Pittsburgh shelter says more is needed to address underlying causes of homelessness
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The homeless crisis in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County has gotten worse, not better. As we head into the fall, the number of people living on the street and in tent encampments is increasing while efforts to address the situation have fallen short.
Shelter providers say the system is failing to address the underlying problems of addiction and mental illness.
For the fifth year in a row, homeless encampments have sprouted up throughout the city, most prominently along the Eliza Furnace Trail Downtown, once again lining the Allegheny River Trail on the North Shore. And those who once used those trails say they now feel unsafe.
The number of unhoused people in Allegheny County is increasing, from 631 to 1,026 in the past five years. First and foremost, there isn't enough temporary shelter or permanent housing to offer the homeless an alternative to living in a tent. But in addition, shelter providers say the system has failed to deal with the underlying issues.
"Since the pandemic, we're seeing increased mental health issues. There's not enough beds in our mental health system to treat them properly so they end up on the streets," said Jerrel Gilliam with Light of Life Mission.
Evictions increased after COVID, but Gilliam says only a small percentage of homeless people are unhoused for purely economic reasons. He and others estimate 75% are mentally ill, addicted or a combination of both. Simply getting them shelter won't solve the problem, he says. Those addicted to drugs need recovery assistance and those struggling with mental illness need medication and treatment but our system doesn't provide it.
"The system has failed since we eliminated all of the mental health hospitals. And we made a promise then that there was going to be a safety net and that safety net has not worked," Gilliam said.
Decades ago, under a policy called deinstitutionalization, the nation began closing down mental hospitals after years of abuse. But the promise of community-based treatment is failing with more and more mentally ill people ending up living outside. People struggling with addiction and/or mental health who are arrested for things like disorderly conduct may spend a night in jail and are generally released back onto the street.
"Jails have existed for hundreds of years. We still have criminal activity that happens," said Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt.
Schmidt concedes the system is failing and is organizing a community-wide summit of judges, prosecutors, mental health providers and addiction specialists to revamp it, getting people off the street and into programs designed to help.
"We need to address their root cause and address their root problems and get them the long-term help they need," Schmidt said.
Many people who are struggling with addiction or mental illness have run afoul of the law, but police say they can't arrest their way out of the problem.
