Why Can't Cities Find a Solution to Homelessness? Psychology of Poverty

As mentioned in a previous post, there is an assumption that poor people want to immediately be thrust into middle class economic levels.  However, it has been shown that the poor are not able to consider long term, large economic goals, unless they are handed to them.  The poor, generally, are able to consider short term humble goals, because their brain reduces their expectations and self-esteem.  

Most American cities’ approaches to the homeless is to give a few individuals large steps of economic improvement, while not having the resources to help the far majority of those on the same economic level.  This leaves the poor the feeling that escaping poverty has nothing to do with their own ability or with self-reliance, but a more “lottery” mentality of escaping their life of crisis.  If they are lucky enough, if they get placed on the right list, then they will escape poverty with little work on their part.

If there is a clear stair-step to economic development with short but attainable goals, then the homeless would have the confidence to establish their own goals and climb up that staircase at their own time, according to their own confidence bolstered by peers who climbed the same stairway.  If it is not available to everyone, or if economic development requires goals that are by chance (such as shelter that is gender based) or are too large (find low-cost housing and the government will pay for it), then it will be considered a lottery available to those lucky to receive it.

(New Republic, http://www.newrepublic.com/article/122887/poor-people-dont-have-less-self-control
Social Science and Medicine:  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953609002202 )

Why Can't Cities Find a Solution to Homelessness? Effective Community Development

Throughout the world, communities, expatriate organizations and nations have been working at community development of their poorest communities.  Over the years, a certain set of principles have been established which have proven to be effective in overcoming poverty in many contexts, both in the third world and in developed nations.

Today, many American cities have thousands of people living in third world poverty, including but not exclusive to the homeless.  Most of these people in deep poverty belong to communities of the poor, they are not just individuals.  The American approach to poverty treats poor people as individual or family units instead of larger communities.  As such, they do not take in the most effective approaches of eradicating poverty, developed throughout the world.  Here are some of the principles shown to work to eradicate poverty: 

1.  Although management from governing authority is essential, the solutions and direct leadership of the programs should be directed from the local poverty community.  There must be a partnership between the government and the poverty community. 

2. Funding should not be a one-time investment in a community, but an ongoing negotiated long term plan.

3. Success of any program must be determined by the success of goals, beginning with small ones and developing, over time, larger ones. Evaluation of any program should be continuous, both from within the program and from objective outside evaluators. 

4. Governance should provide training for partners to keep up successful programs. 

5. There should be continuous feedback between governance and community partners, developing a more nuanced program to the needs of the community.

These principles have not been at work among community development of the homeless.  Generally, the American approach has been to separate the homeless from their community, to create personal development apart from peers.  Success is declared because of numbers of individuals moved through the program instead of the development of a whole community.  If a community is developed as a whole, there is a much higher likelihood that homelessness would be reduced or, over time, even eliminated.

(Effective Community Development Programmes:  http://www.effectiveservices.org/images/uploads/Evidence_Review_EffectiveCommunityDevelopment_2010.pdf )