Commissioner Strickland introduced Dr. Roger Nooe, Director of the Knoxville/Knox County Ten Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness.  Dr. Nooe said that each time he meets with the board another study on homeless in Knox County has been released.  He stated that “Homelessness in Knoxville/Knox County: A Twenty Year Perspective” was recently released.  When Dr. Nooe was first asked to do this study in 1986, he thought it would be a one shot deal and the study would be done and homelessness would be eliminated.  Unfortunately, 20 years later, homelessness has not been eliminated.  In fact, the problem has grown significantly over 20 years.  Dr. Nooe also mentioned the Ten Year Plan that is being implemented to eliminate chronic homelessness.  It is the first time our city and county have had an organized effort to address the problem with a comprehensive plan.  Dr. Nooe mentioned how important the CAC Homeward Bound program is to this work.  About 225 homeless individuals were interviewed for the study, using a questionnaire that has 150 items on it.  Without the participation of the Homeward Bound staff it would be impossible to do the study.  He mentioned that Ms. Barbara Kelly served on the Ten Year Plan taskforce and currently serves on the advisory board.
           
Dr. Nooe discussed that the findings this year are very consistent with past years and we are seeing the same patterns of homelessness.  The largest number of homeless are acutely homeless.  They’ve lost their job, or their home has been burned down and they are thrown into homelessness.  Then we see the episodic homeless who cycle in and out of homelessness around employment, health, mental health and/or family violence issues.  The third group, Dr. Nooe defines as the chronic homeless.  These individuals are homeless for more than a year or experience four episodes of homelessness within a three-year period.  The chronically homeless make up the smallest percentage of the homeless population (10% to 15%), but they consume approximately 50% of the social services.  It costs roughly $40,000 to $45,000 a year to maintain someone who is chronically homeless.  As a result we are focusing our efforts on the chronic group.    

            The reasons for homelessness have stayed much the same over the last twenty years.  There is a lack of low-income affordable housing.  In this country, we have lost over 2 million units of low-income housing in the last 20 years.  In Knoxville, we have also seen this impact.  Over 50% of the homeless have mental health problems, or have been treated for mental illness.  These individuals are ending in the jails, where they do not belong.  We also see a number of people who do no have the economic skills to be self-sufficient.  This year we found that almost half of the homeless individuals have jobs, but they are minimum wage jobs, which aren’t sufficient to get out of homelessness.  We continue to see a number of people that are alcoholics or abusing drugs.  Drugs, apart from alcohol, have increased significantly.  The major cause in the past of women being homeless was domestic violence.  This year the major cause is drug addiction.  There are still a number of personal crises that contribute to homelessness.  The majority of women homeless have been victims of domestic violence.  They were abused prior to being homeless and will most likely be abused living on the streets.  The foster care system also continues to contribute to the homeless.  Approximately one-fourth (1/4) of the children aging out of foster care will be homeless in a year. 

            Dr. Nooe stated that this year we have had fewer homeless individuals.  In the month of February 2006, we had 300 fewer homeless than in February of 2004.  One of the reasons for the decline is that agencies are working very hard to get individuals off the streets.  Other findings, however, show that there are a greater number of women homeless than ever before.  There are still too many children that are homeless, but that number has decreased.  In the current study, one hundred (100) children under the age of 12 were counted as homeless.  In the past, 90% of individuals were Caucasian, this percentage has decreased to 60% and there are many more individuals of other races.  There are fewer veterans than in the past.  Dr. Nooe stated that there is a great deal to do with regard to homelessness, but changes are happening.  He mentioned that people could get more information about the homeless by reading the “Ten Year Plan” and the new study.  

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