WASHINGTON — The Housing First policy has been been the government’s primary response to homelessness for twenty years, with the goal of quickly providing the homeless with a house or apartment without preconditions. At a recent Financial Services hearing on Capitol Hill, Lexington Republican Andy Barr argued it's not working.

"This one size fits all approach to homelessness is not effective, and it has actually led to an increase in the number of unsheltered homeless since the US adopted Housing First as its official policy," Barr said in remarks at the hearing. 

"Low income families should be able to use Housing Choice vouchers and facilities that reject the failed Housing First model and I would argue the morally bankrupt Housing First model and embrace successful models, models that require services that actually address the underlying cause of homelessness. There is a reason why they are homeless. Let's address the reason...and actually help these people get back on their feet," he added.

In a report​ last year, the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, said that after more than two decades of the Housing First approach, “communities are not close to ending homelessness.” Many conservatives like Barr favor attaching preconditions to housing assistance, such as sobriety or mental health counseling – the idea being that personal problems are often the root cause of homelessness and need to be addressed.

"I, as a practitioner, I believe in the Housing First model. And so I found the congressman's remarks about it being morally bankrupt really troublesome as a constituent. But as someone who adheres to the Housing First model, I also recognize that there is a place for abstinence-only programming, if that's what works for some people. I would adhere to a both and approach," said Adrienne Bush, an advocate for the homeless in Kentucky where it’s estimated 4,011 people may be homeless on any given day.

"One of the things I like about the Housing First program is that it actually concentrates with the end goal in mind of permanent housing. And I think that is what ends homelessness," Bush said.

Reports from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Heritage Foundation offer additional context for the fundamental split in how both sides see solutions to homelessness.

The Trump administration began exploring alternatives to Housing First, but House Democrats are pushing to expand it – making housing vouchers available to more people without preconditions. Bush champions the policy, while Barr suggests federal funds should go to programs that also address addiction.

"If we had universal Housing Choice vouchers, we wouldn't be fighting over pennies and who gets what, for what shelter? Or, more importantly, trying to catch people after the housing assistance system has failed them," Bush said.

There are a host of bills before Congress to address homelessness including the Ending Homelessness Act and the Stable Families Act, but their pathway to become law is unclear.

Barr's office declined to comment for this story.