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At a time when demand for homeless shelters is so high that people are being turned away, homeless advocates are proposing a way to move families into permanent homes.

Homeless families who stay in shelters for long periods of time look a lot different than individuals who are chronically homeless. While singles are likely to have substance abuse issues or mental illnesses, the families are less likely to have those problems, and are more likely to have jobs.

"In fact, as a group, the long-staying families who are homeless look to be the healthier of the families who are in the system."

Dennis Culhane is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who specializes in homelessness.

His research in Massachusetts shows these families made up a fifth of families in shelters, but they used up half the resources. They stayed an average of more than 14 months, at a cost of about $50,000 dollars.

"And what we concluded from this is that in fact, the policies and programs are generating these long stays."

Culhane argues that it makes more sense to move transitional programs out of shelters, and spend more money on direct aid for housing.

Connecticut's already providing some services for families who've left shelters. The Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness wants to build on this with a pilot project for up to 250 families. To help them get on their feet, they would have access to up to $6,000 a year to help with rent, childcare, or transportation.

The Coalition says it could use existing state and federal funds that are already dedicated to this population. But the proposal does rely on funding levels for homeless programs staying the same - something that is not at all certain as the state faces a deficit that exceeds $6 billion over the next two years.