Six months after opening, the state-funded temporary homeless shelter in Kaka'ako has had limited success in placing residents in permanent housing, an obstacle facing the Lingle administration as it readies similar shelters on the Leeward Coast and hopes to end homelessness by 2015.

Since the Next Step shelter opened to some 300 people in May, workers have placed four families, three couples and 15 single people into permanent housing.

The slow pace is frustrating those operating the shelter, who are working on a strategy for the coming six months.

"What we're looking at and what we've already started discussing is what is our next step," said Laura E. Thielen, executive director of the Affordable Housing and Homeless Alliance, which oversees operations at the shelter. "Doing away with the shelter is not going to solve anything, but we need to look at some transitional housing. What (the shelter) will turn into is kind of up to debate."

The management contract for the shelter — housed in a 36,000-square-foot warehouse — ends March 31, and the governor has yet to say whether the shelter will remain open for a second year. It is full every night, officials said.

Russell Pang, a spokesman for Gov. Linda Lingle, said the governor is reviewing the progress at the shelter and is "assessing further needs at this point."

Thielen said she's confident the state won't close Next Step as long as homeless people are there. And for now, the shelter is still accepting people when space allows.

Among those still looking for a permanent home is Mary Chutin, a 26-year-old single mother who has lived at the shelter since May with a baby and a 1-year-old daughter.

She wants a permanent home desperately, but with little income and no job prospects, she has little hope for a place of her own.

"The shelter is good because we stay safe, but it's hard," Chutin said, bouncing her baby on her knee.

The Next Step shelter opened May 1 in response to the city's decision to close Ala Moana Beach Park nightly, forcing about 200 homeless people who slept there to go elsewhere. When the shelter opened, Lingle promised the homeless they would get help to move into permanent housing.

Bob Nakata, of Solidarity for the Homeless, said he's not surprised the shelter hasn't been able to place more families, given the dearth of affordable housing and social workers able to assist the homeless.

"They're faced with the problem of what's the next step, and some effort needs to be placed there," Nakata said. "Now the problem has really literally moved to the 'next step.'

"How do you move these people out of a temporary shelter?" he said, adding the difficulty in housing people is reason enough for state officials to think about transitional housing, which provides more services for the homeless.

LEEWARD SHELTERS

Kaulana Park, the state liaison charged with opening homeless shelters on the Leeward Coast, said the biggest difference between Next Step and a 300-bed temporary shelter planned for near Wai'anae Intermediate School is that residents will get intensive services during the day.

At Next Step, residents have to leave by 8:30 a.m. and are allowed to return at 5 p.m. daily.

Most of their interactions with social workers — for everything from housing to healthcare needs — are scheduled for after dinner, between 6:30 to 8 p.m. Residents also schedule appointments with service providers during the day, but some have difficulty with transportation.

Park said the shelter in Wai'anae will feature day classes for those who don't work, teaching everything from job training to budgeting. Residents will also see social workers during the day or sign up for state services. A similar program will be set up for 400 transitional apartments planned for Kalaeloa.

State officials are expected to meet with nonprofit social service providers on the Leeward Coast in the coming months to discuss how a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week shelter could operate.

Park said there will likely be a team of providers involved in the day-to-day operations at the shelter.

The other difference with the Wai'anae shelter is Park doesn't expect to immediately move homeless people from the emergency shelter to permanent housing: After a maximum 12-month stay at the emergency shelter, the next step for residents would likely be a transitional shelter.

"Ideally, the concept is to have these people go from emergencies to transitionals," Park said. "That plan hinges on the transitionals. We need to make sure those are moving, too."

Park said he knows of at least three privately run transitional shelters expected to open in Wai'anae over the next few years. The state-owned emergency shelter is forecast to stay open for five years.

Nakata, of Solidarity for the Homeless and Faith Action for Community Equity, said plans for Wai'anae are encouraging, but he wondered if it would be cheaper to place homeless residents in supportive housing right away, giving them an apartment and regular access to social services.

He also said affordable rental housing is the missing link in discussions about the homeless. Without creating more affordable units, he said, the homeless situation will only worsen.

NEXT STEP SUCCESSES

Chutin, who was sitting at Kaka'ako Waterfront Park on Monday, said she is just as homeless today as she was six months ago, when she moved into Next Step after being evicted from her Waipahu home.

But she is grateful for the shelter — for the bit of softness it provides her baby and sister.

"They helped children for school," she said. "They gave us healthcare."

Among the many challenges shelter staff have faced over the past six months, making a safe, engaging environment for kids has been one of their biggest. Since the shelter opened, about one-third of its residents have been children. Thirty-seven are under 3.

Seeing the need, volunteers quickly set up a play and computer room for the kids, made sure they had school supplies and stocked a free shelter store with small toys.

Martin McNulty, Next Step administrative assistant, said the outpouring of support for the children at the shelter is one of the many small ways the shelter has improved people's lives. "Everyone here may not find housing when it closes down, but they have been affected in so many positive ways," he said.

Every month, a company sponsors a birthday bash for children at the shelter. They participate in art programs and adults go to budgeting or parenting classes. "Even though they're in a shelter," said Rita Martin, project coordinator for Next Step, "we can create sweet memories, especially for the children."

At the gate to the shelter, which is unlocked at 5 p.m., Lloyd Saltiban, Michelle Henson and their two children stand waiting to get in on Monday afternoon. The family has been homeless for years, sleeping in tents on the beach or in the park. The couple's youngest is only 1; their oldest is 5.

They were used to changing diapers and readying bottles while on the streets, but when Next Step opened they decided it was time for a change. "You feel more safer in the shelter," Saltiban said, leaning against the fence with his hands in his pockets. "When it rains, you're not getting wet."

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.