Press Room

A wealthy state where the cost of living is high, Connecticut is still a place where many people cannot obtain or maintain housing.

Senate Minority Leader John McKinney announced last week the first phase of a statewide initiative to end homelessness.

In Connecticut, 33,000 people experience homelessness in one year, according to the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness' Web site.

According to CCEH, children make up 13,000 of those homeless individuals. CCEH also estimates there are 20,000 households in need of housing over the course of one year.

"We, advocates in Connecticut, believe that permanent supportive housing is the key to ending homelessness," McKinney said.

"I am calling for the creation of 10,000 units of supportive housing by 2014," he said. "We now have 3,000 units in Connecticut."

McKinney told the Minuteman that the long term goal is to get the state to support the plan to end homelessness by funding permanent supportive housing every year.

"Last month," McKinney said. "Thirty-five different organizations applied for funding to build permanent supportive housing, most of which were turned down because the state had no funds." "Between 2006 and 2007, 535 units of permanent supportive housing were not built because of lack of state funding," he said.

McKinney cited many different causes of homelessness, including mental illness, addiction, alcohol, drugs and economic difficulties.

Other causes include slumps in the economy, lack of living-wage employment, a competitive housing market and limited resources for mental health services, according to Carla Miklos, executive director of Operation Hope Connecticut.

"Permanent supportive housing connects the homeless with support services," he said.

Legislatively, McKinney said the first immediate step in this initiative to end homelessness is for the Connecticut General Assembly Select Committee on Housing to raise bills and conduct public hearings.

"The challenge is the issue of homelessness has never been a top priority for Connecticut or the federal government," McKinney said. "The challenge is to make it a more important priority for the state."

"We can do that if we convince people that we can end homelessness," McKinney said. "Homelessness used to be viewed as spending money to maintain the problem. I feel we can prevent homelessness from happening."

Permanent supportive housing, he said, is the answer.

Senator McKinney introduced the following proposals as part of the initial effort to reduce and ultimately end homelessness in Connecticut.

• Fund 650 new supportive housing units in 2008 and commit to increasing that in 2009, establishing an active commitment to a development pipeline.
• Establish a Community Housing Initiatives Team to provide technical assistance to municipalities.
• Create incentives for municipalities to include affordable and supportive housing in mixed income, mixed use developments that support responsible growth.
• Create new incentives for developers to include affordable and supportive housing in their developments, thereby increasing the number of units and expanding the reach of permanent supportive housing across the state, including in high cost areas.
• Expand the Housing Tax Credit program - increasing the credit set-aside for PSH units by $3 million.
• Increase the availability of financing for support services.

"Most of the ideas I am putting forward, are ideas advocates for homelessness have been fighting for a while," McKinney said.

"I am trying to be a stronger voice for the advocates," he said. "As the minority representative, I have the position to advocate and work with others to be loud and clear in Hartford."

Senator McKinney has been a long time advocate for the homeless, and he said he became aware of the need through his father and through work in the Town of Fairfield.

He is a member of the Board of Directors of Operation Hope, Inc., a nonprofit organization, providing solutions to homelessness in Fairfield and the surrounding communities.

In 1986, Senator McKinney's father, the late Congressman Stewart B. McKinney, helped craft what is known as the McKinney-Vento Homelessness Assistance Act - the United State's first coordinated federal response to homelessness.

Senator McKinney has carried on his father's legacy of providing support to the homeless. In October, Senator McKinney testified before Congress in support of reauthorizing the Act.

Miklos said, "Homelessness is a problem that can be solved, especially when leaders like Senator McKinney are willing to look at ways that the state can partner in helping us implement solutions."

"By taking the lead in advocating for funding to build and maintain affordable, supportive housing for individuals and families, Senator McKinney demonstrates that he is committed to building on the legacy his father left behind," she said.