The Institute for Human Services will start collecting a $90 monthly fee from people who stay at its emergency homeless shelters longer than three months to encourage self-sufficiency and recoup some costs for programs and operations.

The new policy is designed to get people into the habit of budgeting for rent and other household expenses, shelter officials said.

"I know it sounds counterintuitive to ask someone who is homeless to pay, but it really works," said Connie Mitchell, executive director of the two IHS shelters in Iwilei.

"We really took a look at how we could empower people beyond the shelter."

Charging fees at emergency shelters is a relatively new development locally and nationally, homeless advocates say. And it is largely borne out of the lack of affordable housing. Emergency shelters were originally meant to house people for less than two months, but families and singles are finding it hard to find a place within that period.

So, to promote family budgeting, get people used to paying rent and also to gently persuade those who can move on to do so, emergency homeless shelters nationwide are increasingly seeking monthly fees from their long-term tenants, advocates say.

Though the state does not ask for a fee from residents at its Next Step shelter in Kaka'ako, its emergency shelter in Wai'anae does ask for a fee depending on the size of the room. The cheapest room — an 8-by-10-foot space — is $100 a month. Its largest room — 12-by-12 — is $180 a month. People who can't pay are still let in, though.

IHS is one of few emergency shelter options for families in the urban core. The Next Step shelter in Kaka'ako accepts families but currently is not taking new residents. Family Promise also operates a small shelter for families in Honolulu.

At the IHS shelter for women and families, residents don't have individual rooms. Instead, they are given beds, storage space, showers and free meals. At the men's shelter, there are cots or bunks, plus showers and free meals. Both shelters offer services for homeless, including job information and counseling, housing and benefits if they are entitled.

The $90 fee is per family or single person. It is not retroactive, so the earliest people would start paying is Sept. 1 because the fee program officially starts tomorrow. The fee currently only applies to those in the shelter for women and families. The fee for those in the men's shelter will go into effect later this summer.

Mitchell noted that if residents leave before the 90 days and then return, they will have to pay the fee automatically. She said the system was designed that way so residents don't abuse the system (by leaving just before the 90 days and then returning), and also so they stick with the shelter program to improve their chances of getting off the streets.

The fee will be prorated, depending on when someone returns to the shelter.

And those who can't afford to pay won't be turned away.

TURNOVER COULD RISE

Last year, of the 80 families that stayed at IHS, 28 remained at the shelter for more than 90 days, IHS statistics show. About 38 families left after staying between 31 and 90 days, and 14 stayed for less than 30 days. Also last year, 106 women stayed at the shelter for more than 90 days and 277 men stayed at IHS for more than 90 days.

Mitchell said she expects to see more turnover with the new fee, especially among single residents. That could help alleviate overcrowding at the shelter for women and families, which over the past several years has several times been so full it's had to turn people away.

Right now, the shelter has 24 families and has room for about three more. Meanwhile, there are about 82 women staying at the shelter, though it can hold about 100. The men's shelter is at 75 percent of capacity, with about 150 men.

This is the first time IHS has charged a fee for its shelter services, Mitchell said.

Darryl Vincent, executive director of U.S. Vets, which oversees operations at the Wai'anae shelter, said charging a fee makes people feel like they are contributing — and not living off someone else. He supports the IHS decision to charge fees, he said.

"It's a move in the right direction," he said. "People want to feel like they're giving back."

Transitional homeless shelters, which are often designed to house people for two years, have long asked for fees to get people used to paying rent, with other expenses. Theresa Joseph, program director of the transitional shelter MailiLand, said residents at the facility are charged from $345 (for a studio) to $450 (for a two-bedroom).

She said the fees go back to programs and operating costs.

The IHS fee came after several months of talks with shelter residents and several advocates in the nonprofit community. Mitchell said though residents weren't overjoyed to hear they would be asked to pitch in, many understood the reasoning behind it.

Advocates also backed the proposal, she said, as long as those who couldn't pay weren't turned away. Mitchell said the fee was designed to fit into many budgets, but acknowledged that some families will have to retool their finances to afford it.

Colette Batman, a 40-year-old single resident of IHS, said she supports the fee program. "It makes me feel less guilty" about staying at the shelter, she said. Batman has been at the shelter on Ka'aahi Street for about two weeks after being kicked out of her boyfriend's apartment, with no job, no place to go and no money for even a meal.

Kate Bepko, spokeswoman for IHS, said the majority of the money from the fee program will go back into linking homeless people at the shelter with long-term housing. Some of it will also go to operational costs.

"Our big thing is not enabling people to continue to be homeless," she said, adding that many shelter residents work or get benefits through Social Security. "A lot of it is about teaching responsibility."