Introduction
The increasing homeless population in California requires prompt intervention (Barry-Jester & Hart, 2020). With the ongoing economic difficulties experienced due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many people have nowhere to go considering the limited shelter facilities available (CBSLA, 2020). The population requires JTAL's help to achieve a conducive living environment and an improved quality of life. In this sense, we have two options, including cooperating with the California state government to expand the CalWORKS Homeless Assistance (HA) program to assist in the program's outreach or introduce a new intervention where facilities are on an Abstinence-contingent housing program basis. The report proposes that we expand the homeless assistance program to support the growing homeless population.
Homelessness: A Growing Problem in California
Multiple factors contribute to homelessness, including poverty, increased rental and housing costs, lack of jobs, substance abuse, to name a few (Eide, 2020). In managing the root causes of homelessness, the affected population needs prompt help. California holds the third-largest homeless population in the US (Barry-Jester & Hart, 2020). The state also witnessed a sharp increase of homeless individuals over the last two years, with over 128,777 homeless individuals without families and over 22,501 homeless families (CBSLA, 2020). Although the state tried to accommodate the people in hotels during the pandemic, most of them returned to the streets after the lockdown (Barry-Jester & Hart, 2020). Since then, the homeless population suffers from a lack of certain paramount necessities and is highly exposed to diseases such as the coronavirus, sleep deprivation, etc. The population is placed at a higher risk of death as they cannot acquire essential services (Barry-Jester & Hart, 2020). Accordingly, it becomes critical to intervene on the issue and get as many of them as possible to permanent homes and facilitate the required fundamental services. Not only does the program help the citizens, but it also helps ensure that the streets are cleaner, safer, and adequately-maintained.
Expanding the Current Plan to Combat Homelessness in CalWORKS Homeless Assistance
The current initiative of accommodating the homeless population in hotels will soon hit a dead-end once the economy is fully opened, as most of the hotels will be resuming normal operations (Lovato, 2020). Hence, it is important to consider the state's existing solutions and adopt suitable collaborative measures that would help improve the situation. One suitable option is the ongoing CalWORKS Homeless Assistance program from the California Department of Social Services that serves legitimate recipients, or evidently qualified applicants, who must be homeless or on the verge of being homeless (Lovato, 2020). They provide temporary payments for shelter of utmost 16 cumulative calendar days, and costs to acquire or maintain a home, such as security deposit or up to the payment of rent arrearages for two months. The program should be improved to help accommodate the population for at least a year considering that most of them lost their jobs due to the ongoing pandemic. Besides, the program should consider providing permanent housing projects to these populations. Permanent housing is crucial as it helps manage the increasing homeless population as more people migrate into California and the expected population boom; housing costs are expected to increase gradually, and more people are forced to get back to the streets as they would not be able to manage the costs (Eide, 2020). Of course, the program requires a significant amount of tax money to become effective and hence prompts the question of whether it is the government's responsibility to provide housing or whether housing is a right. However, based on previous reports, solving the problem can help reduce government expenditure rather than ignoring the issue in the hope it goes away. Studies indicate that this program assists the homes to acquire their own housing within 20 months (Eide, 2020). The study also shows that HA elevates housing retention rates. Moreover, the evidence shows a reduction in responsive services utilization (such as emergency health services and the criminal justice system) (Eide, 2020).
Abstinence-Contingent Housing Program
Another alternative would be to provide an Abstinence-contingent housing program, which is also recognized as a treatment first program (Lovato, 2020). Accordingly, it implies that the government will only supply housing to the portion of the homeless population who have currently undergone rehabilitation or have been confirmed to have abstained or had never engaged in substance abuse. The population is also expected to undergo mental health therapy in case they need it. According to Eide (2020), mental health therapy helps those willing to participate in the requirements, although it fails to consider those that are not ready for housing and those who fail to quit substance abuse. But since there are already housing facilities in place, the program could be what is required to help others who do not need to be pushed in quitting detrimental behavior.
Recommendations
Both recommendations are significantly helpful in reducing or eliminating the high rate of homelessness in California. However, expanding the already existing HA program would be the best option for managing the growing homeless population. The program would not only make it easy for the population to feel fully empowered to pursue their dreams and accomplish their basic needs, but it will also serve as a boost to the economy. On the other hand, adopting the abstinence-contingent housing facility would not help but rather confuse those working with the homeless population and not be adequate to serve the population that needs help. Housing is one of the basic human needs, and providing those affected by the harsh economic times can help them get back on their feet.
