Homelessness

By Susan L. Adams, R.N.

Finding solutions for homelessness improves the quality of life for everyone in our community.

The county fully funds the 55 shelter beds at Mill Street, is a funding partner for Novato's Homeward Bound program, administers the Federal McKinney Vento funds which help support Shelter Plus Care and other partnerships for housing with our non-profit partners. The county also administers the Prop 63 funds which provides resources to services that serve the mentally ill, including housing.

The county is a majority funding partner for the San Rafael streets team...and a total of $14 million dollars/yr is directed toward homeless programs, mostly in Novato and San Rafael. Local, state and federal funds also are at play for the provision of health care services, treatment and work force training that homeless individuals need in order to climb out of homelessness. But the REAL issue is lack of affordable housing and service jobs that may not pay anywhere close to a sustainable wage in Marin.

Five years ago, the Marin County one day count of homeless identified 1900 people; last year, after the implementation of programs and services, the count was 933, a reduction by 1/2. I pledge to continue to work with our cities and towns as we continue to work toward ending homelessness. How we address this issue is an indication about where our hearts lie.

As a nurse practitioner who spent a majority of her career caring for dually diagnosed pregnant women, I can attest to the fact that with the right services and treatments, people can live healthier and more productive lives.

The criminal justice system is filled with people who were homeless and dealing with mental illness and/or substance abuse issues. In an analysis, it was determined that some members of the community had cost the Marin tax payers millions of dollars over the years of going in and out of our jail system and never improving their mental health or addiction conditions. As chair of the Criminal Justice and Behavioral Health Task Force at the county, I brought our departments together in support of a (now nationally recognized) therapeutic justice program called "Support and Treatment After Release" (STAR).

Our STAR court has served almost 200 mentally ill non-violent offenders with treatment, housing and job training and we reduced recidivism by more than 80%, pysch hospital visits by ½ and homelessness significantly as well. Our county is one of the few counties in the state to have empty jail beds. If we continue to work together, we can better address our homeless challenges, as well as our criminal justice issues, and truly create a healthier community.