A month ago, dozens of people who are concerned with the challenge of homelessness in Cincinnati completed this report, "Homeless to Homes: Putting an End to Homelessness," and on April 15th the report was made available to the public.
Homeless to Homes was triggered by an ordinance passed by city council last October directing the Cincinnati Hamilton County Continuum of Care for the Homeless to "immediately address the inadequacy of the current provision for services for single homeless individuals in the City of Cincinnati, and to put in place a comprehensive plan to implement such services."
The resulting 100-page plus report is filled with analysis and recommendations for dealing with this serious urban challenge. We will devote the entire program this morning to the implications of this report.
I am joined now by four people. Kevin Finn is the executive director of the Cincinnati/Hamilton County continuum of Care for the Homeless. Roxanne Qualls is a member of the Cincinnati City Council. Pat Clifford is the Executive Director of the Drop Inn Center in Over-the Rhine. And Sergeant Steve Saunders is a Cincinnati Police Officer who serves as the neighborhood outreach officer for District One, that includes downtown and Over the Rhine.
Data indicates that the number of different single homeless men has decreased slightly over the last three years from 3,224 in 2005-06, to 2,746 in 2007-08. On the other hand, the number of chronically homeless individuals has gone up both in absolute numbers and proportionately. For these men, the report finds that 63 percent suffer from alcohol abuse, 58 percent from drug abuse, 39 percent from mental illness and 33 percent from a dual diagnosis of the above three.
The recommendations in this area include better screening and programming to address substance abuse.
