A Portland State Study Finds Homeless People Are Turned Away from Help for Failing to Fit the Right Category
Nearly everyone living without housing in Multnomah County wants a permanent home. The hard part is finding the way in.
That is the central finding of the Pathways study, a two-part project from Portland State University’s Homelessness Research and Action Collaborative. Researchers surveyed 541 people with current or recent experience of homelessness, and 98% of those asked said they want permanent, stable housing. In 29 in-depth interviews, they heard the same story again and again: phone calls that go in circles, wait lists that stretch up to 10 years, and programs that turn people away for not being old enough, disabled enough, or addicted enough to qualify.
“I guess I have to relapse if I’m going to get any help,” one participant told researchers…