Covid has slowed but Hawaiʻi still needs rent assistance

Evictions also incur significant public costs. According to a recent study by the Hawaiʻi Budget & Policy Center, the state’s annual evictions lead to $30 million in public spending on emergency shelters, medical care, foster care and juvenile detention. This figure does not include the millions of dollars the state and county spend on criminalizing homelessness.

For example, the City and County of Honolulu spends approximately $5 million annually to carry out sweeps of homeless encampments. When police enforcement of homelessness results in incarceration, costs increase even further.

Conversely, investing in preventive housing services results in savings—especially for medical providers. For example, in 2018 the Queen’s Medical Center implemented the Queen’s Care Coalition. The program was developed as a response to the growing costs of serving the homeless community.

In 2015, Queen’s estimated that they spent nearly $40 million on emergency room services and in-patient care for homeless patients. The Care Coalition provides navigation services to 300 to 500 people per year, with a goal of connecting high-need hospital users to more stable housing and their assigned medical home.

For every person navigated, Queen’s estimates savings of at least $40,000, or more than $12 million in total savings in 2018.