Public Policy of Homelessness Issue - Term Paper Example

Public Policy Analysis School Affiliation: Homelessness is not a new problem to some families in different parts of the world. While one could think the problem belongs to the developing countries, the US itself has a number of these cases. Paul Schell was a Seattle mayor in the state of Washington who pledged to ensure that the situation of homelessness ceased in the city. For many years, many mayors and other state officials had refrained from committing and commenting publicly the issue of homelessness in the state. However, Schell was credited for having the courage to confront the issue head on. Even though the projected achievement never materialized, some families got home through this initiative. This is a paper that seeks to analyze the policies, stakeholders involved and development and implementation policy. Further analysis accompanied by recommendations will be offer too. Background Mayor Schell was elected into office in 1998 to serve a four-year term as the Seattle mayor, and immediately embarked on a mission to rid the streets of the homeless families. By this time, Seattle alone had close to 5500 people who had no homes and nearly 1500 of this number slept on the streets (University of Washington, 2006). To compound the situation, the city’s homeless shelters could not accommodate any other meaning the situation was precarious for the administrator. The plan to reduce the rate of homelessness was meant to last six months, though this never materialized. Even though a number of people were offered the solution to their predicament, the policy did not offer everybody the home they badly needed. Major policy concepts Policies refer to the programs that are action-oriented that are normally promoted and implemented by public authorities. Almost always, these policies are normally based on the problems identified, and tend to offer the solution. The policies focus not just on the main issue but goes to an extent of changing values norms and setting goals for the future (Pawson & Wong, 2013). Thus, the major concepts of mayor Schell’s plans include the change of the scenarios in homelessness. In other words, the goal of this plan was to provide the solution to the homeless families in the Seattle city. Secondly, there is the concept of regulation which identifies and describes the process that the collective action will be promoted, coordinated and guided in a bid to ensure goals are in line with the expectations. Also, this concept details how the problems that may be faced ought to be solved and other situations. Regulation is then divided into two ways with situational and institutional regulation forming the two parts. Institutional regulation relates to the set of actions and implementations that the government or the authority will undertake. On the other hand, situational regulation focuses on outlining the rules through mutual consent with the major stakeholders Stakeholders In the project about the homelessness in the said city, a number of stakeholders are involved including the very said families suffering on the streets. As noted, the situation of the homeless families is indeed deteriorating with the streets not able to accommodate anymore. The second stakeholder in this project is the town’s government because it will be responsible for the building of these homes. Because the families living in the streets have no income, the government s expected to find the project in its entirety. Thirdly, there is the firm or companies that will help in the building of these homes since the government does not necessarily have all these personnel. The residents of Seattle act as an additional stakeholder in this project since the government’s revenues comes from the taxes these residents’ incomes. Review the development and implementation of the policy The mayor’s plans included the design guidelines which were mainly proposed by the residents who felt the need to have their neighbors’ character reserved. Also, the strategies included the creation of urban land trusts that would ensure the rental prices remained affordable. The participation of the residents was not limited to paying taxes, their opinions proved vital in the design as evidenced by the residents of Beltown’ decision to hire landscape architects and artists. These experts were hired to redesign some blocks on the Vine Street because the residents envisioned the area would have a pedestrian streetscape. The development and implementation strategies in this projecting included were encouraging the community to build a network which would be more client-focused region. Then, the current shelters would be retained but no more would be increased as this would ensure the resources are spent on other projects. Training the people to focus on the housing services that would help them get long-term stability was another plan by the mayor. The underlying issue that contributed to the homelessness would be addressed so that long-term success can be planned and achieved. For instance, low-income was blamed as one of the contributors of this situation. Additionally, transitional housing unemployment were the other issues that needed quick addressing (University of Washington, 2006). Further, all stakeholders especially the residents and the authorities would be committed to ensuring the issue of homelessness did not escalate as this would render these efforts less-effective. In addition, resources would directed to the subgroups of the underserved homeless families and emphasize on the approaches to apply to that people in the continuum care until they entered permanent homes. Evaluation While there a number of areas that the policy comprehensively addresses, some areas are wanting especially on the timeline. Starting with the areas that are effective, the policy will solve the issue of homeless in a long-term manner. This is evidenced by the policy’s commitment to ensure that there will be no more shelters increased in the future. Secondly, by addressing the source of this problem, namely, low income, the policy will have positive long-term effects. Also, the fact that the authorities are adequately engaging the primary stakeholders, the residents of Seattle, mean that the implementation will not encounter opposition. Long-term stability in the housing issue has been incorporated in the policy meaning the residents will see the need for permanent housing as opposed to shelters. Again, since the authorities have enlisted the services of the right personnel, the project’s completion will be inevitable. Stakeholders are important to any project, and it is always advisable to understand their roles and influence on the project. Clearly, in this policy, the relevant have understood this pretty well as evidenced by the engagement of all the people- the residents, authorities, painters and architects. Timeline is essential in any policy, and in this case the authorities have projected and indicated the timeframe. Nonetheless, the policy has its fair share of weaknesses which could be detrimental to the entire project. First, the timeframe is not realistic given the number of families without homes coupled with the process. With 5500 families being homeless, with 1500 of these spending nights on the streets, the six- month period announced by the mayor was not enough time for the project to be completed (University of Washington, 2006). Moreover, the policy seems to have violated the very essential principle of measurability that is included in planning model. Any plan or policy has to address the logistical problems, a case which is not evident in Schell’s strategy (Angelidou, 2014). While the policy clearly understands the number of people in need of homes, it does not clearly outline the logistical issues likely to arise, thus violating the said principle of measurability. In addition, the mayor’s policy did not embrace the incremental approach which could be used in the case of modifications of the project. According to Angelidou (2014), incremental approach, especially the Quinn format allows project manager a room for flexibility. As a result, in case of disputes and unforeseen hurdles, the project can be changed a bit without affecting the prior objective. Incrementalism is a theory that was necessitated by the discovery that rational decision-making was somewhat impossible since all alternatives needed to be known, which hardly the case is. Further, it was rationality demands that one knows the consequences of a certain policy, a requirement which is rarely possible in all cases. For that reason, the incremental approach demanded that one keep changing the policies depending on the hurdles encountered. Clearly, this is not included in Schell’s policy, which may explain the reason the objectives were fully achieved. Analysis and recommendations As noted above, the policy to put to an end the issue of homelessness in the Seattle city has not been well organized. For that reason, this section will analyze the areas that require changed and recommend accordingly. In order to do this, the Kings agenda-setting theory will be applied on how the policy ought to have been planned and executed. The theory has three pars including identifying problems, proposals and analyzing the politics. Problems This stage entails identifying the problem and persuading the concerned policy-makers on the existence of this problem. Often, this is done through availability of data, and in the case of Seattle, this was perfectly done since because the number of homeless families had increased. However, another component of problem identification is the budget required to eliminate the problems. Often, the budget needed greatly determine the application and the subsequent success of the policy. In the case of Seattle project, the mayor failed to consider this part because the builders had not finished the project by the expected citing budget-related issues. Therefore, it is recommended that the policy considers the logistical issues that may befall it in the implementation especially in regard to the budget. Proposals A proposal ought to be generated after which it is debated then revised and eventually adopted for consideration. At this stage, the policy makers assess the proposal outlining the problems, the limitations and forecasting the problems likely to arise in the implementation stage. Even though, the proposal at Seattle may have followed these steps, it is clear some issues were not addressed. Thus, it is imperative that the policy be discussed to ensure that the project does not stall in the future, as this could be compromised by other political leaders who may feel the policy is not comprehensive. Politics In every policy, political factors ought to be considered because a change in the leadership can affect the project. Secondly, political environment and mood are paramount, and ought to be considered. For instance, it was noted that the issue of homelessness in Seattle had first arose in the early 90s when it was suggested that taxes would be increased to cater for the homelessness concern. Following these suggestions, the residents vehemently opposed it, subsequently leading to the stalling of the proposed project. In the pledge, the mayor indicated that the project would see all homeless families leave streets by Christmas, a promise that proved impossible. In conclusion, the pledge by the Seattle mayor, Schell, to eradicate homelessness in the city was a noble cause. Prior attempts to rid the city of these families had proved somewhat impossible but the announcement by the mayor was to provide a new hope to the families. It was recommendable to see the authorities engage the primary stakeholders, the residents and the families of Seattle. The policy had a timeframe, as ought to be, and this would ensure that the project does not prolong more than expected. However, the policy is lacking in terms of offering contingent plans on the inevitable issue of logistical problems. As indicated in the paper, a policy ought to outline the measures that will be taken in case some hurdles threaten to derail the project. In this case, the project does not have this part. Finally, political issues like taxes and change of elected leaders can affect a plan, thus a policy ought to address this; this plan does not do this. References Angelidou, M. (2014). Smart city policies: A spatial approach. Cities, 41, S3-S11. Pawson, R., & Wong, G. (2013). Public Opinion and Policy-making. Social Policy & Administration, 47(4), 434-435. University of Washington (n.d.). Mayor Schells Zero Homeless Family Strategy. Retrieved 28 March 2015, from http://hallway.evans.washington.edu/cases/mayor-schells-zero-homeless-family-strategy Read More