093_SR0153

                                     LRB093 11904 KEF 16277 r

 1                          SENATE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, The General Assembly of the State of Illinois is
 3    committed to seeing that every one of  the  citizens  of  the
 4    State  of  Illinois has decent, safe, and affordable housing;
 5    and

 6        WHEREAS, A growing number of citizens  of  the  State  of
 7    Illinois  are  currently homeless, and shelter nights rose by
 8    24% from 2000 to 2001 (before the current economic turndown),
 9    as shown  by  Department  of  Human  Services  data  (25%  in
10    Chicago,  23%  in  the  rest  of the State; 43% in the collar
11    counties, 1% in the northern counties,  25%  in  the  central
12    counties, and 54% in the southern counties); and

13        WHEREAS,  In  the  last  10  years, the number of shelter
14    nights for the  whole  State  rose  by  89%,  with  increases
15    experienced every year since 1994; and

16        WHEREAS,  Homelessness  is  very  expensive  in  terms of
17    public  dollars  expended  for  emergency  hospital   visits,
18    in-patient  stays,  emergency  substance abuse treatment, and
19    jail stays; very costly  in  terms  of  human  suffering  and
20    generations  of  lives  wasted;  and very demoralizing to all
21    citizen; and

22        WHEREAS,  Supportive  housing  has,   through   extensive
23    research,  been  shown  to  be effective in enabling even the
24    most vulnerable people and families to remain housed  and  to
25    take   appropriate  steps  to  move  towards  employment  and
26    independence, and has been shown, in a recent major study, to
27    be cost efficient, virtually expending  the  same  amount  in
28    public dollars as the costs of homelessness; and

29        WHEREAS,  Long-term  and  repeatedly homeless individuals
30    and families comprise only approximately  20%  of  the  total
31    homeless  population,  but  use  approximately  80%  of total
 
                           -2-       LRB093 11904 KEF 16277 r
 1    shelter days, effectively living in the shelter system; and

 2        WHEREAS, This use of homeless services does not  end  the
 3    homelessness  of the most vulnerable individuals and families
 4    using the services and at the same time prevents  other  more
 5    short-term    or   transitionally   homeless   families   and
 6    individuals  who  could  benefit  from  the   services   from
 7    accessing these services; therefore, be it

 8        RESOLVED,  BY  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  NINETY-THIRD GENERAL
 9    ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we commit  ourselves,
10    along  with  a growing number of states and cities across the
11    nation, to end both long-term and  repeated  homelessness  in
12    Illinois  in  10 years by creating and sustaining 8,000 units
13    of permanent supportive housing in  Illinois  in  the  coming
14    decade targeted for the most vulnerable homeless families and
15    individuals; ending the practice of discharging large numbers
16    of people into homelessness from hospitals, mental health and
17    chemical dependency treatment facilities, jails, and prisons;
18    securing  investments in additional affordable and supportive
19    housing alternatives so that supportive housing can  be  made
20    available  to  those  who do become homeless and need support
21    services to stay housed; and gradually shifting resources  in
22    a  manner  determined  by  each  community  so that those who
23    become homeless can be expediently re-housed and connected to
24    supportive services; and be it further

25        RESOLVED,  That  we  will  consider   these   goals   and
26    strategies  in  establishing our policies and budgets; and be
27    it further

28        RESOLVED, That  we  encourage  municipalities,  counties,
29    townships, other governmental bodies, and related agencies to
30    adopt  these  goals  and  strategies  in  establishing  their
31    policies and budgets.