There are less children in motels, but does that mean homelessness is reducing?

The Government is celebrating a reduction in kids in motels, yet increased barriers to shelter, and less houses being built, create concerns that homelessness is getting swept under the rug.

Photo by Randy Laybourne on Unsplash

The Government is again celebrating their "success" in reducing the number of people accessing shelter via what we have come to call Emergency "Housing". 

Earlier this year the Government made several changes to how a person who is experiencing homelessness can access shelter through MSD.

They also introduced a new prioritization system for whānau with kids in Emergency "Housing" (essentially prioritizing families with children, who had been in MSD funded shelter for more than 12 weeks, in order to streamline them into social housing).

And yet, though there has been a lot made of the reduction of those currently in Emergency "Housing", none of this Government's initiatives have responded to the complex and systemic issues that are sustaining homelessness within Aotearoa, meaning that though the numbers in Emergency "Housing" have changed, the lived reality for many of our people, has not.

And yet, while the Government celebrates numbers shifting on a spreadsheet, more people who are experiencing homelessness are being denied shelter. 

It's important for the public to understand that the Government has not achieved this reduction in Emergency "Housing" by preventing people from experiencing homelessness.

And despite the Ministers assurances, there is no guarantee that if you require shelter that you can gain access to Emergency "Housing". 

Instead, the Coalition Government has made decisions to increase barriers for people in need of shelter (meaning, that it is even harder to access shelter through MSD for those who desperately need it), strengthening penalties for those who - due to trauma influenced behaviour - do not behave in a way the Government deems appropriate for people who are suffering from trauma and mental ill-health, and prioritizing families with children, who meet the Government's standards, over those who don't (the later presumably are still experiencing homelessness, as public housing builds have stalled, and we haven't had an influx of new rental properties appear in our communities within the last few months).

Though we can all acknowledge that getting children out of motels swiftly is important, and reducing the use of emergency "housing" is a laudable goal, if the Government is not actually prepared to address the systemic reasons why homelessness exists in Aotearoa, then it risks increasing homelessness, while sweeping the problem under the rug.

For example, the barriers to access Emergency "Housing", which this Government has strengthened, are meaning that people are often requiring the support of advocates in order to gain shelter, and even where they can get support from a service that can provide that advocacy, there is no guarantee that they will be successful in being granted support.

I don't at all want to take away from the critical mahi that has been done by some of our dedicated and committed public servants within MSD. I know many who do, and have, worked incredibly hard to collaborate with community organizations and other Government agencies in order to streamline access into Transitional Housing and other housing options (this mahi of course is not new, and was already well underway under the last Government).

And yet, the reality is, the statistics the Government is celebrating cannot logically add up to a decrease in homelessness.

The Government's changes have not dealt with the structural reasons why people have been experiencing homelessness and remaining in emergency motels for an extended period of time.

People are experiencing homelessness because they do not have access to safe, stable, and affordable housing, and instead of increasing housing stock, this Government has stalled public housing builds and increased barriers to Emergency shelter without providing alternative support services or options for people.

The only outcome here is that more people are now on our streets and in dangerous and vulnerable situations.

To be fair to the current Government, homelessness - and the issue of emergency "housing" - is an enduring problem which subsequent Governments have failed to adequately respond to.

The Emergency "Housing" system has caused untold harm to people, and the last Government did not do enough to ensure that people being placed in motels were provided with appropriate living conditions or support. 

However, you don't solve homelessness by shoving people out of motels and manufacturing a drop in the numbers. All you do is shove the problem under the rug.

Homelessness is a crisis in NZ, we can play with numbers and shuffle around some deck chairs, however until we begin seriously addressing the systemic reasons homelessness persists, people - real people - will continue to suffer the results of our collective negligence. 

And as much as I want to celebrate less children growing up in motels, in the end, what good is reducing the number of people on a spreadsheet, if that reduction does not represent a reduction of homelessness in the lives of our whānau?

A.J. Hendry is a Youth Development Worker and rangatahi advocate, working in the Youth Housing and Homelessness space. He leads and co-founded Kick Back, a youth development organizations responding to youth homelessness and is also an advocate working collectively to end youth homelessness in Aotearoa. He is also the curator and creator of When Lambs Are Silent.