For the Homeless, Keys to a Home

Large-scale effort to keep many off street faces hurdles

By David Abel
Globe Staff / February 24, 2008

For decades, governments treated homelessness as an intractable problem, relying on a patchwork of shelters and services to look after people considered too troubled or too far gone to keep permanently off the streets. Now, following a national trend, Governor Deval Patrick is proposing a radical change in the way Massachusetts deals with the indigent - giving the homeless homes.

Patrick is proposing spending $10 million to lay the foundation for placing thousands of homeless people in their own apartments over the next five years. Administration officials say taking homeless people off the street - and out of a cycle through jail and emergency rooms - could lead to better lives and lower costs to care for them.

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