Lack of homelessness plan has cost Pasco millions in HUD funds

DADE CITY — Over the years, the Coalition for the Homeless of Pasco County has lost out on millions of dollars for programs to eradicate homelessness.

Last year, for instance, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development earmarked $850,000 for homeless programs in Pasco, but the county only received $223,000. It can't collect the full amount until it develops a long-term plan to end homelessness.

HUD sets aside those dollars each year for communities based on population, demographics and poverty information. But without a plan, Pasco has been missing out.

On Monday afternoon, local and state government officials, and social service leaders took the first step toward changing that. They met at the historic courthouse to launch the county's 10-year plan to end homelessness.

"We've already had the principles laid out in the plan. Our next step in this particular launch is to write it," said the Rev. Dan Campbell, who stood on the courthouse steps during a press conference about the plan.

Philip F. Mangano, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on the Homeless, said it is counterproductive to focus on how many people are homeless, when the ultimate goal is ending homelessness.

"The plan would be shaped around the single metric that fewer neighbors will be homeless," he said.

State Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, said the face of homelessness has changed over the past three decades.

Fasano called a similar meeting of public officials last June to get the ball rolling on the 10-year plan.

"No longer do we see homelessness in certain parts of the county, but all over," he said. "Pasco has paid the consequences with dollars from state and federal government from not having a plan in place."

Making strides

The plan, which will take between three and six months to complete, will focus on homelessness prevention, job creation and helping military veterans find housing.

St. Petersburg has a plan in place that could serve as a model for Pasco's plan, officials said.

The first step toward solidifying the plan was a proclamation that the homeless coalition had each city in Pasco sign a few months ago.

The document declared that each city would pledge to follow America's Road Home, which is the 10-year plan to end homelessness.

Nationwide, 850 communities participate in the plan.

Now that the plan has been launched, said coalition supervisor Eugene Williams, task forces will be created among social service agencies to target homelessness issues such as health care and prison re-entry. The final step will be to draft the plan and apply for HUD funding — in hopes of receiving the maximum amount — in order to implement the plan.

"The task force might recommend resources centers or emergency shelters," Williams said.

The $223,000 that the coalition received from HUD last year was used to fund a program at Bethany House, a 10-unit permanent housing program for homeless families, and to manage a computerized system that monitors the homeless.

Figures aren't available on the number of homeless people in Pasco this year, but in 2008, the homeless population was 4,074, according to the coalition. In 2007, the count was 2,260, although the coalition says the figure could be off because the count was done incorrectly.

In 2006, the count was 3,677.

Camille C. Spencer can be reached by e-mail at cspencer@sptimes.com or (813) 909-4609.