GREENFIELD -- While it may not be possible to "end homelessness," it is feasible to make sure that episodes of homelessness are "rare, brief, and non-recurring," said Gerry McCafferty, housing director for the City of Springfield.
McCafferty, author of a new report on homelessness in Western Massachusetts, was keynote speaker at a four-county summit on homelessness that looked at "the numbers, the solutions, and the partnerships."
The Friday afternoon event at Greenfield Community College was hosted by the Western Massachusetts Network to End Homelessness and emceed by its director, Pamela Schwartz.
The room was full of government officials, lawmakers and legislators-elect, medical professionals, county sheriffs, mayors and town managers, local officials, educators and social service leaders.
Experts who spoke at the event agreed that the region must pursue a "housing first" model to make real progress. They said it's cheaper and more effective to prevent homelessness than to provide a family or individual with months of emergency shelter as they struggle to recover from disruption.
"Housing first" involves quickly connecting homeless or near-homeless people with a stable place to live -- regardless of their social or economic problems. With a roof over their heads, people can then focus on other issues, according to the concept.
People leaving prison or the foster care system, youth and young adults with nowhere to go, women and children fleeing domestic violence and those struggling with addiction or mental illness are especially vulnerable to homelessness -- and one problem can lead to another, the experts said.
While "sober housing" is good for many individuals, those in the throes of addiction are not helped by sleeping outside, and communities can bear the brunt, suggested Brad Gordon, executive director of the Berkshire Regional Housing Authority.
"You have to take people where they are," he said.
Clare Higgins, executive director of Community Action of Pioneer Valley, said that depressed wages, skyrocketing housing costs, transportation difficulties, lack of affordable child care and a constellation of other difficulties can prevent poor people from getting ahead, and easily push them back into crisis mode.
"There is no county in the U.S. where a person working a minimum-wage job can afford an apartment," Higgins said.
As for cost, McCafferty said a Massachusetts program that helps families keep their housing last year cost taxpayers an average of $3,134 per assisted family, while in contrast, the state spent $42,845 for each household in a family shelter program.
McCafferty said that over the past six years, some homelessness in Western Massachusetts has actually declined.
In the state's four western counties, chronic homelessness declined 38 percent since 2012, veteran homelessness declined by 24 percent, but family homelessness remained about the same.
McCafferty said Springfield has worked to identify individual homeless people through working with police, emergency room personnel and others. Those with the highest need are prioritized for help.
"We've pulled people straight from the street, straight from the riverbank into housing," she said, adding that with the delivery of services, more than 90 percent of such individuals have remained stable and housed.
McCafferty's report showed that on one night last January, nearly 2,900 people were homeless in Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin and Berkshire counties. Most of the homeless were families with children.
Schwartz spoke up for a "coordinated entry" system where people in crisis know where to go, and where leaders and institutions work together to solve the problem.
She encouraged lawmakers to make homelessness prevention and recovery a priority on Beacon Hill -- even if it means passing legislation eliminating the $25 fee for a Massachusetts ID.
Having an ID is essential for opening a bank account, cashing a check, procuring housing and employment and other basic tasks, she said.
Preventing homelessness is not just the job of social workers but the responsibility of police, mayors, hospitals, city councils, schools and state lawmakers, said Schwartz, because family instability affects municipal budgets, elementary school classrooms, law enforcement resources and more.
Schwartz encouraged local officials and ordinary people in the room to get involved and stay involved.
Other speakers included Greenfield Community College President Yves Salamon-Fernandez, who said 39 percent of the state's community college students experience housing insecurity. She said GCC has launched its own food bank for students, probably the first of its kind in the nation.
Jane Banks, Massachusetts undersecretary for housing and economic development, pledged to strengthen the state-local partnership.
"Homelessness is where people land when every other system has failed," said McCafferty.