George Rebane

As longtime supporters of the Salvation Army, Jo Ann and I got an invitation this morning to set up a meeting with Captains Don and Martha Sheppard who are the new heads of our local Nevada County unit.  The Union ran an article yesterday on the progress of a $1.6M government grant that the local SA received “to address homelessness”.  The money is planned to run out in 18 months at which time other proposals for more money will be in the mill “to keep the program going.”

All good and fine, but it got us thinking again on how these short-term, ad hoc government-sponsored programs are run.  Sustainability is the big idea these days, yet the declared use of funds like this does nothing to sustainably reduce homelessness – it is a temporary band-aid that must be replaced while the problem remains.

Seems to me there are two kinds of homeless – those who are there temporarily and should be helped/encouraged to get back on their feet, and those who are there more or less for the long term.  For the latter case an appropriate long-term housing program should be sought and funded.  If we have decided that government should be the source of funding for one or both (which is another story), then let’s screen the folks and issue them the proper long and short-term Public Tit Cards (PTCs) the presentation of which gets them into the right program without further fuss.  (For those whose eyebrows get raised at the notion of a public tit card, consider that most of us already carry them.  For example I have two PTCs – my Social Security and Medicare cards.  And, of course, there are many more kinds floating around out there issued by this or that government agency.)

But here’s the punch line.  Politicians and bureaucrats like to issue mostly short-term PTCs, the kind that have limited funding and/or require periodic requalification.  The politicians devise and effectively use short-term PTCs for buying votes, and the government bureaucrats use them for their full employment future.  The shorter the PTC leash, the more inefficient the allocation and disbursement process, and the more votes can be bought and agency chairs filled to administer come-and-go programs.

Before anyone hyperventilates, let me say that we all recognize the need for temporary PTCs along with the staff required to vet and move people in and out of such programs as fast as possible.  But government softened homelessness is and will be a recognized and ongoing problem that needs ‘sustainable’ programs for both short and long term cases.  This argues for setting up reliable funding channels so that some efficiencies can be brought to bear to reduce overall costs.  (Don’t laugh, it really could happen, and without the travesty of public housing projects.)

However, the forces arrayed against such efficiencies are mighty indeed.  Neither Senator Blowhard nor Deputy Administrator Nitpick will benefit from such streamlining.  The long-term, sustainable PTCs in my pocket became sacrosanct long ago, and today they have a weak link to any politician or bureaucrat.  But a new short leash PTC will immediately serve its sponsoring politician(s), and employ loads of staff at all levels to make sure that they are properly issued, administered, and frequently renewed, which, of course, will bring in the politician for another very visible bow.