Federal officials say they're encouraged by Maine's plans to expand a nationally-recognized approach for addressing chronic homelessness.
Maine currently has three Housing First properties, which includes 24/7 support services, and intends to open up more than a dozen additional sites around the state.
Jeff Olivet, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, said the model has recently come under political attack in some states.
"What the public sees is we've invested all this money and we still have homelessness, [and they assume] it must not be working; we should try something different," he said. "As opposed to saying, 'What we're doing is working at the individual level; we have not solved it at the societal level.' Let's do both."
Olivet spoke Thursday at a conference in Portland with more than 300 state and local housing officials, shelter providers and other advocates. They heard from federal leaders and officials from other states about the measures that are being used around the country to respond to a rise in homelessness around the United States.
Though many Maine and many states throughout the country are seeing a rise in homelessness, he says the number of unsheltered veterans in the U.S. has dropped by 55% over the last decade with the help from dedicated federal resources. Olivet said the approach that Maine and other states have taken in resolving veterans homelessness can and should be applied to other unhoused populations.
"What it tells us is that we know the recipe," Olivet said. "If we can get people into housing as quickly as possible, and provide really good access to care and support, good things happen."
Maine has committed to effectively end veteran homelessness next year. Preble Street, which organized Thursday's conference, said it housed 297 veterans throughout the state last year.
