Local Opinion: Treatment First approach to homelessness is unwise

We can end homelessness in Tucson. But we need to work together to grow outreach, shelter, health services, and housing that is grounded in practices that are accessible, non-judgmental, and proven to work.

In a recent interview with a local TV news station, Lisa Chastain, CEO for the Gospel Rescue Mission Center for Opportunity, declared that in her opinion the Housing First solution to homelessness is best suited for persons who are homeless due to economics alone.

She further stated that Gospel Rescue Mission’s version of a Treatment First approach is better suited for persons who are experiencing homelessness in conjunction with addiction and mental illness.

I disagree, not just because I am the CEO of Old Pueblo Community Services and we utilize the Housing First approach to solve homelessness. Rather, I disagree because three decades of scientific research says Chastain’s view is wrong.

National and international studies have already demonstrated that Housing First programs have superior outcomes for homeless persons diagnosed with addiction and serious mental illness when compared with Treatment First programs, according to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.

Locally, independent evaluation of the City of Tucson and Pima County funded Housing First Pilot program (Operated by OPCS) has already demonstrated that using the Housing First approach with persons suffering with addiction results in reductions in crime and substance abuse, along with superior retention in permanent housing (80% or higher). That is because Housing First is not housing only. It is housing that’s rich with professional treatment for addiction, mental health, and physical health conditions. It is housing with employment training, education, and life skills coaching.

The difference between these approaches lies in the initial stability offered homeless households. Housing First provides the stability of housing first, so that persons are better able to address their mental health and addiction treatment needs from a place of stability and acceptance.

The debate between Treatment First and Housing First is not some anecdotal philosophical difference of opinion between two non-profit CEOs.

These different approaches are literally the difference between life and death for homeless persons in Tucson. On average someone dies unsheltered every week in Tucson, and in most cases, on that same day, there are Treatment First shelter beds available. A Treatment First approach to homelessness refuses shelter to those who need it most, leaving them to perish on the streets.

Homelessness has reached crisis levels in our community, and understandably there is a growing call to address this problem as quickly as possible. That can make ineffective methods, like more Treatment First shelter and sanctioned encampments seem appealing. But every dollar we invest in these ineffective methods pulls resources away from what actually works.

This can be observed in the growth of health and educational partners setting up services within the Gospel Rescue Mission Center for Opportunity campus. They may see this as the best opportunity to help homeless households, but in the end, it further legitimizes an ineffective and judgmental approach. A Treatment First approach that requires homeless households to subjugate themselves to religious indoctrination disguised as professional addiction treatment. An approach that still requires all volunteers and employees to renounce homosexuality as a sin that precludes the sinner from entering the “kingdom of God.” I know that these partner organizations don’t espouse this belief, but their silence is an insult to their LGBTQ+ employees, colleagues, friends, and neighbors.

At OPCS, we are here to help, not judge. We are putting our efforts behind more accessible emergency shelter and an increased inventory of housing that is affordable for persons currently homeless.

In short, that is the heart and soul of the soon-to-be open OPCS Center for Housing First, the first of its kind in Arizona. A place where households can get the help they desire in an accessible supportive facility, as well as a place where the community can come together to learn about and implement evidence-based solutions to homelessness.