In the 1990s, transitional housing began, well, transitioning out of fashion.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, transitional housing is defined as a project that has as its purpose facilitating the movement of homeless individuals and families to permanent housing within a reasonable amount of time — usually 24 months.
Such transitional programs — often known as half-way houses — are aimed at subgroups of the homeless population thought to need special assistance in making the transition to permanent housing.
Half-way houses are intended to help people develop and maintain stable living skills and treat substance abuse. Longer stays in transitional housing are intended to promote additional skills leading to regular employment and a permanent home.
In Little Rock, transitional housing has been decreasing since HUD decided in 1994 to focus more on permanent housing than temporary. In turn, funding for programs that help the homeless adjust from the streets to a home slowed.
“There is not enough transitional housing for addicts or non-addicts or anyone else,” says Jimmy Pritchett, homeless services coordinator for Little Rock. “There’s more of a focus now on permanent housing at every level.”
But transitional housing is needed desperately in Arkansas, especially Little Rock, for various groups of people — substance abusers, the disabled, parolees and the elderly.
In April, Little Rock had 523 beds that were considered transitional by city officials. Of those, 200 were for substance abusers. Addicts find that their options are greatly reduced or buried in bureaucracy when they need shelter — either emergency or transitional.
“Where can we take someone who is high on drugs but hasn’t broken the law?” said Pritchett. “Unfortunately, no facility will take an individual who is high on narcotics, or in some cases, even mildly intoxicated, unless you can get them in a recovery facility. That’s difficult and a lot of places see it as a liability.”
Even if a recovery facility accepts the person, few places exist to go to after sobering up except back on the street.
City coding complicates matters for a “group care facility,” as many transitional homes are called. Such a facility must have more than six people and fewer than 16 with some supervisory staff.
If the facility is in a residential zone, the planning commission must approve the request. Authorities must consider spacing between existing facilities, the number of people who will live there, accessibility to public transportation and other support services, and even parking.
The Arkansas legislature hasn’t done much to create or fund additional transitional housing. That’s because such issues are seen as local in scope unless it involves the prison population.
Last year, the legislature passed an act authorizing the closing of unlicensed transitional housing for criminal offenders. It also allowed for civil penalties for operating unlicensed transitional housing.
To accept criminal offenders, facilities must meet certain criteria established by the Department of Community Correction such as local and state health and safety codes and local zoning ordinances.
Compliance requirements also include a certain amount of square footage depending on the number of residents and sleeping and bathrooms for males and females. Currently, 38 such places are approved in the state.
But such rules are not uniformly applied for transitional housing.
Because the homeless population is increasing greatly in Little Rock, activists often skirt regulations. Transitional homes that only accept five people are springing up throughout the city. As long as the house keeps five or fewer occupants, the zoning category doesn’t change.
Stephanie Norvell with GYST House — which is approved for Department of Community Correction parolees — says that transitional housing with a total focus on recovery is critical for a solid recovery. The problem: funding.
“We have individuals who don’t have money, maybe they will go out and get a job but it may be too soon for them to work,” she says. “They need more rehabilitation and more time in the program. Out of 10 people, eight will leave, two will stay. They could get back on drugs and not be fully recovered. The job and the money are a trigger.”
GYST House has existed for nearly 40 years. It consists of two facilities — one with 75 beds, the other has 30. A treatment stay must be a minimum of six months with the option of another 24 months. GYST House is a transitional facility for substance abusers in the strongest sense of the term. It’s completely funded with private money.
Transitional housing is often controversial.
According to a 1998 study for a national symposium on homelessness, “Critics view it [transitional housing] as stigmatizing, de-stabilizing, and a drain on resources better used for permanent housing; proponents, on the other hand, view it as the best way to ensure homeless families and individuals get the services that will enable them to attain and sustain self-sufficiency as well as permanent housing.”
In the same government study, transitional housing that doubled as treatment programs for people with “severe mental illness and/or substance abuse problems” improve long-term success.
Local churches have picked up some slack, but even faith-based projects hit snags.
In June, Under Grace Ministries, whose board is made up mainly of members of Fellowship Bible Church and also includes Dr. Fitz Hill, President of Arkansas Baptist College, said it was planning to open a residential development center in Little Rock.
The unique facility is intended to house non-violent, non-sexually addicted residents on parole from the Department of Community Corrections. The DCC is a 9-month, state run modified therapeutic community primarily for drug and alcohol offenders.
In the process of reviewing the project, Little Rock city directors changed a few words in a zoning ordinance definition which has had the effect of delaying the project. Backers now must go through the process of acquiring a special permit.
Such quagmires are common, says Sandra Wilson, founder and co-chair of the Arkansas Homeless Coalition.
Wilson said that a lot more could be done to help with those who need transitional housing.
“People who have not lived in a house, who have been homeless or have been substance abusers or both, have to learn to assimilate into a lifestyle, living in a house, learning to pay bills, before you can move to permanent housing,” she says. “So much money goes into permanent housing that won’t work.”
Wilson says that substance abusers are often rejected time after time by various programs or hospitals. By the time they get accepted and receive treatment, they have no place to go after their 30 or 60 days.
“This is, and has been a real problem in Little Rock,” Wilson says. “There are no easy solutions but we can’t sit around and do nothing year after year and that’s what happens here. A safe haven, which is transitional housing, is missing sorely. They [the city and state] are sure missing the boat on it.”
