Last week I was asked to give a keynote speech at the Virginia Housing Alliance Conference. The Alliance asked me to share how I became interested in housing issues and recent progress we have made in Richmond. It occurs to me that you may also want to know this. It is a bit long -- but it is an important topic!
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It ismy pleasure to be here this afternoon with so many friends and allies I have worked closely with over the years. We are all here because wecare about the same thing -- housing our vulnerable citizens. Iunderstand that we have many service providers for the homeless here as well as others on the front lines trying to insure that everyVirginian has a home. Thank you for your work -- we cannot do thiswithout you.
We all have a role to play. And every role is important. Housing hasnever been a hot button issue politically. Rarely do candidates speakabout it and even more rarely do they actually campaign on it. As astate Senator, I try to pass legislation that will make your workeasier and to pass a state budget that provides the funding you needto do the work you do. But the legislature faces many funding needs.Rarely has housing risen to even near the top of the list.
Until recently. That change is largely due to your efforts.
The organizers of this conference asked me to tell you how I becameinterested in housing policy. Oh, my, that is a long story but let megive you a shortened version.
Forty years ago, I was president of my kids' elementary school PTA.Forest Edge Elementary in Reston was - and still is -- a very diverseschool, economically and ethnically. Some children were thriving andothers were struggling and often failing. I asked myself why weresome kids doing so poorly. And poverty was the overwhelming reason.
Income insecurity, food insecurity, healthcare insecurity, familyinstability, were all important factors. But so was housinginsecurity. Kids were being shunted from place to place with no certainty of where they would be living. Some were literallyhomeless. They were sadly vagabonds moving from place to place. Otherswere in families which were paying way too big a portion of theirincome on housing. Going to school and concentrating on learning wasoften a secondary concern.
So over thirty years ago I started looking for housing solutions andteaming up with others who were also concerned.
First I joined the Reston Interfaith Housing board. It is now calledCornerstones, and I am sure many of you are aware of their impressivework. Our original mission was to provide affordable housing inReston. We built literally hundreds of affordable housing units.Soon, however, we realized that housing alone was crucial but it wasnot enough. Families had other service needs. Everything fromemployment services to childcare to food banks to case managementbecame our portfolio.
But as hard as we were working, we couldn't keep up with the housingneeds. In the mid 80's we made a devastating discovery. Homelesspeople were living in Reston's woods. They were sleeping under theeaves of our churches. The churches mobilized: they opened theirdoors on a rotating basis to anyone who needed shelter. For two yearsthey did this. But gradually we all came to the realization that suchtemporary measures were simply insufficient and more demanding thanvolunteers could do alone.
So we decided we needed a homeless shelter in Reston. I was presidentof the community association at the time and went to testify to theFairfax County Board of Supervisors. In those days, Not in MyBackyard was the dominant sentiment. Yes, the NIMBIS would say, weneed to help others -- just not in my backyard.
But my message was different: My message and that of the RestonCommunity Association to the Board of Supervisors was that Restonwants a homeless shelter and we want it in Reston. So I made my speechand was dismayed that the Supervisors were not listening to me -- theywere chitchatting with each other. So I reared back and bellowed:Listen to me-- Reston wants a homeless shelter and we want it inReston! Then they really listened. And we got our homeless shelterwhich has been a community jewel ever since
But one thing I firmly believe and said back then: The need forhomeless shelters is an indictment on our society. If we truly cared,they would be unnecessary. Everyone would have access to a home. Butuntil we reach that goal, they are a necessary piece of our services.
Several years ago an amendment to our state constitution was passedthat guarantees the right to hunt and fish. That so-called "right"struck me as very peculiar. So I tried to amend it on the floor ofthe Senate. I tried to add "food and shelter" to the amendment. Ifwe have a right to hunt and fish guaranteed in our constitution, whynot add a guaranteed right to food and shelter? My amendment wasfound out of order. I often think about how different Virginia would be if that had passed.
Years ago I also joined the board of a group called AHOME, AffordableHousing Opportunities Means Everyone. It was a board composed ofdevelopers, large employers, bankers, and community activists like me.
Our goal was to allow localities to require developers to provideaffordable housing as part of a rezoning. This, just as the homelessshelter effort, required dozens and dozens of people working togetherfor a common goal. We ultimately were successful but it was a hugestruggle with the forces in Richmond. And that struggle was part ofwhat made me decide in 1991 to run for the Senate. I was so angrywith "Richmond" on so many issues and so disgusted with how little wedid for children and people in need that I decided to run for office.Much to everyone's surprise -- even mine -- I won!
Over the past 26 years, I have been part of many legislative studies.I have been part of studies on mental health law reform, kids in needof services, drug and rehab services, domestic violence shelters,prison reform, the needs of people with mental illness in our prisons,why hospitals hold patients beyond medical necessity, and needs of theaging . Each of those studies specifically identified housing as acritical need. But, until the Deeds Commission, each study groupseemed to throw up their hands and say it was beyond the scope of thestudy. The matter was too big, too expensive, and too pervasive to bedealt with. And so, housing became the elephant in the room -- a hugeproblem, ever present, but largely ignored.
But finally something is being done. Advocates -- YOU-- redoubledyour efforts and strengthened your coalition. As a major, earlysuccess, we were able to fund the Housing Trust Fund. We had asuccess in 2013 when we set up the Housing Trust Fund. But no moneywas put in it! Finally, in 2015 we started putting money in the fund--- and now have put a cumulative $19 million in the fund. At least80 % must be used on short, medium, and long term loans to reduce thecost of homeownership and rental housing. The remaining 20% can beused for targeted grants to reduce homelessness.
And speaking of homelessness -- Governor McAuliffe set as a goalending Veteran's Homelessness. We met that goal -- and became thefirst state to do so.
Significant additional moneys -- over $11 million -- went to familyand sexual violence programs and shelters.
So we have been making real progress! But let me focus on one aspectof the housing issue that has become a passion of mine. As you know,housing is a key determinant of health. Poor living conditions affectpeople's vulnerability to illness and disease and their ability tobenefit from treatment and manage their conditions.Not only that but people who are homeless have a mortality rate thatis 3-4 times higher than for the general population.
And, to make matters more serious, homelessness is correlated withhigh health care costs. It increases the likelihood of excessive useof hospital and crisis services.
And - for people with mental illness, if they are homeless, they aremore likely to be put in jail for minor offenses growing out of theirillness.
Fortunately, there is a solution to this problem. It is a bestpractice, validated over and over by the experience of other states.It is called permanent supportive housing. It has been an underfundedyet critical area of our mental health and housing systems. It isnear and dear to my heart because of the impact of the lack of housingon many other areas of the mental health care system: increasedcriminal justice involvement; revolving door of hospitalization; poortreatment outcome; frustrations and hopelessness for families andindividuals.
The legislature has made mental health a priority and is really takinga deeper dive into how we can create a stronger mental health serviceinfrastructure in Virginia. I personally have been engaged in adecade long effort to provide appropriate services for persons withmental illness who too often tragically end up in our jails andprisons. As we studied this issue, it became clear that there is ahuge need for stable housing for this population. I quickly learnedhow intertwined these two issues are.
The Joint Subcommittee to Study Mental Health Services in the 21stCentury, which was created in 2014 and is chaired by my good friendand colleague, Senator Creigh Deeds, is leading the effort for reform.The enabling legislation directs the subcommittee to "study thedelivery of mental health services, including laws governing theprovision of mental health services and the system of emergency,short-term, forensic, and long-term mental health services in theCommonwealth." Clearly, you cannot study any of this withoutunderstanding the importance and urgent need for housing.
So, a separate workgroup was created to specifically study housingneeds as it relates to mental health. I was honored to serve as theChair of this workgroup because we all know that to properly addressthis problem, we must start with housing.
The Housing Workgroup met several times over and worked closely withan expert housing panel --made up of many people in this room!Together, we came up with legislative recommendations for moving theball forward on housing our most vulnerable. One of our recommendations was to significantly increase the state's funding forPermanent Supportive Housing.
As a member of Senate Finance and as a budget conferee, I knowfirsthand how difficult it is to increase funding -- especially in thedifficult budget environment we have been experiencing the last fewyears. However, we had the numbers and case studies to show that thisprogram truly works. Working together we were able to convince theGeneral Assembly to pass a budget with almost $10 million forPermanent Supportive Housing.
I am going to repeat that because it truly is worth celebrating: theVirginia budget now has almost $10 million for Permanent SupportiveHousing!
And that success is thanks to everyone in this room who has workedtirelessly on this issue and advocated for it at the General Assembly.You truly made an impact -- I can talk to my colleagues every dayuntil I am blue in the face about the importance of housing, but they need to hear it from their constituents. We all know that PermanentSupportive Housing results in a decrease in hospitalizations,incarcerations, emergency room visits and homelessness. But my fellowlegislators need to hear it from those who are working out there everyday to serve our most vulnerable. And they absolutely heard you thispast legislative session. I encourage all of you to continue keepingyour legislators informed about the work you are doing and what we cando to help.
And now the work truly begins. Now that we have this additionalfunding, we need to get it out in the streets quickly and let it helpthose who need it most. This legislature is going to want to seeresults from that funding. We need to show them what we can do withthat $10 million and what we can do with even more money.
The early outcomes are already demonstrating the effectiveness of thisprogram. For example, take a look at the participants in DBHDS'sprogram that compared state psychiatric hospitalizations before andafter they entered this program. Their average bed stays have gonefrom 71 days in the 6 months pre-PSH to 8 days in the 6 months postPSH. That is a reduction of 63 days. A reduction of 63 days! This ishuge in terms of the impact on their lives and in terms ofcost-savings to taxpayers.
In fact, I would argue that this is one of the most transformationalpolicy and funding shifts that our state has undergone in recent yearsand reflects a move towards a more evidence-based and proactiveapproach towards housing people with serious mental illness.
I encourage you to share this success with your representatives andshare the stories of the work you do every day.
Thank you to everyone here for the service you provide to ourcommunities every day. You are on the front lines of this effort andI cannot thank you enough for your service to Virginia's most frailand vulnerable. You have my commitment that I will do everything Ican to shine a light on the work you do and people you serve. You cancount on me to champion housing issues and to be your ally in theGeneral Assembly.
I hope you find your time here valuable and informative --- and leavetomorrow feeling energized and motivated. We have a lot to do! Ilook forward to our continuing to work together. Thank you forinviting me to speak to you today and I hope to see you all at the General Assembly in January!
