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Mayor: DSS, transitional housing go together
By John Mason
COLUMBIA COUNTY — The cost of putting up homeless people in Columbia County has doubled since 2006, and there seems little doubt that building a central transitional housing complex would be preferable to the present system of boarding clients in hotels in Columbia and now Greene counties.
While the idea of transitional housing has long been on the table, the problem has always been where to put it.
If the Department of Social Services is kept in Hudson, said Supervisor William C. Hughes Jr., it makes sense transitional housing should be kept there as well, since its residents would naturally be DSS clients.
And Mayor Rick Scalera, referring to the county’s plan to move DSS to Claverack, said transitional housing would only be in Hudson if DSS stays here.
Whether the county chose to opt for Hughes’s Plan C or Scalera’s Plan B, Hughes stated in an e-mail, “a strong argument could be made to put the transitional housing complex in Hudson, which has the infrastructure to support such a facility.”
At the present time, homeless people are put up in motels around the county, costing taxpayers $1,182,641 for housing, $28,641 for transportation and $18,039 for food in 2008. All three figures are more than double the 2006 totals.
“This facility could save the county millions,” Hughes stated. “Having a strategic location relative to DSS along with other Health-related agencies is imperative. If DSS is moved to Ockawamick, the transitional housing complex should be located as close as possible, to cut down on the tens of thousands spent for taxi vouchers.”
In the second half of his e-mail, Hughes went on to give some background on the transitional housing idea.
The county’s strategic economic plan, prepared by Baldwin, Bell and Green and released in September 2008, identified tourism as an area with potential for the county, but said development in this area would be hindered by the shortage of hotel beds.
“One of the reasons we have such a shortage in hotel beds,” Hughes stated, “is the county rents a great deal of rooms from local hotels for transitional housing purposes. If we had a transitional housing complex, it would free up some of those needed rooms for tourism purposes.”
Scalera said he would like to engage in talks with the county about transitional housing.
“If they keep DSS here, we’re receptive to saving the county a substantial amount of money by keeping transitional housing,” he said. He suggested it would make sense to locate transitional housing in Hudson along with Twin County Recovery Services, the Red Door and Catholic Charities.
At one point, he said, the county was thinking of locating transitional housing at the former Charles Williams School at Third and Robinson streets.
“The county said they’d save money and share it with the Second Ward residents,” he said. “We were going to provide an exclusive account of money to be spent only on Second Ward improvements. I thought it was a good idea.”
Hughes said the more he reads about Peter Young’s plan, the more he likes it.
“Ninety percent of the people who go through his program don’t go back,” he said. “Sixty percent are referred by a judge, which could be an additional savings to the county.”
Officials and citizens of Hudson and Columbia County were treated to a presentation on the Rev. Peter Young’s Housing, Industries and Treatment program Tuesday at Crosswinds.
Young’s approach focuses on rehabilitation, rather than just maintenance. One of the biggest components of the program is employment, Hughes said.
“You can’t have results unless there’s a reward at the end,” he said. “They created their own solutions. A computer repair company; a culinary institute, where the chefs cook meals for the Albany school district. Several hotels in the Capital Region have upper level management who went through Father Young’s program.
“The video was very powerful,” he said. “It was hard not to cry: They effectively changed people’s lives.”
The clientele of the Peter Young programs are not just the stereotypical downtrodden.
“It runs the gamut,” Hughes said. “Past CEOs of corporations; a past attorney general of New York, who became an alcoholic; Father Young found him in Washington Park.
“They bring you in, let you live in an apartment and put you in a housing program that trains you to be a good, conscientious tenant,” he said. “Father Young’s programs have a 93 percent success rate. The main theme is rehabilitation, not incarceration.”
Young uses what he calls the “T.H.E. Program,” symbolized by a stool with the three legs of treatment, housing and employment.
“More than nine out of 10 people entering this program return to productive lives as taxpayers,” according to Young’s Web site.
Social Services Commissioner Paul Mossman said the homeless question is still a major issue, the solution to which “we need to pursue, whether for emergency housing or transitional housing, or a combination thereof.”
The figures for care provided to the homeless have gone up steadily over the past three years. In 2006, the county spent $599,315.84 on housing the homeless. This shot up to $843,227.80 in 2007 and $1,182,641.85 in 2008, a 97 percent increase.
Over the same three years, transportation costs for the homeless nearly tripled, from $10,002.50 to $14,667.50 to $28,641.85; and food costs more than doubled, from $7,315 to $12,294 to $18,040.
Centralized housing would “conceptually save money,” over the hotel plan, Mossman said, “depending on where it was centralized and how it was set up.
“The goal would be to have a central location and not rely on motels as the main resource,” he said. “Because of the locations of area motels, it presents many difficult challenges for people who are in these motels to get to and from services. We work very closely with many of the motels, who have been very flexible, and we’re grateful for that.”
Centralized transitional housing is easier to work with, Mossman said.
“Wherever it’s located, I’m hoping people will have access to services,” he said.
Alderwoman Carrie Haddad, D-1st Ward, said Hudson should take care of its own citizens, helping the ones who are losing their jobs to vanishing industries find new employment.
“I don’t think it’s fair for the county to burden the city with people from outside the city,” she said. “We’re at a disadvantage already with so many buildings off the tax rolls.”
Alderwoman Ellen Thurston, D-3rd Ward, said she thinks the facility needs to be in Greenport, “where the jobs are, where the food is.” And she said “transitional housing” is the wrong phrase, because the Peter Young video seemed to be more about taking care of drug addicts and criminals, and “that’s not the way I look at transitional housing.”
Alderman Robert Donahue, D-5th Ward, said the program “seems to work very well.”
Scalera said the public needs to be sold on the Peter Young organization.
“We have to prove it’s an organization that’s well run, well staffed and won’t put any neighborhood in danger,” he said. “They do it in the manner of saying you have to earn your way into the homeless shelter. You have to show your willingness on your end to better yourself. There has to be a commitment on yourself as well as theirs. They have great support, someone who will talk to you. If you’re willing to live a better life, they’re there to help you do it.”
This is something the county has to address, the mayor said. “They have to look at how much they’re spending and how they can spend less.” But, he said, “you can’t have it both ways, transitional housing in the city and DSS out to Ockawamick. Then all talks are stopped.”
While the idea of transitional housing has long been on the table, the problem has always been where to put it.
If the Department of Social Services is kept in Hudson, said Supervisor William C. Hughes Jr., it makes sense transitional housing should be kept there as well, since its residents would naturally be DSS clients.
And Mayor Rick Scalera, referring to the county’s plan to move DSS to Claverack, said transitional housing would only be in Hudson if DSS stays here.
Whether the county chose to opt for Hughes’s Plan C or Scalera’s Plan B, Hughes stated in an e-mail, “a strong argument could be made to put the transitional housing complex in Hudson, which has the infrastructure to support such a facility.”
At the present time, homeless people are put up in motels around the county, costing taxpayers $1,182,641 for housing, $28,641 for transportation and $18,039 for food in 2008. All three figures are more than double the 2006 totals.
“This facility could save the county millions,” Hughes stated. “Having a strategic location relative to DSS along with other Health-related agencies is imperative. If DSS is moved to Ockawamick, the transitional housing complex should be located as close as possible, to cut down on the tens of thousands spent for taxi vouchers.”
In the second half of his e-mail, Hughes went on to give some background on the transitional housing idea.
The county’s strategic economic plan, prepared by Baldwin, Bell and Green and released in September 2008, identified tourism as an area with potential for the county, but said development in this area would be hindered by the shortage of hotel beds.
“One of the reasons we have such a shortage in hotel beds,” Hughes stated, “is the county rents a great deal of rooms from local hotels for transitional housing purposes. If we had a transitional housing complex, it would free up some of those needed rooms for tourism purposes.”
Scalera said he would like to engage in talks with the county about transitional housing.
“If they keep DSS here, we’re receptive to saving the county a substantial amount of money by keeping transitional housing,” he said. He suggested it would make sense to locate transitional housing in Hudson along with Twin County Recovery Services, the Red Door and Catholic Charities.
At one point, he said, the county was thinking of locating transitional housing at the former Charles Williams School at Third and Robinson streets.
“The county said they’d save money and share it with the Second Ward residents,” he said. “We were going to provide an exclusive account of money to be spent only on Second Ward improvements. I thought it was a good idea.”
Hughes said the more he reads about Peter Young’s plan, the more he likes it.
“Ninety percent of the people who go through his program don’t go back,” he said. “Sixty percent are referred by a judge, which could be an additional savings to the county.”
Officials and citizens of Hudson and Columbia County were treated to a presentation on the Rev. Peter Young’s Housing, Industries and Treatment program Tuesday at Crosswinds.
Young’s approach focuses on rehabilitation, rather than just maintenance. One of the biggest components of the program is employment, Hughes said.
“You can’t have results unless there’s a reward at the end,” he said. “They created their own solutions. A computer repair company; a culinary institute, where the chefs cook meals for the Albany school district. Several hotels in the Capital Region have upper level management who went through Father Young’s program.
“The video was very powerful,” he said. “It was hard not to cry: They effectively changed people’s lives.”
The clientele of the Peter Young programs are not just the stereotypical downtrodden.
“It runs the gamut,” Hughes said. “Past CEOs of corporations; a past attorney general of New York, who became an alcoholic; Father Young found him in Washington Park.
“They bring you in, let you live in an apartment and put you in a housing program that trains you to be a good, conscientious tenant,” he said. “Father Young’s programs have a 93 percent success rate. The main theme is rehabilitation, not incarceration.”
Young uses what he calls the “T.H.E. Program,” symbolized by a stool with the three legs of treatment, housing and employment.
“More than nine out of 10 people entering this program return to productive lives as taxpayers,” according to Young’s Web site.
Social Services Commissioner Paul Mossman said the homeless question is still a major issue, the solution to which “we need to pursue, whether for emergency housing or transitional housing, or a combination thereof.”
The figures for care provided to the homeless have gone up steadily over the past three years. In 2006, the county spent $599,315.84 on housing the homeless. This shot up to $843,227.80 in 2007 and $1,182,641.85 in 2008, a 97 percent increase.
Over the same three years, transportation costs for the homeless nearly tripled, from $10,002.50 to $14,667.50 to $28,641.85; and food costs more than doubled, from $7,315 to $12,294 to $18,040.
Centralized housing would “conceptually save money,” over the hotel plan, Mossman said, “depending on where it was centralized and how it was set up.
“The goal would be to have a central location and not rely on motels as the main resource,” he said. “Because of the locations of area motels, it presents many difficult challenges for people who are in these motels to get to and from services. We work very closely with many of the motels, who have been very flexible, and we’re grateful for that.”
Centralized transitional housing is easier to work with, Mossman said.
“Wherever it’s located, I’m hoping people will have access to services,” he said.
Alderwoman Carrie Haddad, D-1st Ward, said Hudson should take care of its own citizens, helping the ones who are losing their jobs to vanishing industries find new employment.
“I don’t think it’s fair for the county to burden the city with people from outside the city,” she said. “We’re at a disadvantage already with so many buildings off the tax rolls.”
Alderwoman Ellen Thurston, D-3rd Ward, said she thinks the facility needs to be in Greenport, “where the jobs are, where the food is.” And she said “transitional housing” is the wrong phrase, because the Peter Young video seemed to be more about taking care of drug addicts and criminals, and “that’s not the way I look at transitional housing.”
Alderman Robert Donahue, D-5th Ward, said the program “seems to work very well.”
Scalera said the public needs to be sold on the Peter Young organization.
“We have to prove it’s an organization that’s well run, well staffed and won’t put any neighborhood in danger,” he said. “They do it in the manner of saying you have to earn your way into the homeless shelter. You have to show your willingness on your end to better yourself. There has to be a commitment on yourself as well as theirs. They have great support, someone who will talk to you. If you’re willing to live a better life, they’re there to help you do it.”
This is something the county has to address, the mayor said. “They have to look at how much they’re spending and how they can spend less.” But, he said, “you can’t have it both ways, transitional housing in the city and DSS out to Ockawamick. Then all talks are stopped.”
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