If anyone expects relief efforts for our homeless to yield speedy results, they are sadly mistaken.

Homelessness is a complex social problem that must be countered on multiple fronts. So it's unreasonable to expect that the opening of the Pai'olu Kaiaulu shelter in Wai'anae could, in just several months, magically erase the problem of residents pitching tents and claiming public beaches as a housing alternative.

It's going to take more time, and a sustained focus on the need for transitional housing and low-income rentals, to get a handle on the homeless crisis on O'ahu.

That much is becoming evident in Wai'anae, where occupancy rates rose slowly but are approaching capacity levels. The mission at this facility is not to offer emergency shelter, but to get residents connected to social programs addressing the root problems of their own lack of housing.

For many, it may be a need for substance-abuse rehabilitation; for others, access to appropriate healthcare; for others, job training. People can't achieve self-sufficiency without rigorous attention to these components.

The Pai'olu approach is to enforce rules aimed at keeping residents safe: Drug use can't be tolerated in a place that houses children and other vulnerable people who need a secure haven. The rules also aim to keep people on track: Those with a pattern of refusing treatment or classes may be denied privileges of attending programs or activities off-site.

While making the place more liveable should be a goal, nobody would be served by waiving the rules, lowering the bar of achievement and turning the place into a simple human warehouse.

State and county officials have a duty increasingly to deter illegal camping on beaches that should be shared by the public. But to accommodate them in places such as Pai'olu, the newly successful shelter residents need more "next-step" housing so they can break the cycle of homelessness and continue their transition back to the community. That's where they can make a real home.