WASHINGTON -- On a cold January morning in 2001, Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., who was then the new secretary of Housing and Urban Development, was headed to his office in his limo when he saw some homeless people huddled on the vents of the steam tunnels that heat federal buildings.

''Somebody ought to do something for them,'' Martinez said he told himself. ``And it dawned on me at that moment that it was me.''

So began the Bush administration's radical, liberal -- and successful -- national campaign against chronic homelessness.

''Housing first,'' it's called. That's to distinguish it from traditional programs that require longtime street people to undergo months of treatment and counseling before they're deemed ''housing ready.'' Instead, the Bush administration offers them rent-free apartments up front.

The ''housing first'' strategy gets much of the credit for a 30 percent decline in U.S. chronic homelessness from 2005 to 2007. The number fell from 176,000 to 124,000 people, according to the best available census of street people.

In Miami-Dade County, one of the places to implement the program, chronic homelessness has dropped, as well -- from 831 in 2005 to 201 in January 2008, according to the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust, which counts the county's homeless population twice a year and administers more than $40 million annually for homelessness programs.

In Broward County, the chronically homeless population dropped from 490 in 2005 to 222 in 2007, according to the county's Homeless Initiative Partnership, which counts the homeless population every other year and administers about $23 million annually for homelessness programs.

The chronically homeless, estimated to be between a fifth and a tenth of the total, are the hardest group of street people to help. A chronically homeless person is someone with a disabling condition who's been continuously homeless for a year or more or for four or more episodes in three years.

Juan Mena, 55, has lived 18 months in a Miami apartment paid for with grants from the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust. Mena lived on the streets for 15 years before he enrolled in the ''housing first'' program My Voice, managed by Citrus Health Network.

Mena said he is unable to work because of chronic back pain, the result of a gunshot wound. He receives physical therapy, psychological counseling and other social services at his apartment.

Before he enrolled in the homelessness assistance program, Mena said, ``I wanted to die. But thanks to this program, they've helped me and lifted me from where I was.''

POSITIVE RESULTS

If a ''housing first'' strategy seems absurdly generous, it's proved to be surprisingly successful for many of the more than 200 U.S. urban areas that, like South Florida, have adopted the approach.

The earliest adapters found that the added cost of homes and support services for the chronically homeless wasn't burdensome. In fact, it was largely or entirely offset by reduced demands on shelters, emergency rooms, mental hospitals, detox centers, jails and courts.

Instead of shuttling between them, chronically homeless people ''are staying housed and starting to look for employment,'' said Nan Roman, the president of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the leading advocates of the approach. ``A lot are reconnecting with their families.''

Just being off the street is healthy, said Sheila Crowley, the president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. ``Even if they continue to drink, they're eating better, sleeping better and interacting with people better.''

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