The absence of access to affordable housing is the principle barrier to ending homelessness, says Joint Office of Homeless Services head Marc Jolin, cutting to the heart of the matter. You cant end homelessness without housing, whatever else youre able to do for someone.

Hes talking about a housing first approach, a policy that is fast becoming the international gold standard for helping people experiencing homelessness. In Finlandthe only European country that has managed to reduce its homeless population in recent yearshousing first has been a national policy for more than a decade.

It means that we provide homeless persons a permanent housing solution a rental flat with your own rental contract, and also [caseworkers assigned to help with service access] if thats needed, says Juha Kaakinen, the CEO of a Finnish foundation focused on homelessness and a pioneer in housing first circles. In short, Finland invested aggressively in housing while removing barriers to accessing it, and the pay-off has been extraordinary. (Finland, a country of 5.5 million people, funds housing programs in large part through proceeds from a state-run gambling company. For more on how Oregon uses its lotto money, see page 58.)

The homeless counts are still going down, says Kaakinen, who says its hard to find anyone sleeping on the streets in the capital of Helsinki these days. As housing units went up, Finlands shelter bed numbers decreasedhe says they even converted some former shelters into housing units.

Portland, meanwhile, has been increasing its shelter capacity. (Were up to 1,365 publicly funded beds now.) That may meet a short-term need, but, according to Kaakinen, it could actually damage our chances of long-term success. It keeps the system as it is. It doesnt solve the issue, he says. In many cases people return to the streets from temporary accommodation, and there seem to be not so many routes forward.

The real success, say the experts, lies in a twofold approach: 1) rapid rehousing and prevention for those tipping into crisis homelessness, and 2) supportive housing for those experiencing chronic homelessness. The latter can involve creating a support team for each person housed, or purpose-built housing with health care and addiction and mental health counseling on-site. Portlands already making inroads, with the city and county committing in 2017 to build 2,000 new supportive housing units by 2028. But thats a 10-year deadline for an urgent need and many feel we cant wait that long.

So whats the stumbling block? The issue is not that we dont know what we need to do, says Jolin. Its that we cant scale our responses to the level of need.

Scaling our response is the imperative that everyone agrees on. What it means is putting more moneya lot more moneyand resources into what were currently doing to effect bigger changes. And it has to happen without the kind of federal funding cities and states might be used to; the Trump administration has consistently cut budgets to housing benefits and reduced federal investment in affordable housing. If West Coasters are going to spend more to make more impact, theyre going to have to do it with less federal help.

The good news is that states are taking matters into their own hands, and there are signs that things are shifting on a regional level: as California considers a new bill to make way for higher-density development, Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek is also drafting a legislative proposal to change single-family zoning in smaller cities and towns to make space for more affordable housing.

The above makes a case for the reasoning behind the homelessness crisis, and what the best solution moving forward would be. Answer questions #6

Every argument has Claims (Premises) that support a Conclusion. What is the conclusion of the above argument?

Group of answer choices

The absence of access to affordable housing is the principle barrier to ending homelessness.

The issue is not that we dont know what we need to do, says Jolin. Its that we cant scale our responses to the level of need.

If West Coasters are going to spend more to make more impact, theyre going to have to do it with less federal help.

Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek is also drafting a legislative proposal to change single-family zoning in smaller cities and towns to make space for more affordable housing.