For the first time in nearly a decade, Hawaii's homeless population is falling.
Data released last month shows that, while the archipelago still has the highest homelessness rate in the United States, in the last year the number of homeless people across the state has fallen by 9 percent, from 7,921 to 7,220.
The implementation of "Housing First" strategies played a significant role in the drop, according to the statewide Point in Time count. In the nearly two years since Governor David Ige declared a state of emergency in response to Hawaii's homelessness crisis, the state has funneled millions into shelters and housing programs like Housing First, adding hundreds of new housing units to islands where the average cost for a one-bedroom apartment is $1,800 per month.
Hawaii officials hope that as the state's homeless population falls, decreases in health-care costs will soon follow. In Hawaii and across the country, the homeless strain the health-care system; Honolulu's Queen's Health System hospital eats some $10 million in unpaid hospital bills from treating the homeless. Studies in Los Angeles, Portland, and Seattle have all found that Housing First programs lowered the overall costs to the city of caring for the homeless.
[For more of this story, written by Kate Wheeling, go to https://psmag.com/social-justice/homeless-in-hawaii]
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