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Web-posted August 24, 1996

By Tom Corwin
Staff Writer

Toughening up homeless programs may be the next wave of welfare reform, conservatives say. But homeless advocates see ``reform'' as a code word for cuts in services that are already inadequate.

As part of its consolidation report, Augusta had to detail how it would serve the homeless. The consolidation report called for a 500 percent increase in the number of shelter beds for families and a 150 percent increase in the beds available for single men. Much of that has not been done, said Lynda Suarez, homeless coordinator for the CSRA Economic Opportunity Authority.

This year, $60,000 is set aside for homeless services and 10 agencies are applying for it. But there is also a chance that some of the $5 million to $7 million the city will receive in Community Development Block Grant funds could be spent on shelter and transitional housing, said Sirena Perkins-Rogers, administrator of Housing and Neighborhood Development. The commission will vote on projects in October.

In the meantime, local agencies got a 30 percent funding cut through the state of Georgia from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. The state is planning its own cutbacks on homeless shelters, which could devastate the programs, said Butch Gallop, president of the Augusta Task Force for the Homeless.

Nationally, the funds were cut from $1.12 billion to $823 million this year and are expected to remain at that level next year, said David Beriss, health policy analyst with the National Coalition for the Homeless.

``It's lack of political clout, number one,'' Mr. Beriss said. ``These are the people that make the best victims for balancing the budget.''

But Ron Utt, a former associate budget director for President Reagan, said the programs are ``highly ineffective'' and simply encourage the homeless not to change.

By limiting funds, state and local authorities will be forced to direct money to those programs that do provide discipline and result in people leaving the streets and becoming self-sufficient.

``It's another version of welfare reform,'' he said.