A new study by the University of North Carolina pins down savings to taxpayers when people who are homeless are giving cheap, simple housing.
The savings, according to the study, are drastic and impressive.
This story in Huffington Post says giving 85 people who are homeless a simple apartment saved taxpayers $1.8 million in health care costs alone, plus a dramatic decrease in criminal justice costs.
In the first year, the simple program:
- Saved $1.8 million in health care costs
- Dropped total ER visits by residents by 447 – a 78 percent reduction
- Cut hospital stays by 372 days – a 79 percent reduction
- Reduced arrests by 79 percent
- Cut days in jail by 84 percent
The housing is cheap but not free. Residents pay a portion of their income toward rent.
Other states are trying similar experiments.
Here in Washington, there’s a similar shift toward using cheap, affordable housing instead of relying on short-term homeless shelters and tent cities. Those include efforts in Seattle and Olympia, where the unique Quixote Village and it’s micro-housing units of 144 square feet apiece drew the attention of The New York Times,
The research from North Carolina puts weight behind the new thinking on finding real solutions to homelessness.