Let's save some money...

and adequately fund human services. For a three paragraph description of how the Spokane area could save, see below.

From the Jan.-Feb., 2008 issue of This Magazine:

Calgary journalist Gordon Laird pointed out this past summer in his report, Homelessness in a Growth Economy: Canada’s 21st Century Paradox, that Canada is spending between $4.5 and $6 billion a year funding its homeless. Laird reached this figure by examining a 2001 British Columbia government study that found the average homeless person uses $30,000 to $40,000 annually in frontline emergency services such as hospital care, jail time and shelters, and applying this formula to the National Homelessness Initiative’s estimate that 150,000 Canadians are homeless.

“It’s a complete double standard that we should attack debt and deficit with such fervour,” says Laird, “but when it comes to the cost of homelessness, we’ve really chosen to neglect it.”

What’s worse is that the B.C. study showed that it’s cheaper to house people—at $22,000 to $28,000 per individual—than have them live on the streets.

$30,000 - $40,000 per person per year burden on frontline services. Ugh.

So here's the question: Do we need to replicate Laird's research here? Can we legitimately assume that the same situation would apply here in Spokane? Thoughts?

Ooh... If you're of the mind, don't forget to shoot the City Council a quick message and let them know how you see the issue.