OPINION: Let’s declare a war on homelessness, not the homeless

President Trump’s recent executive order encouraging punitive action and forced institutionalization of the unhoused is a disgraceful attack on our most vulnerable citizens (“Can Albuquerque comply with Trump’s homelessness order,” July 24 Journal).

On April 10th, Gregg Colburn, author of “Homelessness is a Housing Problem,” spoke at the National Hispanic Cultural Center. He suggested, and I’m paraphrasing, that focusing on services — emergency shelters, substance use and mental health treatment, etc. — will never solve homelessness.

Oddly enough, his comments made me think of the American war on Vietnam. April 30 was the 50th anniversary of the end of that war. So why did this make me think of Vietnam? I made a documentary about Vietnam veterans, “Same Same But Different,” with Deryle Perryman, a veteran of that war. One of our interviews was with Mike Cull, who served as a medic in a psychiatric unit. His unit was charged with treating soldiers so they could be sent back to the madness of war.

“It was like something out of a novel by Kafka. It made no sense,” he said.

Treating someone for mental illness, or substance use, and then sending them back to the streets or emergency shelters makes no sense. The analogy may seem extreme. But the streets are indeed a dangerous place. Life expectancy is decades shorter on the streets (Nancy Stedman, “The Older Middle-Aged Homeless Population is Growing—and Dying—at High Rates,” October 11, 2022).

In data collected by the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office in 2022, homeless people “face murder 19 times more often, attempted murder 27 times more often, assault 12 times more often, and sexual assault nine times more often” (Lisel Petis, R Street Institute, July 9, 2024).

This executive order reinforces the misconception that mental illness and drug use are the root causes of homelessness. Certainly, mental illness and substance use disorders exacerbate homelessness, but it is also true that living on the street exacerbates mental illness and substance use.

The root cause of homelessness is a lack of affordable housing. Period. To use another analogy, when a tub is overflowing, before mopping up the water, you’d better turn off the tap. Providing emergency shelter and treatment is mopping up the overflowing water. Only housing will turn off the tap.

Housing First — putting people in permanent, affordable housing without preconditions — is the only way forward. In another parallel with war, the Department of Veterans Affairs has proven that Housing First works: Nancy Stedman writes, “Housing First programs, which offer homes without preconditions, such as being drug-free, have been effective at keeping people off the streets or in shelters.”

The most striking success comes from the VA. In 2009, President Obama made a commitment to end homelessness for 100% of veterans. In programs designed by Dennis P. Culhane, the VA created 80,000 permanent housing slots and (in 2011) provided $1.6 billion worth of housing vouchers and supportive services.

“We were ramped up to scale,” explained Culhane. “As a result, homelessness among veterans has dropped 50%.”

Providing emergency services is a compassionate response to the most visible symptoms of being unhoused and they need to continue in permanent housing. Enough is enough. We need everyone on board and pulling in the same direction. Every strategy to build permanent, affordable housing — public and private — must be on the table. Let us set aside politics and do this for our people because it is the right thing to do. We can start by changing the name of the city’s housing initiatives from Housing Forward to Housing First.