Among all the bills a household budget needs to cover, getting a roof over your head is right there at the top of the list. That's true for an individual family, and for the state collectively: Ending the homelessness crisis has to be one of Hawai'i's most pressing needs.

There will always be some who are chronically homeless, but for most people now seeking shelter, the object is to find a permanent residence with rents they can afford to pay.

For those working to chip away at this problem, that's where the primary focus should remain: on providing enough homes that can give people a sense of security, as well as shelter, even if their income is below average.

In a year when state funds are tight, the current proposal for a $20 million urban shelter is meant to solve a problem but it very well could create a bigger one. Committing that much money to a housing solution that's supposed to be temporary would siphon away resources from projects that could do more to heal the trauma of homelessness in the long run.

Some influential members of the Legislature are already aware of the danger. State Sen. Suzanne Chun Oakland, who chairs the Committee on Human Services, thinks spending that much on a shelter may communicate that the state is overly enamored of quick, showy fixes instead of maintaining the longer view of the issue.

Certainly, the imminent closure of the Next Step shelter in Kaka'ako compels a search for a new site and for the money to build it, but lawmakers should see that it's done for less than $20 million. Chun-Oakland said any new shelter should be designed to be converted into something that can help O'ahu meet more long-term needs, and she's right.

The bottom line is that many people who are served by shelters are working people unable to move on to permanent housing because there isn't enough that fits their paychecks.

Some inroads are being made, but it's a slow process. More than a year ago ground was broken on the state-financed Kahikolu 'Ohana Hale O Wai'anae, a mix of emergency, transitional and affordable rentals now slated to open in June.

Stanford Carr, a developer also set to deliver transitional housing in Ma'ili, is working on a high-rise in Kaka'ako aimed at making affordable units available closer to town. Along with the Kukui Gardens redevelopment project, it represents an approach favored by urban planners of targeting residents of mixed incomes in a single community by developing units at various price points.

Such enterprises need to be encouraged, and that encouragement will require some action by lawmakers this session.

The Rental Housing Trust Fund, which helps developers finance affordable projects, is fed by directing half the conveyance tax revenues there. The Legislature will need to extend that provision, or the allotment by law will be ratcheted back to 30 percent.

The Lingle administration is also seeking an infusion of bond money into the fund that is needed to keep up the pace of development. There are 558 affordable rental units "in the pipeline," said Dan Davidson, director of the state's Hawai'i Housing Finance and Development Corp., which promotes the private development of affordable housing through public subsidies.

The state can't afford to have the pipeline get clogged.

Homelessness is an almost impossibly complex problem. It may seem easy, or more satisfying, to build shelters rather than juggling the myriad elements of a lasting solution. Those range from streamlined permitting processes to help bring new units on line, economic development and training so that more people can increase their earning and pay the housing bills.

It's critical that those funding this battle against homelessness keep their eye on the prize of a housing system that truly accommodates the people who live in the Islands.