“Morrison questions whether the model saves as much money as people say. He said he supports the three-tiered approach to homelessness endorsed by Ralph DaCosta Nunez, president and CEO of Institute for Children, Poverty and Homelessness in New York.
Unlike the Housing First model, Morrison said the three-tiered approach recommends immediate rehousing only for those who solely need housing. A Housing Second option is recommended for those who may need education or job training, and a Housing Third option is geared toward those who struggle with other problems, such as addiction or generational homelessness. It focuses on treating their problems.
‘I think that if they used the three-tier system, there would be … way less money wasted because you’re holding people accountable and you’re caring about people instead of leaving someone to self destructiveness and supporting that,’ he said.
He said Housing First is just one of many approaches that can be applied to ending homelessness.
‘Like Dr. Nunez says, when (people) ended up homeless, weren’t they in a house at sometime before that? And weren’t there services out there available as well? So what makes you think that giving them rental money (is going to change them)?’ he asked.”