EDITORIAL
Take homeless plan and get cracking

In an effort to secure federal funding for homelessness programs, Hawai'i has answered the Bush administration's call for certain states to formulate 10-year plans to end chronic homelessness.

After two years of brainstorming by representatives from local government, nonprofit and private sectors, that plan has been unveiled by the Lingle administration.

And it's hard to argue with the general goals of the 20-page report, which lists preventing individuals and families from becoming homeless, decreasing barriers to housing and providing appropriate support services among its mission.

We're pleased that the plan recognizes that the old crackdown approach of jailing the homeless for loitering or shuffling them from one area to another is not a long-term solution.

Truth be told, however, the plan is thin on specifics of how to reach its goals, not to mention how to pay for them. But it's a start. We anticipate that Gov. Linda Lingle will provide more details of how she plans to mitigate homelessness during her State of the State address.

Solving chronic homelessness requires more than putting more affordable housing on the market. As a practical matter, much of that housing will likely go to low-income working folks, not those who are already homeless.

Any serious plan must deal with the underlying causes of homelessness such as alcoholism and drug addiction. Still, the homeless must be housed first.

In light of that, it's encouraging to see the report looks seriously at the "Housing First" or "supportive housing" approach in which those with addictions or mental illness are first placed in permanent stable housing, and then provided well-focused medical and social services.

It is precisely that kind of proactive approach that Hawai'i needs to take now that we have a strategic plan for ending chronic homelessness.