The typical homeless person in America might surprise you

The typical American experiencing homelessness is often conceived of as a mentally ill individual living in the subways of New York or an addict on the streets of San Francisco or Philadelphia. Those conceptions capture some of the crisis of homelessness, but not all of it. Among the 550,000 to 600,000 people experiencing homelessness in the U.S. are tens of thousands who are not chronically homeless, nor incapacitated due to illness or substance use disorder. These people are capable of work and ready to integrate into the mainstream job market. They are frequently overlooked in the debate on how we solve homelessness, and also in publicly-funded policy solutions.

Work-oriented programs need to be part of our response to homelessness, because they benefit not only the people they empower but also community stakeholders of all kinds. Investments in these models will break the insidious and expensive cycles of related crises of incarceration, unemployment and addiction.

I have worked in homeless services for two decades, and in communities across the nation. My focus has been on work-based solutions, though I have run shelters with walk-up services for anyone who finds themselves in need. I have seen firsthand the incredible diversity and potential of people who much of society has forgotten.

A Housing First strategy now dominates federal policy and funding allocations. Housing First focuses mainly on providing permanent supportive housing to people experiencing chronic homelessness and those with a disability of some kind. It’s logical — housing solves homelessness — and for a portion of people who are prioritized by this approach, Housing First has been lifesaving. However, it is not enough; the chronic population comprises only slightly more than 20 percent of people experiencing homelessness. 

For the remaining people who are “not homeless enough” to qualify, yet are in crisis nonetheless, we need to expand our options to help them exit homelessness. As a shelter provider, it is devastating to meet someone determined to improve their situation but to have nothing to offer because federal policy doesn’t recognize their demographic as a priority.

The current organization I lead, Work Works America, provides additional tools to communities seeking to grow their local response. Work Works combines paid work in social enterprise with transitional housing and support services for people not currently eligible for Housing First resources yet who are not self-resolving off the streets or out of shelters. Work Works programs act as a bridge for marginalized, homeless populations with the capacity and desire to work to reenter the workforce and obtain permanent housing. Tens of thousands of Americans fit that description.

Solutions like Work Works benefit not only their target population but also the larger community, through earnings, cost savings, increased labor hours and more available housing. The three-pronged approach of the Work Works model provides primary and secondary benefits, while its philosophy and implementation design allow for community integration and buy-in in a way that other strategies cannot.

There’s never been more urgency for employment-based solutions because of the ongoing labor shortage. The roughly 11 million jobs now unfilled represent a historic opportunity to increase employment among the homeless population. Employers are struggling to find workers while over 70 percent of people experiencing homelessness are unemployed — and even those who are technically working are really underemployed. With more public support, work programs can develop relationships between local employers and municipal governments filling vacant positions while investing in and developing career pathways to living-wage jobs in growing sectors.

We must ease Housing First requirements in federal funding programs to incentivize local innovation to develop creative housing models and initiatives that combine employment services with housing alternatives. This is particularly urgent in smaller communities that, unlike California and New York, cannot invest much of their own state and local resources in homeless service programs. For them, federal funding, and the strings attached to it, have a disproportionate impact.

Homelessness is a symptom of many systemic failures of policy and practice in housing, behavioral health, workforce development, and the criminal justice system. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. It is past time to encourage innovation to develop programs that take into account the diversity of needs of people experiencing homelessness and promote the belief that those on the streets can and should be seen as assets to the community, as contributing members of society.

Today, with homelessness on the rise, citizens are perplexed by the lack of success their communities are having to adequately address this crisis. We need to move beyond finger-pointing to empower communities to build coalitions with diverse perspectives and skill sets, including employers, property owners, service providers, policymakers and people with lived experience, while acknowledging that it is OK for groups to have different motivations — enlightened self-interest — if the common goal of solving homelessness is shared.

By embracing more than a Housing First philosophy, we can reinvigorate our resolve to be more holistic, equitable and effective in our response. We must turn this dire situation into an opportunity to help not only those who experience homelessness but the communities in which they dwell to thrive.

Isabel McDevitt leads Work Works America and is author of the recent Manhattan Institute report “Homeless, but Able and Willing to Work: How Federal Policy Neglects Employment-Based Solutions and What to Do About It.”