Judson Malone is the executive director of Springboard Delaware. Stephen Metraux is a professor of public policy at the University of Delaware. This was adapted from Mr. Malone’s testimony to Sussex County Council on Tuesday, April 21.
Homelessness in Sussex County is not a Georgetown problem. It’s not a Seaford problem. It’s not a Rehoboth problem. It’s not a Millsboro problem. It is a countywide problem — yet it is not addressed at the county level.
To understand the scale, start with the numbers. Delaware’s most recent “point-in-time” count identified 167 unsheltered individuals statewide. But general agreement holds this figure to be a severe undercount. People living in wooded areas, in vehicles and in hidden locations are routinely missed. Apply a reasonable multiplier — seven times — and this would bring the actual unsheltered population to over 1,100 people statewide.
That aligns with the scale of the problem. Camps, once only found in cities, have sprung up in and around Sussex towns. Panhandling routinely occurs at gas stations and convenience stores. We see and engage with homeless people in downtown areas. Homelessness is spread across communities throughout Sussex County. Communities are feeling it.
Residents have legitimate concerns: public safety, neighborhood stability, quality of life. Those concerns are real. But, too often, the response is reactive. People experiencing homelessness are moved along, pushed out of sight, displaced from one location to another. We blame the problem on people from other counties and states, and we tell ourselves that creating services or housing attracts more homelessness.
But that is not what is happening here. Data clearly shows that the people we are talking about are already here. They are already living in woods, in cars and in unsafe and unstable conditions across this county. The question is not where they come from; they are predominantly from Sussex County. The question instead is, where can they go?
The reality is simple: We do not have enough places for people to go. Delaware has a statewide housing deficit numbering in the thousands of units, most severe at the very lowest income levels. And, too often, the very projects designed to address this urgent need are the ones that face the most resistance.
When housing solutions are blocked, the result is not fewer people experiencing homelessness. It’s more people staying unsheltered, longer. And, instead of solving homelessness, we circulate it. We manage it instead of creating pathways out.
That is not a failure of effort. It’s a failure of structure. Sussex County is not built to deliver social services. That will not change. But what the county can change are the conditions under which solutions can exist. What is missing is coordination — of land use, of services, of responsibility. Through its oversight of zoning, permitting and site approval, Sussex County determines whether transitional housing, interim housing and permanent supportive housing can be built. And, right now, that is the bottleneck.
That gap is already being recognized. When Sen. Brian Pettyjohn and Rep. Valerie Jones Giltner, both R-Georgetown, recently convened agencies and service providers around Georgetown, the conclusion was clear: There is no central coordination of services. When the county exercises its land use authority, it is not just a zoning decision. It is a system decision: whether to allow pathways out of homelessness to exist — or not. If Sussex County wants a different outcome, its land use authority must enable it.
But land alone doesn’t solve homelessness. Services do. And those resources — behavioral health, case management, housing support — are funded at the state level, which means Sussex County also has a role to play in advocacy.
Right now, the state budget is being shaped. This is the window where priorities are set. And, if Sussex County wants real solutions, it should be using its voice to push for sustained investment in homelessness services. Standing back is not neutral. Taking no action is a position.
A larger homeless population demands a larger response statewide. Springboard Delaware, Housing Alliance Delaware, Family Promise and others are advocating that $5 million be added to the state budget to address unsheltered homelessness. Sussex County should support this request.
The county does not have to operate programs. But it controls whether they can exist. And it can influence whether they are funded. The question is not whether Sussex County becomes something it’s not. The question is whether it fully uses the resources it already has — and chooses to lead where it can.
Homelessness in Sussex County is a countywide problem. And, right now, it is not being addressed that way. We can build a real homeless response system now — or deal with the consequences of not having one later.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
