Cracking Down On The Homeless

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The Clinton Administration has embraced a multi-pronged solution, pouring $6 billion into services like job training, mental health and drug counseling. These "continuum of care" programs show promise. After receiving such help, 76% of homeless families ended their homeless status, according to the HUD survey. Even some of the get-tough cities are absorbing elements of this model. Memphis, Tenn., and Portland, Ore., send counselors instead of police to deal with the homeless. And California is putting $10 million into a pilot program that gives the homeless long-term counseling to help them get back on their feet.

Many homeless advocates believe that too little attention is being paid to an important contributing factor--the gentrification of inner-city real estate, which has all but eliminated low-cost housing in recent years. In New York City, 216,000 households are on the waiting list for federally subsidized affordable housing. "It will take more than 50 years to empty that list," laments Patrick Markee, an analyst for the Coalition for the Homeless.

In the meantime, homeless advocates hope the hard-line attitudes will start to soften. When a lawyer representing New York City pleaded with a judge for a resolution of the work-for-shelter issue by Dec. 22, Justice Elliott Wilk demurred: "I don't think you really have to implement this for Christmas." The question is whether that holiday spirit will last beyond the New Year.