Homelessness in the state of Hawaii has caused Governor David Ige to declare a state of emergency in order to address the state’s homeless crisis. The declaration comes just days after state and city officials cleared out one of the largest homeless encampments in the nation.
Hawaii, a state harboring over 7,200 homeless individuals based on the last count, has a higher rate of homelessness per capita than any other state across the nation.
Gov. Ige was quoted by Fox News as having said that they’re “making sure” that the homeless have the option to move into emergency shelters, but in order to do so, they need to free up space to shelter families. In order to free up the necessary space, the governor says he enacted the emergency proclamation, as it would allow them to quickly erect new shelters.
We are making sure that we have options for those who are homeless to move into an emergency shelter, and the biggest deficit in the system is shelter space for families (…) So the emergency proclamation would allow us to stand up shelters for families in an expeditious manner.
Between the years of 2014 and 2015, the state of Hawaii experienced a 23 percent expansion of its homeless population. During the same period, the state also saw a 46 percent rise in the number of families left without shelter, according to homelessness coordinator Scott Morishige.
The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports that according to Morishige, $1.3 million has been identified to assist with the expansion of social service outreach in the state. The state is to begin its review of existing contracts and social service agencies’ performance while the additional capital lends a hand to the outreach program for another year.
According to Ige, the Kakaako sweep worked because of cooperation between various levels of government, social service providers and private land owners throughout the region. As a result of the clean-up, which began on September 8, a total of 158 people, which includes 25 families, found themselves in homeless shelters or permanent housing.
In other news, a homeless Colorado man who trashed a national forest has been sentenced to six months in prison.
