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National Alliance To End Homelessness Source Book On Family Homelessness Problems and Solutions December 2004

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Page 1: National Alliance To End HomelessnessNATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS 1518 K STREET, NW SUITE 410, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 TELEPHONE 202-638-1526 FAX 202-638-4664 EMAIL naeh@naeh.org

National Alliance To End Homelessness

Source Book On

Family Homelessness

Problems and Solutions

December 2004

Page 2: National Alliance To End HomelessnessNATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS 1518 K STREET, NW SUITE 410, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 TELEPHONE 202-638-1526 FAX 202-638-4664 EMAIL naeh@naeh.org

Contents A Campaign to End Family Homelessness The Mayor’s Checklist The Essential Systems Needed to End Family Homelessness What You Should Know About Family Homelessness Tools to End Homelessness Among Families What State & Local TANF Agencies Can Do to End Family Homelessness What PHAs Can Do to End Family Homelessness What Child Welfare Agencies Can Do to End Family Homelessness

Family Unification Program Using TANF Block Grant Funds to House Homeless Families Strategies to End Homelessness Among Families

Housing First: A New Approach to Ending Homelessness Best Practices

Atlantic County Department of Families and Community Development Housing Support Center

HomeStart Beyond Shelter Community Care Grant Program Rapid Exit Program Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota Family Homelessness Prevention & Assistance Program Hennepin County Homelessness Prevention Programs Selected Research on Family Homelessness Presentation by Dennis Culhane “Family Homelessness: Where to From Here?” Section 8 Housing Subsidies: Effectively Ending Homelessness for Families

Research on Homelessness and Child Welfare Supplementary Information & Resources Selected Bibliography on Family Homelessness NAEH Web Resources on Family Homelessness Model Plan to End Family Homelessness

Uniting for Solutions Beyond Shelter: The Action Plan for New York City

Page 3: National Alliance To End HomelessnessNATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS 1518 K STREET, NW SUITE 410, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 TELEPHONE 202-638-1526 FAX 202-638-4664 EMAIL naeh@naeh.org

A Campaign to End Family Homelessness

Page 4: National Alliance To End HomelessnessNATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS 1518 K STREET, NW SUITE 410, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 TELEPHONE 202-638-1526 FAX 202-638-4664 EMAIL naeh@naeh.org

1518 K STREET, NW SUITE 410, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 TELEPHONE 202-638-1526 FAX 202-638-4664 EMAIL [email protected]

THE NATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS, INC.

Ending Family Homelessness A Campaign of the National Alliance to End Homelessness

The National Alliance to End Homelessness has put forward an ambitious, practical plan to end homelessness in ten years1. This plan has influenced the political dialogue and inspired concrete action in communities around the nation. As part of the overall goal of ending homelessness, the organization has undertaken A Campaign to End Family Homelessness. One of the major groups experiencing homelessness is families.

! Over the course of a year, half of the approximately 3 million people who become homeless are living together with their families.2

! 38 percent of people who become homeless in the course of a year are children.3 ! While families that become homeless have personal problems to overcome and

need service attention, these problems and needs are largely similar to those of poor, housed families.4

Family homelessness, while a significant national problem, is a solvable one. Every day, communities around the country end homelessness for families, one family at a time. CAMPAIGN GOAL: Every family will have a home. CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVES: Close the Front Door into Homelessness for Families. Prevent families from becoming homeless, both by stabilizing them in existing housing and by making sure that other safety net programs (such as welfare, mental health care and child protective services) take responsibility for housing stability. Ensure that every state and community has policies and programs that prevent families from becoming homeless.

Action Items: -Investigate and promote successful state and local prevention programs that avert eviction of families and help stabilize them in housing. -Work with state and federal policymakers to implement policies and procedures that ensure that TANF programs address housing and economic stability for families. -Work with state and federal policymakers to ensure that families involved in the child welfare system receive appropriate interventions to forestall homelessness.

Page 5: National Alliance To End HomelessnessNATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS 1518 K STREET, NW SUITE 410, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 TELEPHONE 202-638-1526 FAX 202-638-4664 EMAIL naeh@naeh.org

Open the Back Door out of Homelessness for Families. If families do become homeless, minimize the period of time they stay homeless by providing re-housing assistance and linkage to services while reducing recidivism. Ensure that every state and community has policies and programs that end homelessness for families as rapidly as possible.

Action Items: -Work with Congress to enact policies that significantly increase the production and provision of housing affordable to the lowest income families (15 percent of area median income and below). -Assist homeless programs and systems to improve and increase rapid re-housing services to families. -Assist homeless programs and systems to better link families to sustaining services after they are re-housed, and work with mainstream systems such as TANF, employment training, etc., to ensure that the services they provide support re-housed families. -Work with nonprofit and public sector partners to enhance the ability to respond to domestic violence and the ability to meet the housing needs of survivors.

Build a System that Can Help End Family Homelessness. Ensure that states and communities have in place the infrastructure that will end family homelessness.

Action Items -Help communities involve homeless and mainstream programs in developing plans that end family homelessness. -Work with jurisdictions to create management information systems that they can use to analyze: where homeless families come from; with what mainstream systems they interact; what interventions are most effective in helping them achieve stability in housing; and the cost to public systems of allowing them to become and remain homeless. -Work with partners to ensure that families have access to the services that are necessary for them to survive and thrive. -Work with partners to give every family access to opportunities that will allow them to contribute to the economy to the maximum extent possible, and to achieve economic security.

Low-income families have many difficulties and challenges – some internal and some external. To successfully address these issues requires that they be stably housed. Ending family homelessness will not solve all of the problems that very low-income families face, but it will give them a base from which to address these problems. 1See Ten Year Plan at www.endhomelessness.org. 2 Homeless Programs and the People They Serve: Findings of the National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients. Highlights. Interagency Council on the Homeless, December 1999. 3 Homeless Programs and the People they Serve, 1999. 4 Ellen Bassuk, MD., L.F. Weinreb., MD, J.C. Buckern, PhD, A. Browne, PhD., Amy Salomon, PhD., S. Bassuk. “The Characteristics and Needs of sheltered Homeless and Low-Income Housed Mothers.” The Journal of the American Medical Association. August 29, 1996, Vol. 276, pp. 640-646.

Page 6: National Alliance To End HomelessnessNATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS 1518 K STREET, NW SUITE 410, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 TELEPHONE 202-638-1526 FAX 202-638-4664 EMAIL naeh@naeh.org

The Mayor’s Checklist

Page 7: National Alliance To End HomelessnessNATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS 1518 K STREET, NW SUITE 410, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 TELEPHONE 202-638-1526 FAX 202-638-4664 EMAIL naeh@naeh.org

NATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS 1518 K STREET, NW SUITE 410, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 TELEPHONE 202-638-1526 FAX 202-638-4664 EMAIL [email protected]

The Mayor’s Checklist Step-by-Step Process for

Planning to End Homelessness ✔ CONSIDER creating and implementing a plan to end family

homelessness. ❏ CONVENE department or agency heads in a Task Force. Include child welfare,

housing, employment, community development, health, mental health, welfare and other relevant agencies.

❏ SELECT a chair (or co-chairs) who report directly to the Mayor. The chair can be

an agency or department head, or a civic leader. ❏ DEFINE the parameters of the problem, the goals, the resources currently

available to address the problem, and the gaps. ❏ LAY OUT how the goals are to be met over the coming years. ❏ OBTAIN input from and involve state and federal programs in the planning and

implementation. ❏ ASK for input and support from homeless, housing and service agencies and other

nonprofits (housing, health, etc.). Options include an advisory board, public hearings, participation in the task force, etc.

❏ IDENTIFY tools to educate and involve the public. ❏ CREATE a time line with specific steps, clear responsibilities and outcome

requirements for agencies and contractors. ❏ IMPLEMENT the plan.

Page 8: National Alliance To End HomelessnessNATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS 1518 K STREET, NW SUITE 410, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 TELEPHONE 202-638-1526 FAX 202-638-4664 EMAIL naeh@naeh.org

The Essential Systems Needed to End Family Homelessness

Page 9: National Alliance To End HomelessnessNATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS 1518 K STREET, NW SUITE 410, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 TELEPHONE 202-638-1526 FAX 202-638-4664 EMAIL naeh@naeh.org

NATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS 1518 K STREET, NW SUITE 410, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 TELEPHONE 202-638-1526 FAX 202-638-4664 EMAIL [email protected] WEB www.endhomelessness.org

NATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS

THE ESSENTIAL SYSTEMS NEEDED TO

END FAMILY HOMELESSNESS

The National Alliance to End Homelessness has created the following template as a guide to help communities create a system that will prevent and end family homelessness. The essentials are based on the Alliance's Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness, which draws from over twenty years of experience with communities around the country, as well as on the most current research on family homelessness. No essential is more important than any other. All require participation from every sector of the community. PLAN Your community has a set of strategies focused on ending family homelessness. A wide range of players (government programs serving low income families, elected officials, homeless providers, etc.) have made funding and implementation commitments to these strategies. DATA Your community has a homelessness management information system that can be utilized to assess how many families experience homelessness, what their needs are, how long families remain homeless, what program interventions are effective, and how families interact with mainstream systems of care such as child welfare and TANF. Your community has developed protocols for the collection and management of data that protect the safety and confidentiality of participants, including survivors of domestic violence. Your community has established benchmark data against which progress in ending family homelessness can be measured. EMERGENCY PREVENTION Your community has in place an emergency homelessness prevention program that includes rent/mortgage/utility assistance, case management, landlord/lender intervention, and other strategies to prevent families from being evicted and becoming homeless.

Page 10: National Alliance To End HomelessnessNATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS 1518 K STREET, NW SUITE 410, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 TELEPHONE 202-638-1526 FAX 202-638-4664 EMAIL naeh@naeh.org

NATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS 1518 K STREET, NW SUITE 410, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 TELEPHONE 202-638-1526 FAX 202-638-4664 EMAIL [email protected] WEB www.endhomelessness.org

SYSTEMS PREVENTION I. Mainstream programs that provide services to low-income people in your

community (including TANF, child welfare, housing and community development agencies as well as neighborhood-based social service organizations) consistently assess and respond to the housing needs of the people they serve.

II. There is placement in stable housing for all people exiting public institutions of care, including parents re-entering your community and seeking to reunify with their children following incarceration or treatment for a behavioral health problem , and families reunifying with children who have been placed in foster care.

MINIMIZE TIME SPENT IN HOMELESSNESS The shelter and transitional housing system in your community is organized to minimize both the length of time families remain homeless and the number of times they become homeless. For most families, this means a short stay in the shelter system with rapid placement in permanent, affordable housing. Outcome measures are used to monitor and promote the success of this effort. RAPID RE-HOUSING Your community has skilled housing search and housing placement services available to rapidly re-house all families who lose their housing or who are homeless and want permanent housing. SERVICES When families are re-housed, they have rapid access to funded services. Mainstream programs provide the bulk of these services. PERMANENT HOUSING

I. Your community is implementing a plan to fully address the permanent housing needs of extremely low-income families.

II. Your community has a sufficient supply of time-limited and permanent housing subsidies to help families experiencing homelessness access and sustain housing.

III. Your community has a sufficient supply of service-enhanced and/or permanent supportive housing for families who require additional supports in order to remain stably housed.

INCOME Your community helps families secure stable incomes to obtain housing by linking them with income support and employment assistance programs. It also connects them to opportunities that will help them increase their incomes over time after they have been re-housed.

Page 11: National Alliance To End HomelessnessNATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS 1518 K STREET, NW SUITE 410, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 TELEPHONE 202-638-1526 FAX 202-638-4664 EMAIL naeh@naeh.org

What You Should Know About Family Homelessness

Page 12: National Alliance To End HomelessnessNATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS 1518 K STREET, NW SUITE 410, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 TELEPHONE 202-638-1526 FAX 202-638-4664 EMAIL naeh@naeh.org

1518 K STREET, NW SUITE 410, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 TELEPHONE 202-638-1526 FAX 202-638-4664 EMAIL [email protected]

THE NATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS, INC.

What You Should Know About Family Homelessness

This year, as many as 3.5 million people– including 600,000 families and 1.35 million children—will experience homelessness. Children are at particularly high risk of homelessness. Up to one in ten poor children will experience homelessness over the course of a year and the risk is higher the younger the child. Family homelessness is problematic and costly, both for the families experiencing it and for society as a whole.

The good news is that homelessness can be solved. For most homeless families, the primary cause of homelessness is the gap between income and housing costs. Multiple studies demonstrate that most families who exit homelessness with a housing subsidy will remain housed. In most cases, a housing subsidy is a much more cost-effective intervention than supporting a family in homelessness. For a small number of families, supportive housing, service-enhanced housing, and/or transitional housing will be necessary to end their homelessness. Ending homelessness is a real possibility for every community.

How many families are homeless?

• About one percent of Americans, up to 3.5 million people, will experience homelessness over the course of a year. Of these, about half are members of homeless families. This represents about 600,000 families and 2 percent of all U.S. families. Up to ten percent of people in poverty will experience homelessness.1

• Children are at particularly high risk of homelessness. Up to 40 percent of the individuals experiencing homelessness each year are children.2 One in ten poor children will experience homelessness over the course of a year and the risk is highest the younger the child. One study indicates that 4.2 percent of infants born to low income parents and 16 percent of poor African American children under the age of five experience homelessness over the course of one year in large U.S. cities.3

• Homelessness is a relatively common experience for very low-income families. Eight percent of poor families in the U.S. experience homelessness over the course of a year. One study has found that 20 percent of adults who have received public assistance, including welfare benefits, have experienced homelessness at some point in their lives.

What are some characteristics of homeless families?

• Most homeless families have very similar characteristics to other poor families, with the major differences being that they have fewer economic, social, and housing resources. Compared to other poor families, homeless families tend to be poorer and have younger heads of household; they are more likely to come from an ethnic minority; and they are less likely to have a housing subsidy. However, they are not more likely than other poor families to have mental illness or to suffer from depression, and they tend to have similar levels of education to other poor families.4

• Recent analysis of HMIS data in New York City has indicated a preliminary typology of how families experience homelessness. Most families, 52 percent have a “transitional” period of homelessness, averaging 1.2 homeless episodes lasting an average of 59 days. Another large segment of families experience an “intermediate stay” in homelessness, with an average of 1.2 homeless episodes lasting an average of 211 days. Finally, 5 percent have “episodic” stays, averaging 3.3 homeless episodes lasting an average of 345 days.5

Page 13: National Alliance To End HomelessnessNATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS 1518 K STREET, NW SUITE 410, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 TELEPHONE 202-638-1526 FAX 202-638-4664 EMAIL naeh@naeh.org

• Families at greatest risk for prolonged or multiple homeless episodes were more likely than other families to have or be: African American, more children in household, older parent, more adults in household unit, previous episodes of homelessness and a mother with a history of a foster care placement as a child, limited work experience and limited education.6

Why are families homeless?

• The primary cause of homelessness is the lack of housing that is affordable to very low-income people. This is both because housing prices are very high and the incomes of the poorest Americans are very low.

• In every region of the country there are more households with incomes below 30 percent of the local area median income than rental units affordable to them.7

• Over 5 million low-income families pay half of their income for housing or live in severely substandard conditions.8

• In no jurisdiction in the United States does a minimum wage job provide enough income for a household to afford the rent for a modest apartment.9

• The problem of affordability is getting worse. In 1970, there were 300,000 more affordable housing units available than there were low-income households that needed to rent them.10 In 2001, there were 4.7 million more low-income households that needed housing than there were affordable housing units. As a result, there is more homelessness today than in earlier years.11

• A small proportion of homeless families who experience long stays in homelessness or multiple homeless episodes may have more serious and persistent issues that inhibit long-term housing stability.

What are the costs to homeless children and families?

• Homelessness can have serious negative effects on children. Homeless children are more likely than housed children to be in poor health, to experience developmental delays, to have mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, and to exhibit behavioral problems. Children who are homeless have lower academic achievement, exacerbated by frequent moves and psychological distress.12

• Homelessness increases the likelihood that families will separate or dissolve. Sometimes this happens because emergency shelters require the break up of families—accommodating older male youth in a separate facility, and/or requiring married couples to separate. Parents seeking stability for their children may house them temporarily with relatives. Rather than achieving stability, however, many will be merely shifted from home to home.

• Family homelessness is linked to involvement with the child welfare and foster care systems. In one large city, children born to women who experienced homelessness were four times more likely to be involved in the child welfare system before age five than other children in poor families and were also more likely to enter the foster care system.13

• A large proportion of children in foster care have a parent who is homeless or unstably housed. A GAO study found that 30 percent of children in the foster care system have a homeless or unstably housed parent.14 A survey of 195 children in foster care found that half of the children’s birth parents had a history of homelessness.15 Inadequate housing is a major contributing factor to the placement and retention of children in foster care. America’s affordable housing crisis compounds the struggles of child-welfare-involved families and the agencies that work to preserve and strengthen those families.

Page 14: National Alliance To End HomelessnessNATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS 1518 K STREET, NW SUITE 410, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 TELEPHONE 202-638-1526 FAX 202-638-4664 EMAIL naeh@naeh.org

What does family homelessness cost to society?

• The annual cost of sheltering families experiencing homelessness is estimated to be between $1.9 billion and $2.2 billion annually.

• Nationally, the average annual cost of placing the children of a homeless family in foster care is $47,608 while the average annual cost for a permanent housing subsidy and supportive services for a family of equal size is about $9,000.16

• Without access to a housing subsidy, some families remain homeless for a longer period of time. Ironically, the cost of a voucher that would prevent homelessness or reduce the length of time a family remains homeless is often less than the cost of providing shelter assistance.17

How can family homelessness be ended?

• Multiple studies indicate that the large majority of families with access to a housing subsidy can and will remain stably housed. This holds true even for families in which the parent has challenges such as a mental illness, substance abuse disorder, criminal record, and/or health problems.18

• More and more communities are adopting a Housing First approach to ending homelessness among families. Housing First means helping families return to housing as rapidly as possible with the provision of intensive home-based case management services following the return to housing to help families stabilize and access mainstream services to meet their long-term support needs. These communities are succeeding in reducing the length of time families remain homeless, often effectively reducing costs. The growing evidence that housing first strategies work is also stimulating new investments. Communities adopting a Housing First approach are also able to utilize their transitional housing resources more strategically to assist families that require more time.

• A small percentage of homeless families, who may experience multiple episodes of homelessness or are chronically homeless, may need housing coupled with on-going provision of services (supportive or service-enhanced housing) to remain stably housed.

1 Burt, M. (2002) America’s Homeless II: Populations and Services. Powerpoint Presentation. Washington, DC: Urban Institute. Available online at: http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/900344_AmericasHomelessII.pdf 2 Burt, (2002) 3 Culhane, D.P. & Metraux, S. (1999). One-year prevalence rates of public shelter utilization by race, sex, age and poverty status for New York City (1990, 1995) and Philadelphia (1995). Population Research and Policy Review, 18 (3). 4 "Family Homelessness: Where to From Here?" A presentation of research by Dr. Dennis Culhane, University of Pennsylvania Professor of Social Welfare Policy, delivered Thursday, October 14, 2004 to the National Alliance to End Homelessness Conference on Ending Family Homelessness. Available online at http://www.endhomelessness.org/back/FamilyHomelessness.pdf 5 "Family Homelessness: Where to From Here?" A presentation of research by Dr. Dennis Culhane, University of Pennsylvania Professor of Social Welfare Policy, delivered Thursday, October 14, 2004 to the National Alliance to End Homelessness Conference on Ending Family Homelessness. Available online at http://www.endhomelessness.org/back/FamilyHomelessness.pdf 6 "Family Homelessness: Where to From Here?" A presentation of research by Dr. Dennis Culhane, University of Pennsylvania Professor of Social Welfare Policy, delivered Thursday, October 14, 2004 to the National Alliance to End Homelessness Conference on Ending Family Homelessness. Available online at http://www.endhomelessness.org/back/FamilyHomelessness.pdf 7 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research. Trends in Worst Case Needs for Housing, 1978-1999: A report to Congress on Worst Case Housing Needs Plus Update

Page 15: National Alliance To End HomelessnessNATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS 1518 K STREET, NW SUITE 410, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 TELEPHONE 202-638-1526 FAX 202-638-4664 EMAIL naeh@naeh.org

on Worst Case Needs in 2001. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 8 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research. Trends in Worst Case Needs for Housing, 1978-1999: A report to Congress on Worst Case Housing Needs Plus Update on Worst Case Needs in 2001. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 9 National Low Income Housing Coalition (2003). Out of Reach 2003: America’s Housing Wage Climbs. Washington, DC: National Low Income Housing Coalition. 10 Daskal, J. (1998, June). In Search of Shelter: The Growing Shortage of Affordable Rental Housing. Washington DC: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. 11 Alexander, B. (2003, June). The State of the Nation’s Housing: 2003. Cambridge, MA: Joint Center for Housing Studies for Harvard University. 12 Buckner, J.C., Bassuk, E.L., Weinreb, L.F., and Brooks, M.G. (1999). Homelessness and its relationship to the mental health and behavior of low income school age children. Developmental Psychology 35(1): 246-257 13 Culhane, J. F., Webb, D., Grim, S. and Metraux, S. and Culhane, D. (2003). Prevalence of child welfare services involvement among homeless and low-income mothers: A five year birth cohort study. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 30(3) 14 GAO (1998). Foster Care: Agencies Face Challenges Security Stable Homes for Children of Substance Abusers. GAO/HEHS-98-182. Washington, DC: GPO. 15 Zlotnick, C., Kronstadt & Klee (1998) Foster care children and family homelessness. American Journal of Public Health, 88(9) 1368-1370. 16 White, R.A., Seth, C.M. (2003, March/April). No Place Like Home. Children’s Voice. Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America. 17 Office of Policy Development and Research, U.S. Department. of Housing and Urban Development, Evaluation of the Emergency Shelter Grants Program, Volume 1: Findings September 1994. The average cost of a shelter bed funded through the Emergency Shelter Grant cost is $8,087 annually, a cost slightly over $24,000 for a family of three and well beyond the cost of a housing subsidy. Transitional shelter programs are typically more family-friendly in physical design and have an average cost of $10,695 per person and $19,470 per household 18 Shinn, M., Weitzman, B. C., Stojanovic, D., Knickman, J. R. Jimenez, L. Duchon, L. and Krantz, D. H. (1998). Predictors of homelessness among families in New York City: From shelter request to housing stability. American Journal of Public Health, 88(11), 1651-1657. [Available online: http://www.nlihc.org/bookshelf/shinn.htm]; Friedman, D.H., Meschede, T. and Hayes, M. (2003). Surviving against the odds: Families’ journeys off welfare and out of homelessness. Cityscape: A journal of Policy Development and Research, 6(2), 187-206: Rog, D. J., Gilbert-Mongelli, A. M., and Lundy, E. (1998). The Family Unification Program: Final Evaluation Report. Washington, D. C.: CWLA Press; Rog, D. J. and Gutman, M. (1997). Homeless families program: A summary of key findings. In S. L. Isaacs & J. R. Knickman (Eds.) To improve health and health care 1997: The Robert W. Johnson Foundation Anthology. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. [Available online: http://www.rwjf.org/health/anthologies/1997chap10.htm]; Culhane, D. P. (1992). The quandaries of shelter reform: An appraisal of efforts to "manage" homelessness. Social Service Review, 66, 428-440; Stretch, J. J. & Krueger, L. W. (1992). Five year cohort study of homeless families: A joint policy research venture. Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, XIX(4), 73-88.

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Tools to End Homelessness Among Families

Page 17: National Alliance To End HomelessnessNATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS 1518 K STREET, NW SUITE 410, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 TELEPHONE 202-638-1526 FAX 202-638-4664 EMAIL naeh@naeh.org

1518 K STREET, NW SUITE 410, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 TELEPHONE 202-638-1526 FAX 202-638-4664 EMAIL [email protected]

THE NATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS, INC.

Tools to End Homelessness Among Families:

What State and Local TANF Agencies Can Do To End Family Homelessness Due to the high cost of housing, many of the families whom TANF agencies serve live in doubled up situations, pay unsustainably high percentages of their monthly income for rent, or are forced to live in unsafe or dilapidated housing. In each of these situations, the families’ housing is very precarious. Some families are able to sustain their housing over the long term, while others respond by moving frequently from one unstable housing situation to another or even becoming homeless. At a minimum, the constant threat of a disruption to housing stability leads to high levels of stress among all family members, which may impede the capacity of families to sustain a successful transition to work. In contrast, studies have demonstrated that families who have access to housing that is affordable to them are more likely to be successful under welfare reform. Among the most severely disadvantaged families whom TANF agencies serve are those who have turned to homeless programs to meet their housing needs. The inherent instability of family life in homeless shelters exacerbates all the other challenges that the family and the TANF programs must overcome to achieve greater self-sufficiency. According to the U.S. Conference of Mayors and shelter providers across the country, more and more families with children are seeking emergency shelter and spending longer periods of time in homelessness. Most of these families interact with the agencies in their communities that administer TANF and virtually all are income-eligible for TANF-funded services and supports. Housing instability and homelessness are not insurmountable issues outside the control of welfare administrators. On the contrary,

• TANF agencies can adopt protocols that ensure adequate assessment of housing needs among their clients and within their communities, facilitating earlier and likely more successful interventions;

• TANF agencies can respond by partnering with local public housing authorities, private market landlords, and housing counseling agencies to help maximize the existing affordable housing resources for their clients;

• TANF agencies can implement models to identify and promote program compliance among families with significant barriers to work, particularly those who are experiencing homelessness or precarious housing situations, so they do not become vulnerable to a housing crisis through the loss of benefits;

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• TANF agencies can evaluate the effectiveness of their existing Emergency Assistance

Programs and adopt program models designed to help families in housing crises retain their housing through financial assistance or simply through mediation and case management services; and

• TANF agencies can partner with local housing and homeless service providers to ensure appropriate supports are in place and eligible families are receiving services and assistance oriented to facilitate families’ rapid return to housing.

Steps that TANF agencies can take: Assess housing needs and resources of TANF recipients and leavers. Very-low-income young women with children are at particularly high risk of experiencing homelessness. Many of these young women are currently receiving TANF assistance. Equipped with a heightened capacity to assess the housing needs of clients, case managers in welfare offices can identify precarious housing situations, fully explore available options, and avert homelessness through early intervention. On-going housing stability should be a particular emphasis for case management plans for families transitioning off of TANF cash assistance as they become more reliant on income from earnings or face impending time limits. TANF Administrators can:

• Ensure that case managers assess the housing needs and resources of families.

Maximize existing community affordable housing resources for clients. Studies have indicated that families with access to housing that is affordable to them are more likely to be successful under welfare reform. However, many of the families reliant on TANF live in precarious housing situations, including homelessness, which threaten their capacity to successfully participate in welfare-to-work programs. Maximizing the use of affordable housing resources within the community on behalf of TANF recipients can have beneficial effects for families while increasing the likelihood that families can fully benefit from welfare-to-work activities. TANF Administrators can:

• Partner with local private and public housing agencies to develop greater internal expertise on affordable housing resources in the community and ensure that existing resources are maximized to address the housing needs of families on TANF;

• Seek agreements to co-locate housing and welfare workers to maximize effectiveness, e.g., allow housing assistance providers to conduct intakes, provide services, do trainings in welfare offices, etc.; and

• Collaborate with private sector landlord groups and housing counseling agencies to increase the housing opportunities available to very-low-income families with children on TANF.

Adopt procedures that minimize sanctions and promote program compliance. Among the families at greatest risk of homelessness and housing instability are those who have significant barriers to work, including those with identified and unidentified disabilities. An

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agency’s failure to identify, assess, or resolve a family’s barriers to employment increases the likelihood that the family will lose access to program assistance due to sanctions when the family does not, or cannot comply with program requirements. As a result, those with the greatest needs and vulnerability to sustained poverty will not receive the services that will help them achieve greater economic independence. TANF Administrators can:

• Identify and implement successful models that are being utilized to improve the identification and assessment of families who have significant barriers to employment;

• Identify and implement successful policies and procedures that states and communities utilize to help families become and remain compliant with program requirements and reduce the need to implement sanctions; and

• Implement efforts to provide outreach and assistance to families whom have been sanctioned, particularly those residing in homeless shelters, to help them become compliant with the TANF program so they can re-access benefits and needed services.

Develop and enhance tools and resources to prevent homelessness. Many of the agencies now administering TANF have played a historic role in responding to housing crises among their client population. This has been done through cooperation with local public housing authorities, utilization of Emergency Assistance (EA) programs, case management services, and expedited access to benefits. As states and communities grapple with the large public costs associated with providing emergency shelter and re-housing assistance to families, the efficiency of interventions that TANF agencies can provide becomes very appealing. TANF Administrators can:

• Evaluate their existing Emergency Assistance program or the appropriateness of developing one and assess how the programs can be designed to most effectively prevent homelessness, including examining whether assistance limits are appropriate given local housing costs and whether higher risk families can be served with access to intensive services; and

• Consider dedicating case management resources to developing specific expertise in homelessness prevention activities, including landlord mediation and facilitating access to homelessness prevention resources available in the community.

Provide outreach and services to families in shelters to help them move into permanent housing. Reports of increases in homelessness among families with children are likely to continue to generate concern from the public, the media, and government officials charged with enhancing low income families’ capacity for self-sufficiency. Because most very poor families that experience homelessness have been or are eligible to receive TANF benefits and assistance, Administrators are evaluating how their program can respond to the pressing needs of these TANF-eligible families as well as improve program performance.

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TANF Administrators can:

• Develop relationships with local homeless emergency shelter and transitional housing programs to enhance and coordinate service delivery;

• Make TANF-funded services and resources more accessible to help families experiencing homelessness transition back into permanent housing; and

• Develop new program strategies to minimize the length of time families remain homeless, e.g., dedicate case management services to help families exit shelters and stabilize in permanent housing, provide short-term emergency assistance housing subsidies coupled with intensive case management to help families transition out of homeless shelters more rapidly.

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Tools to End Homelessness Among Families:

What Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) Can Do To End Family Homelessness Local public housing authorities are charged with helping low income people access housing. The resources they manage can be maximized and targeted more effectively to help prevent and end homelessness among families. Innovative strategies are more likely to emerge when there is clear leadership from city officials that ending homelessness is both a commitment and a valued goal. Steps that Public Housing Authorities can take: Develop partnerships with other public agencies and nonprofit organizations to better serve families experiencing homelessness, improve voucher utilization rates, and reduce administrative cost burdens. In communities across the country, public housing authorities have partnered with local homeless service providers to help families exit homelessness and maximize the use of available housing subsidies. Supporting this movement toward utilizing housing subsidies to end homelessness is strong evidence that it works. Numerous studies have found that families who access a housing subsidy upon exiting homelessness can and will remain stably housed. The cost of providing a housing subsidy for a family is often a more cost-effective solution than supporting the family in homeless shelter programs. Thus, partnerships that maximize homeless families’ access and use of available subsidies are paramount in efforts to end homelessness.

• In Washington, the Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) developed a collaborative partnership with qualified local nonprofit organizations to maximize the utilization of housing vouchers in their community. SHA released a Request for Proposals (RFPs) to agencies serving individuals and families that met the local preferences for vouchers, including homeless families. Approved organizations would receive an allocation of vouchers, in exchange for agreeing to provide services to help their clients find housing, negotiate with landlords, and ensure appropriate paperwork and quality standards were met. Organizations providing case management services would also agree to provide services and address issues that might arise within the year following the client’s housing placement. The availability of on-going case management support has allowed SHA to provide vouchers to higher-risk families who would not have otherwise been approved for vouchers. Through the partnership, SHA was able to improve their voucher

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utilization rate, increase their capacity to serve previously underserved groups, and lessen their administration burden. Partnering non-profit organizations were able to help their clients access housing they would be able to sustain.1

• In Minnesota, the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (MPHA) dedicated

rental subsidies for the "It's All About the Kids” program." Under this program, MPHA provides a subsidy to families of children whom the public school system identifies as being "highly mobile," Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota (LSS) helps the families find housing and provides post-move case management services to ensure that they maintain that housing. The partnership helps:

o families obtain and maintain housing; o students in Minneapolis Public Schools improve attendance and test

scores; o MPHA meet its mission and administer the subsidies in an efficient

manner; and o the City expand its affordable housing count.

Because of the essential partners in this collaboration, and the very clear boundaries of each agency, this program and the families it serves have experienced great success.

• In Massachusetts, the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) partnered

with the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) to develop a transition-in-place pilot. Under the pilot, families experiencing homelessness move directly into an available public housing unit on a temporary basis. After a six month period of successful residency, the family is eligible to remain in the unit on a permanent basis. In its first year, the project housed 10 families and is expected to house 100 families in the current fiscal year. This pilot is one of a series of strategies being undertaken in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to shift their response to family homelessness to a more cost-effective approach that focuses on ending a family’s homeless episode.

Develop partnerships with social service agencies to help families at risk of homelessness retain their subsidized housing and avoid costly turnovers. Growing evidence indicates that some families exit public housing or lose their housing subsidy only to enter a homeless shelter system. Many of these exits could be prevented through early intervention. A partnership that helps families retain access to a housing subsidy and prevents a homeless episode can become an important tool to end family homelessness.

• In Kentucky, the Louisville Public Housing Authority partners with the Volunteers of America to provide emergency financial assistance and case management services to families in public housing who are at risk of eviction. The housing authority has found that investing financial resources to help families

1 The Seattle Public Housing Authority is not currently providing any vouchers to this program because they received no new allocation of housing subsidies.

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retain their housing makes fiscal sense because they are able to avoid the more burdensome costs that come with high turnover rates. The partnership helps VOA Kentucky make progress in achieving a goal of ending homelessness for at-risk families who would likely face significant challenges in finding alternative housing they could afford.

Adopt and sustain a commitment to deep targeting of housing subsidies. The current strain on the Section 8 housing program creates incentives to serve fewer very poor households, yet it is these families that face the most difficult housing markets. To make progress in ending homelessness, there needs to be a strong commitment to serving the families with the greatest needs and those who, without such assistance, are most likely to become and remain homeless. Lend housing expertise and technical assistance to local nonprofit organizations serving homeless families. Public housing authorities can lend housing expertise to homeless service providers and other non-profit social service agencies to help them develop effective strategies to end homelessness. Such expertise can include information on navigating the local housing market, understanding housing and eviction standards, landlord expectations, and utilizing available public housing resources.

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Tools to End Homelessness Among Families: What Child Welfare Agencies Can Do to End Family Homelessness Studies demonstrate a clear relationship between homelessness and child welfare involvement.1 Because homelessness and poor housing appear to be factors that contribute to or prolong the placement of children in foster care, child welfare agencies should have a vested interest in being part of the solution to family homelessness. This is particularly true because out-of-home placements incur high costs, both economically and in terms of family well-being. By responding to the pressing housing and service needs of families who are experiencing homelessness, child welfare agencies may be able to prevent foster care placements and minimize the length of time children remain in care. Steps that child welfare agencies can take: Partner with public housing agencies to maximize access to vouchers for families whose homelessness or poor housing presents a risk of separation or delayed reunification. Some public housing authorities (PHAs) and child welfare agencies jointly applied for, and received, Family Unification Program (FUP) Vouchers. These housing subsidies have enabled child welfare agencies and PHAs to expedite access to appropriate, affordable housing for families in two groups: those who are at risk of losing children due to poor housing conditions, and those for whom a parent’s lack of decent housing has delayed reunification with her children. FUP vouchers function the same as Housing Choice Vouchers: families pay a third of their income in rent, and the portable housing subsidy allows families to access housing in the private market. FUP vouchers can also be used to house youth exiting foster care for up to eighteen months. Under the FUP requirements, the child welfare agency agrees to provide services to the family (or youth), and the PHA provides and administers the voucher. An evaluation of the program has shown it to be an effective tool to end homelessness for families.2 Although there has been no new allocation of FUP vouchers in recent years, partnerships between public housing authorities and child welfare agencies are still possible. As housing subsidies or public housing units become available, PHAs working with child welfare agencies can prioritize those families who are at-risk of separation or whose reunification is delayed because of poor housing. The availability of child welfare staff to provide intensive

1 Courtney, M., McMurtry, S. L., Zinn, A. (2005). Predictors of reunification in a sample of urban out-of-home care cases. Paper to be presented at Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference: Celebrating a Decade of SSWR, January 16, 2005 in Miami, Florida. Abstract available online at: http://sswr.confex.com/sswr/2005/techprogram/S1145.HTM and Culhane, J. F., Webb, D., Grim, S. and Metraux, S. and Culhane, D. (2003). Prevalence of child welfare services involvement among homeless and low-income mothers: A five year birth cohort study. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 30(3) 2 Rog, D. J., Gilbert-Mongelli, A. M., and Lundy, E. (1998). The Family Unification Program: Final Evaluation Report. Washington, D. C.: CWLA Press.

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services and supports to the family can help make the housing placement successful as well as address the families’ service needs. Such services may help lower administrative costs as well as lead to more attractive tenants for a partnering PHA.

Develop the capacity of staff to address the housing needs of families who are at risk of separation or delayed reunification because of homelessness. Agencies are beginning to see the value of having staff who are specifically trained to identify and respond to the critical housing needs of families. Such staff may develop expertise in accessing public resources that can be utilized to provide housing assistance. They can also develop their own independent relationships with housing providers and landlords. Such investments can lead to quicker access to decent, affordable housing for families and help prevent out-of-home placements and lengthy stays in foster care. Explore ways to invest child welfare funds to stabilize families in existing housing or provide short-term rental subsidies that can be used to help families transition out of homelessness to prevent family separation or facilitate reunification. Recognizing the relationship between homelessness, inadequate housing, and higher rates of foster care placements, some states and localities have begun making upfront investments that stabilize families in housing as a more cost-effective and humane alternative to making out-of-home placements in times of family crisis. This approach has led to the use of child welfare funds to help address the housing needs of families who are at-risk of having their child placed in care. In Illinois, a consent decree from a lawsuit (Norman v. Suter) induced the State to respond to the housing needs of families. The consent decree prohibited the state child welfare agency from removing a child from, or refusing to return a child to, their parents because of poverty or homelessness. The State responded by establishing a Housing Advocacy Program and an Emergency Cash Assistance Program.3 The Housing Advocacy Program helps families obtain housing by, among other strategies, developing relationships with landlords, preparing families to meet with potential landlords, helping families apply for income assistance programs, negotiating with landlords on behalf of the families, and providing follow-up services to prevent future housing problems. The Emergency Cash Assistance Program funds can be used for security deposits, first month’s rent, utilities, furniture and other needs. Develop partnerships with public and private non-profit agencies that provide emergency and re-housing assistance to families at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness to promote a rapid response to a housing crisis. Many different public and private agencies have access to funds that can be used to prevent evictions or cover upfront housing costs for those who are in need of new housing (security deposits, utility assistance, and short-term rental assistance). In Atlantic City, New Jersey, the child welfare agency has a cooperative relationship with the local administrator of Emergency Assistance (EA) funds, in which the administrator has agreed to approve all referrals for assistance that the child welfare agency provides for families under its

3 A copy of the brochure that advertises services available to families under the Norman consent decree can be viewed online from the Illinois child welfare state agency at: http://www.state.il.us/DCFS/docs/Norman%20Brochure%202000.pdf

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supervision. The EA resources can be used to pay back rent or supply short-term rent assistance to help families relocate. Although lacking substantiating data, the EA administrator reports confidence that the city’s capacity to respond more flexibly to the pressing housing needs of at-risk families has prevented family separations. Offer voluntary services to strengthen family functioning and preserve families under inordinate stress for families who are experiencing or have recently experienced a homeless episode. Research demonstrates that families who have experienced homelessness have much higher rates of family separation than other low-income families.4 Some of these separations may be instigated by a parent who wants to protect her children from living in a shelter environment. By providing services to families experiencing homelessness on a voluntary basis, such as respite care and supportive services, child welfare agencies may enhance the likelihood that families remain intact and prevent unnecessary separations. Enhance capacity to intervene to strengthen and preserve families with other complex issues – including substance abuse disorders and mental health issues. Research clearly demonstrates that parental substance abuse is a factor in the placement and retention of children in the foster care system.5 By improving capacity to intervene with such families, child welfare agencies may prevent placements or minimize the length of time children will remain in care. In addition, some parents with substance abuse or mental health disorders are likely to be at great risk of prolonged housing instability and homelessness. Appropriate interventions with these parents can minimize the time they are homeless and thus strengthen their capacity to be a resource for their children, whether or not the family is quickly reunified. Recognize that children and youth exiting foster care are at heightened risk of future homelessness and respond accordingly. Studies have demonstrated high rates of homelessness among youth who have exited foster care placements.6 As a first step, state and local child welfare agencies can collect better data about the housing outcomes of the youth they have served. Such outcome data can help agencies plan and target interventions. Preparation for independent living can be strengthened by incorporating more information and resources to help youth access and sustain housing. Agencies can maximize resources such as Chafee Independent Living Program funds, federal housing program dollars, and state and local resources to help youth afford housing. Child welfare agencies can also provide direct assistance to help youth locate affordable housing, overcome barriers to housing, and offer assistance to navigate unanticipated expenses that may jeopardize their housing.

4 Culhane, J. F., Webb, D., Grim, S. and Metraux, S. and Culhane, D. (2003). Prevalence of child welfare services involvement among homeless and low-income mothers: A five year birth cohort study. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 30(3) 5 GAO (1998). Foster Care: Agencies Face Challenges Security Stable Homes for Children of Substance Abusers. GAO/HEHS-98-182. Washington, DC: GPO. 6 Courtney, M. and Piliavin, I. (1998). Foster youth transitions to adulthood: outcomes 12 to 18 months after leaving out-of-home care. Madison, Wi: University of Wisconsin.

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Tools to End Homelessness Among Families:

Family Unification Program (FUP) The Family Unification Program (FUP) provides housing vouchers to families in the child welfare system through local partnerships between public housing authorities and public child welfare agencies. FUP is designed to serve families at risk of losing their children to foster care or who are unable to reunite with children in out of home care primarily due to housing problems such as homelessness. These at-risk families receive HUD Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8) and the supportive services necessary to become or remain housed. The program was authorized under the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act of 1990 and first funded in 1992. Since its inception, the program has been expanded to provide time-limited housing choice vouchers to youth “aging out” of the foster care system. Program Intent Families with children now account for 41 percent of the homeless population.1 If children of these families enter the foster care system for any reason, they cannot be reunited with their families until the family has a place to live. Helping these families stabilize in housing is a more cost-effective and humane solution than allowing families to dissolve because of poor housing. It is the family-friendly approach. Furthermore, 20,000 children and youth leave foster care each year because they reach their eighteenth birthday. Young people, ages 18 to 21, who left foster care after the age of 16 are also eligible for FUP. A recent survey identified housing as one of the most critical needs these young people face when they leave foster care and face life on their own. Most of the vulnerable young people leaving foster care do not have families on whom to rely. Many are at risk for homelessness, unemployment, educational loss, early parenthood and dependence on public assistance.2 Program Beneficiaries As of 2004, HUD has funded 39,191 FUP Section 8 vouchers allowing more than 100,000 children and their families to obtain safe, decent, affordable housing. More than 90 percent of at-risk families in FUP remained together, and 85 percent were still housed after one year. Program Structure FUP requires intense inter-agency collaboration at the local level. It is administered through a partnership between public housing authorities, which award and administer the subsidies, and child welfare agencies, which deliver the services. Often, such partnerships include other community-based organizations, which provide additional services over a longer period of time. This collaboration makes more than $2 billion of HUD funding available to the child welfare system every year. More than 900 agencies participate in FUP nationally. Vouchers available to youth are somewhat different than those for families. First, while FUP

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vouchers for families may be renewed each year, FUP vouchers for youth may not extend beyond 18 months. Second, the agency that refers a young person to this program must provide aftercare to each youth who receives housing. This information has been provided by: The Child Welfare League of America 202-662-4282 www.cwla.org 1 “A Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness in America’s Cities 2002.” US Conference of Mayors. December 2002. At usmayors.org/uscm/hungersurvey/2002/onlinereport/HungerAndHomelessReport2002.pdf 2 “CWLA Applauds New Measure to Help Foster Teens with Housing.” Child Welfare League of America. 2000. At www.cwla.org/newsevents/news001031fth.htm.

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Tools to End Homelessness Among Families: Using TANF Block Grant Funds to House Homeless Families States can use the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant to provide emergency assistance – including a short-term housing subsidy – to eligible families for periods up to four months. Some states have utilized TANF block grant resources to fund and promote allowable activities that can help families remain housed or quickly return to permanent housing. TANF resources provided to Ohio’s Housing Trust Fund have been used by the Community Shelter Board in Columbus, Ohio to provide a three month housing subsidy to help eligible families with children transition out of homeless shelters and back into housing in the community. Once families move into housing, local United Way funds provide for intensive case management services that are designed to help the families stabilize in housing and increase their earnings from work. After stabilizing in employment, the families become fully responsible for the rental payments. The cost of the short-term housing subsidy and follow up case management is a fraction of the public cost of supporting the family in homeless shelters over the long term. The State of Minnesota utilized general state revenue and TANF block grant funds to initiate the Family Homelessness Prevention and Housing Assistance Funds (FHPAP). The program provides funds that counties and communities can use flexibly to help families at risk of homelessness remain housed, shorten the length of time families spend in homelessness, and prevent families from returning to homelessness. The State distributes the funds through a competitive grant process. The program requires that programs measure the outcomes of their interventions. Seeking to replicate the program’s success, the Illinois State Legislature established a Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program modeled after the Minnesota legislation. Philadelphia uses Homeless Assistance funds, Family Unification Program vouchers and TANF resources to fund services provided through the City’s Housing Support Center. The Center serves people leaving emergency shelters, transitional housing programs, foster care and behavioral health programs to ensure a successful transition into housing, preventing homelessness for some individuals and shortening stays in homelessness for others. The programs provides a year of case management services for families to help ensure continued housing stability and ensure families are maximizing use of other mainstream programs, such as welfare to work efforts, that will help them achieve long term self sufficiency.

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Strategies to End Homelessness Among Families

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THE NATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS, INC.

Housing First: A New Approach to Ending Homelessness for Families

Many communities are adopting a “Housing First” approach to ending homelessness for families. The approach is based on two very simple principles:

1. The best way to end homelessness is to help people move into permanent housing as quickly as possible.

2. Once in housing, formerly homeless people may require some level of services to help them stabilize, link them to long-term supports, and prevent a recurrence.

Of course, Housing First really isn’t that new. Some communities have been practicing it for years, with extraordinary results.

! The city of Philadelphia has used a Housing First approach to reduce the number of people in shelters.

! In 2002, the Pew Partnership for Civic Change recognized Beyond Shelter, a Housing First program in Los Angeles, as a “Solution for America.” They stated:

“The ‘Housing First’ program breaks the cycle of homelessness by placing some of the most vulnerable and at-risk homeless families in the nation immediately into permanent housing and then providing them with intensive support services.”

Following is a list of questions that are frequently asked about the Housing First approach.

What is a Housing First approach?

A Housing First approach consists of three components:

• Crisis intervention, emergency services, screening and needs assessment: Individuals and families who have become homeless have immediate, crisis needs that need to be accommodated, including the provision of emergency shelter. There should be an early screening of the challenges and resources that will affect a re-housing plan.

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• Permanent housing services: The provision of services to help families' access and sustain housing includes working with the client to identify affordable units, access housing subsidies, and negotiate leases. Clients may require assistance to overcome barriers, such as poor tenant history, credit history and discrimination based on ethnicity, gender, family make-up and income source. Providers may need to develop a roster of landlords willing to work with the program and engage in strategies to reduce disincentives to participate.

• Case management services: The provision of case management occurs (1) to ensure individuals and families have a source of income through employment and/or public benefits, and to identify service needs before the move into permanent housing; and (2) to work with families after the move into permanent housing to help solve problems that may arise that threaten the clients' tenancy including difficulties sustaining housing or interacting with the landlord and to connect families with community-based services to meet long term support/service needs.

Targeting: Is a Housing First approach appropriate for all people experiencing homelessness?

A Housing First approach that emphasizes a rapid return to permanent, independent housing is not believed to be appropriate for all people experiencing homelessness. Some may require longer stays in transitional housing before re-entering housing to cope with other issues such as domestic violence or substance abuse addiction. There is a small population of chronically homeless people who will require permanent supportive housing to exit homelessness. Finally, many individuals and families have the capacity to exit homelessness rapidly without any additional forms of assistance. Families with significant barriers to becoming re-housed have been the initial target population for Housing First services. Housing First programs have attempted to target those individuals and families who are most likely to remain in the homeless service system longer without such assistance. Such targeting efforts have resulted in greater emphasis on upfront housing assessments to determine the permanent housing strategy that best meets the individual or family's needs.

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Assessment: How do you know a family/individual is "ready" for housing?

All programs assess the individual or family's "readiness" for Housing First services. Obviously, having a source of income, which includes a welfare grant, or access to a housing subsidy is a primary and immediate concern. There must be some assurance the housing is financially affordable to the family or individual over the long term. This, of course, means that Housing First providers must be attentive to the availability and parameters (such as time limits) of publicly funded programs -- such as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and Section 8 housing vouchers. It is important to stress that Housing First providers do not believe housing should come after successful interventions to help an individual or family achieve self-sufficiency. Indeed, some believe it is not until a family is stabilized in their own permanent housing that real progress in meeting other family goals can be made. A Housing First approach incorporates transitional case management services following a placement in permanent housing that helps families stabilize in their housing and links them with the appropriate services in the community to meet their long-term support needs and goals. In some cases, a family assessment indicates to program providers that stays in transitional housing may be beneficial for the family. For example, some domestic violence providers believe transitional housing can provide vulnerable families the more intensive, on-site support required during the early days and months of separation from an abusive partner. Those with a recent history of drug/alcohol addiction may find stays in transitional housing programs enhance their recovery work. It is important to recognize, however, that for the majority of individuals and families experiencing homelessness, stays in transitional housing are not indicated. It is typically more costly to the community to prolong the period of time in which an individual or family remains homeless. Transitional housing should therefore be used purposively, when indicated by the needs of the family or individual. Finally, an essential consideration for those adopting a Housing First model is responding to the concerns of landlords. In many communities, it is very difficult to locate housing affordable to very low-income individuals and families. Housing First providers rely on extraordinary efforts to attract and maintain a roster of landlords willing to accept their clients -- particularly those with more "challenging" rental histories. Because Housing First providers are so dependent upon their reputation among landlords to build a pool of housing opportunities for their clients, they must have some confidence in the clients' capacity to be good tenants. Inevitably, Housing First providers will work with individuals or families whose rental histories may indicate a high level of "risk" both to the landlord and the reputation of the Housing First provider. Housing First innovators are responding to this challenge by working cooperatively with area landlords to explore how to reduce or share the risk burden.

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Housing Assistance: What kind of housing assistance is recommended and how can you help families find housing when there is NO affordable housing?

Housing assistance typically involves helping the individual/family identify appropriate housing options, negotiate with landlords, and intervening when problems develop following a housing placement that threatens the client's tenancy. Housing assistance may also include providing financial assistance for security deposits, rent guarantees and housing applications. Developing housing resources has become a necessary component of implementing a Housing First approach -- this may involve marketing the program to landlords to develop a base willing to work with the Housing First program. Developing housing resources might also include working closely with the local public housing authority to maximize the community's housing resources for clients. The increasing difficulty in locating affordable housing accessible to very low-income individuals and families does present a significant challenge for Housing First providers. It is even more challenging for the many individuals/families who exit homelessness without access to Housing First services. There is a need to continue to develop and refine strategies to locate and develop more housing opportunities in the community and through the use and expansion of publicly funded housing resources. Housing First innovators have found that landlords are often motivated to lease an apartment to a homeless individual or family when they know that there is a support system to provide assistance -- or to call if a problem arises.

Case Management: What is the focus of case management work and why should homeless assistance dollars pay for services to families and individuals who are no longer homeless?

Housing First approaches shifts the paradigm of service provision to homeless people. In the prevailing model, individuals and families often remain eligible for case management services and supports only as long as they continue to be homeless. The goal of such case management services is to stabilize the individual or family so they can enter housing. Housing First models attempt to significantly reduce the length of time people are homeless. Follow-up case management services are required to help the individual or family stabilize after they are housed. Reducing the length of time families are homeless presents great cost-savings to homeless programs, the cost of the follow-up case management a fraction of that required to meet the comprehensive needs of the family who remain homeless for a longer period of time. Individuals and families will require some immediate short-term case management while still in emergency shelters to resolve immediate, pending crises. The initial case management services that begin in the emergency shelter often focuses on addressing the

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barriers that prevent the individual/family from re-entering housing. Utilizing a Housing First approach, however, means not predicating provision of housing on completing case management services. Follow-up case management services should be provided to the individual or family for at least six months to one year and may vary in intensity depending on the need of the family. Case management is expected to be transitional, therefore, linking individuals and families with on-going need for supports to community-based services is a focus of case management services.

Role of transitional housing: Doesn't the Housing First approach underplay the value of transitional housing to accommodate the shortage of affordable housing and help families achieve real self-sufficiency?

The Alliance believes there is a role for transitional housing for individuals and families experiencing homelessness. The Alliance strongly believes transitional housing funded out of the homeless assistance funds should be used purposefully -- to achieve an end to homelessness. The Alliance is concerned, however, that transitional housing has become a "waiting area" for too many individuals/families whose only real re-housing need is an assurance of affordability. The consequence is that those individuals/families who might benefit from the supports a transitional housing program may provide -- for example, a family fleeing an abusive relationship or an individual working on his/her sobriety -- are diverted from the help they need because of the backlog of people seeking assistance. By providing the Housing First assistance to help those who can move rapidly out of homelessness, transitional housing can be utilized to serve those who would derive the greatest benefits from it.

Permanent supportive housing: Many homeless families appear to need on-going support, so shouldn't we just develop more permanent supportive housing programs for families?

While housing with supports attached may benefit a broad spectrum of individuals and families, the Alliance recognizes that sufficient funding is unlikely within the existing federal housing budget and absolutely impossible out of the limited homeless assistance dollars. Instead, the Alliance supports targeting existing Supportive Housing, Shelter Plus Care and SRO permanent supportive housing dollars to those with disabilities and experiencing chronic homelessness, and who without such assistance, would never escape homelessness. This may include some families. It is true that many of the individuals and families who have experienced homelessness might benefit from on-going supports -- and the goal of the transitional case management work following a housing placement is to put those supports in place. Studies and experience demonstrate that even those with multiple challenges can live independently

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in the community when they have access to supportive services delivered by mainstream programs.

Questions: What do we need to consider when developing a Housing First program?

Each community will need to assess its existing resources. A Housing First approach can be adopted by one agency or it can be accomplished through the collaboration of agencies each providing specialized services. The questions that need to be evaluated in each community are:

• Which individuals/families experiencing homelessness should be targeted for Housing First services?

• Who will be responsible for the referral and assessment of individuals/families?

• Who can provide individuals/families with housing assistance, including:

o Help overcoming barriers to accessing affordable housing including addressing poor credit, eviction histories, lack of move-in funds

o Locating subsidized or affordable units in the community, o Developing greater affordable housing resources by working with

landlords, public housing authorities, etc. o Serving as a resource to landlords following a housing placement for

problems/issues that may develop.

• Who will provide the case management services to the individual/family, including:

o Time-limited case management immediately after the move, o Linking individual/family with needed supports in the community, o Helping to resolve crises that may evolve following a housing placement.

• What funding resources are available?

• What outcome data elements should be captured?

For more information, go to the Housing First Network at http://www.naeh.org/networks/housingfirst/index.htm

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Best Practices

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!Best Practice – Shortening the Time People Spend Homeless

Atlantic County Department of Family and Community Development The Atlantic County Department of Family and Community Development (DFCD) has undertaken a series of new initiatives that are successfully making progress in ending homelessness among families. The initiatives include:

• Committing financial and staff resources to engage families residing in motels and provide assistance to help them re-enter permanent housing as soon as possible;

• Increasing payments to a local homeless shelter to fund a housing specialist; and

• Partnering with child welfare workers to address housing crises and prevent or minimize foster care placements.

Project Check-Out Project Check-Out evolved because of concerns regarding the high number of families who were residing in motels in the county for extensive periods of time. In 2003, approximately 75 families were living in motels in Atlantic County, New Jersey. DFCD frequently filled every room of several area motels with families experiencing homelessness. Like many states, New Jersey retained an Emergency Assistance (EA) Program under the state’s TANF plan. Typically, welfare agencies can use EA funds to help pay rent or utility arrears for families who are at risk of eviction, cover security deposits, and provide short-term rent assistance. Welfare offices have also used EA resource to subsidize the cost of providing shelter to homeless families and, when shelter space is not available, motel stays. Most of the families residing in Atlantic County motels in 2003 were receiving TANF cash assistance. DFCD also paid for their motel stays using EA resources. Most of the families were not receiving services or any assistance to help them find permanent housing. Concerned over the increasing length of stays in motels, the welfare agency crafted Project Check-Out to help families move out of motels. The diverse strategies adopted include:

• Developing an “evening snack program” to engage and foster relations with families residing in the motels;

• Relocating staff persons from the welfare office to work intensively with the families;

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• Ensuring quick access to EA resources for security deposits and other costs; and

• Linking families with New Jersey’s Temporary Rental Assistance Program (TRA) that provides a rent subsidy to welfare recipients for up to 12 months;

The first step in developing the program was to engage the families staying in motels and provide them with on-site case management on a daily basis. An evening snack program was instrumental in helping staff successfully outreach the families residing in motels. The program provides snacks to families in the motels, but more importantly, it provides a non-threatening avenue for the staff to get to know the families better, developing and strengthening the relationships that are needed to help the families move out of motels and into permanent housing. DFCD reassigned four staff persons who were working in the office to work in the field. The staff have small caseloads and are able to provide intensive and flexible case management services. While the families are residing in motels, the staff provides services there. The families receive assistance with making appointments, looking at apartments, and negotiating with landlords. Eventually the case management services follow the family into their new home. The staff’s goal is to address every barrier the family presents and help them resolve barriers immediately. For example, if the head of the household needs a document from another agency to make progress in re-accessing permanent housing, the staff transports him/her that day. The staff can use EA resources to pay for security deposits, moving expenses, furniture, clothing and supplemental food and other initial expenses that might otherwise prevent families from re-accessing housing. Another tool at their disposal is a state-financed rental assistance program, the Temporary Rental Assistance Program (TRA). New Jersey commits TANF resources to the TRA program. Families on TANF cash assistance can use the rental subsidies for a period of 12 months. TRA pays a maximum of $700 a month. TRA complements the EA resources and helps ensure that families who move back into housing will be able to meet their rental payments. In 2004, only four families are residing in motels in Atlantic County on any given night. Over the course of an 18-month time period, the agency moved 254 families from motels to permanent housing. Six of the 254 families served are known to have had a subsequent homeless episode, due to substance abuse. Fund a Housing Specialist The Atlantic County Department of Family and Community Development uses EA resources to provide a per diem reimbursement to a local shelter that serves families experiencing homelessness. DFCD increased the per diem rate to allow the shelter to fund an additional staff position. The new staff person focuses on outreaching and building relationships with local landlords. The effort to develop relationships with landlords has increased the shelter’s and the welfare office’s capacity to move families out of homelessness more rapidly and into private rental housing stock.

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Partner with Child Welfare Services DFCD is now undertaking a third initiative to prevent homelessness and foster care placements in Atlantic County. Under this new initiative, DFCD approves families receiving child welfare services for EA services to help address pressing housing needs. This referral occurs when a child welfare worker identifies a family whose poor housing may lead to a foster care placement or delay children’s return to the family from foster care. DFCD staff meets regularly with the N.J. Division of Youth & Family Services (DYFS) and case-conferences all open child abuse/neglect cases. The welfare office prioritizes all open DYFS cases and provides as much financial support as regulations allow to eliminate as many financial barriers as possible to stabilize families. Summary Together, these three initiatives substantially increased the use of EA resources to address the pressing permanent housing needs of families. It appears that the upfront investment is likely to yield cost savings to the community by preventing more costly lengthy shelter or motel stays and/or preventing or reducing stays in foster care when the most pressing concern is housing. For more information: John McLernon, MSW, LSW Director Community Relations and Social Services Atlantic County Department of Family and Community Development 1333 Atlantic Avenue Atlantic City, NJ 08401 Telephone: (609) 442-4504 Email: [email protected]

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!Best Practice – Housing First

Housing Support Center City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Philadelphia Housing Support Center is the latest innovation in a series of initiatives from a city that has successfully reduced homelessness in recent years. The Center coordinates housing and service resources from various City social service departments through one central gateway. Pulling together resources such as Family Unification Program Vouchers, TANF dollars, and other mainstream and homeless program funds, the Center serves as a "one-stop shop" for housing resources -- providing both prevention and back-door mechanisms to decrease the actual number of people experiencing homelessness while helping to reduce the length of time others have to remain homeless.

Target Population The Center serves mainly families experiencing or at risk of homelessness. In the last six months of 2002, the Center began serving people leaving emergency shelters, transitional housing programs, recovery houses, behavioral health programs, foster care, and the corrections system. The Center also accommodates people who do not fit neatly into other housing program models, such as those facing barriers to being housed by public housing authorities due to former criminal convictions or substantial debt.

Program Description The Philadelphia Housing Support Center incorporates five main strategies that underpin the City's Adult Services:

1. Focus on prevention and diversion 2. Shorten the average length of stay in shelter 3. Work on the back door (develop and access more permanent housing) 4. Increase connections to mainstream services 5. Use a housing first approach

The Center began as a joint venture between the Department of Human Services (the county's child welfare agency) and Adult Services to combine efforts and coordinate the activities of two separate housing programs, the Good Neighbors Make Good Neighborhoods (GNMGN) program and the Family Unification Program. GNMGN collaborates with the local housing authority to provide families with Housing Choice Vouchers so that they can move out of shelters and various temporary housing programs into permanent housing. The program promises up to a year of case management as well as other supports to help families transition into their new communities. In the months following its inception, the Philadelphia Housing Support Center attracted resources and staff from other social service systems as well. The increased coordination and management of the various service resources through one central gateway will serve to strengthen the links between the shelter system and permanent housing--most critically by providing access to Housing Choice Vouchers--and increase the capacity for interventions to prevent further homelessness.

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Furthermore, by pulling together the different programs, the Center will become better able to address the gaps through which people sometimes fall when they did not fit into any of the available programs. The Emergency Relocation Program was created for just such a purpose. The Center identifies people who did not fit into any of the program models, move them into an apartment, provide them with intensive case management, and help them overcome the barriers that would prevent them from getting into relevant programs.

Source of Funding For the permanent housing, the Center relies primarily on Housing Choice Vouchers through the local public housing authority. Three factors improve the success of the Center in utilizing these resources: • The local housing authority has one of the first "Moving-to-Work" designations from HUD. • The local housing authority has the ability to create priorities through an administrative

process. • Families experiencing homelessness qualify under the definition of the Family Unification

Program to receive such Housing Choice Vouchers For services accompanying permanent housing placement, the Center will utilize a mix of resources, including Supportive Housing Program (SHP) dollars, some Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) funds, in addition to a variety of other mainstream sources. Further service resources have been provided by the Department of Public Health. The Center has developed a strong relationship with the department through the creation of a lead paint relocation program, in which home-owning families temporarily move out of their homes while the Health Department abates the lead. This new program has enabled the Health Department to conduct abatements at a rate 3-4 times faster than if the families remained in their units. While the Center focuses on the temporary relocation, it would also provide necessary supportive services to these families before and after they return to their housing in order to ensure the safety and well being of the children. The Center itself, which consists of approximately 30 staff members, is funded through existing resources allocated by each of the departments that participate in the joint venture. Outcome Data In its first year, the Center has reduced the length of shelter stay and provided permanent housing with services for 500-600 families through the Good Neighbors Program and the Family Unification Program as well as for an additional 100-200 families through other programs. For More Information, Contact Robert Hess Deputy Managing Director for Special Needs Housing Managing Director's Office / Adult Services 1321 Arch Street, 5th Floor Philadelphia PA 19107 Tel: 215-686-7176 Fax: 215-686-7126 [email protected]

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!Best Practice – Housing First

HomeStart Boston, Massachusetts

History and Background In 1994, the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance (MHSA) developed a project to meet the housing needs of people experiencing homelessness. MHSA recognized that case managers in homeless service agencies were becoming increasingly specialized to deal with the multiple challenges many of their clients presented. When programs were taxed with high demands and high levels of complex needs, it was the housing search services that were often lost. HomeStart was formed to perform this function. Initially, it relied on one grant that funded three staff positions and was housed under MHSA. By 1999, HomeStart was an independent agency consisting of 22 employees and an annual budget of $1 million. It currently employs 28 people with an annual budget of $1.6 million. Target Population HomeStart receives referrals from 50 different agencies in the Greater Boston area. Homeless individuals or families who are referred must have some source of income, such as SSI/SSDI, employment or TANF and must be able to sustain their housing. Program Overview HomeStart's focus is to move individuals into housing and provide the stabilization support services necessary to help them retain their homes. Each of the housing search staff work with several referring agencies, allowing for close working relationships. A housing search staff advocate meets with a client while they remain in the shelter to explore the client's housing needs, potential resources and barriers. The housing staff will work with the client to access and maximize existing benefits. If they are denied housing services, an advocate will help them through the appeal process. The housing search staff is responsible for locating appropriate housing options for the clients they work with. When an individual or family is housed, they are transferred to a stabilization staff person. Stabilization services are usually voluntary and are focused on providing support to help the family or individual sustain their housing. Services may include help accessing programs in the community, such as mental health services, and dealing with life skills issues such as budgeting. Stabilization advocates work with clients to help them deal with any landlord/tenant conflicts that may arise. Staff members support individuals and families by meeting them in their homes as well as in their communities. To facilitate the successful housing of clients, HomeStart staff members rely on the resources known as their "toolbox." The toolbox includes an array of resources they have

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developed or secured including housing subsidies and financial assistance for security deposit and first month's rent. Source of Funding The agency has 28 staff and an annual budget of $1.6 million. The majority (80-85%) of their funding is through McKinney-Vento grants. HomeStart also has contracts with state agencies to help house individuals who are exiting state-funded programs, partly because of the state's commitment to improving housing outcomes for those discharged from state-funded programs who are vulnerable to homelessness. Service Utilization/Data • Since 1994, the project has moved more than 1,400 people into permanent housing. • Approximately 65% of the households served by HomeStart are single adults and

35% are families. • About 35% - 40% of individuals and families that find permanent housing also

receive stabilization services. • 81% of individuals placed into housing through HomeStart are still housed one year

later. • In 2001, 218 individuals moved into housing with HomeStart assistance:

o 72% moved into subsidized housing; o 28% moved into unsubsidized housing; o The average length of time to find housing was 6.7 months; o 63% received financial assistance such as first or last month's rent or security

deposits. Impressions of Administrators/Advocates The program is committed to specializing on the "back door" i.e. finding and maintaining housing for those who are homeless. Expanding housing search and stabilization services within existing homeless service centers was considered a less effective approach because staff would inevitably be pulled from housing efforts to meet the daily demands of residential programs. Separate funding streams and dedicated staff essentially produce a "firewall" that allows HomeStart staff to focus solely on re-housing. The absence of a separate dedicated homeless prevention program has been problematic. HomeStart staff has received a number of inquiries from individuals and families who would more appropriately be served with prevention assistance. This has a demoralizing effect on the staff, who would like to be able to help people before they become homeless. It also signals a gap in the overall safety net. However, HomeStart has just received private funding to begin a small pilot prevention program. Stabilization services that are essential to the success of the program include home visiting and budget management. If resources were available, staff members believe that having a mental health specialist or psychiatrist on staff would be beneficial to clients.

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For More Information, Contact Linda Wood-Boyle Executive Director HomeStart Inc. 105 Chauncy Street Boston, MA 02111 [email protected] 617-542-0338 617-542-1454 (fax) http://www.homestart.org

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!Best Practice – Housing First

Beyond Shelter, Inc. Housing First Program for Homeless Families

Los Angeles, California Beyond Shelter was founded in 1988 in response to increasing numbers of homeless families in Los Angeles and the need for a more comprehensive approach to serving them. Today, the mission of Beyond Shelter is to combat chronic poverty, welfare dependency and homelessness among families with children, through the provision of housing and social services and the promotion of systemic change. The agency's programs in Los Angeles County serve as a laboratory for the development of cutting-edge methodologies to help guide the development of both social policy and service delivery mechanisms nationwide. Beyond Shelter, Inc. has been the national leader in the development and promotion of "housing first" strategies to re-house families experiencing homelessness. Beyond Shelter provides technical assistance nationwide for communities interested in adopting a housing first approach, holds annual training conferences, and runs their own housing first program in Los Angeles, California. Target Population Beyond Shelter's Housing First program serves homeless families with children and has been set up to serve the emergency shelter/transitional housing continuum of a large, metropolitan city. The Housing First Program methodology relies primarily upon the existing homeless services system in Los Angeles for outreach, crisis intervention and short-term stabilization of homeless families. More than 50 agencies throughout the Los Angeles area -- shelters, transitional housing programs, residential drug treatment programs, domestic violence programs, social service agencies, and homeless access centers -- refer homeless families to Beyond Shelter for the "next step", after they have provided initial emergency or interim services. The majority of families served each year are families facing multiple challenges that have unstable living patterns and/or histories of homelessness. Approximately 90% of 400 homeless families enrolled each year are headed by a single parent. Approximately 50% of mothers are in recovery and approximately 40% became homeless due to domestic violence. The average age of parents is 30 years old, and the average number of children is 4. Approximately 20% of mothers are pregnant upon enrollment. Approximately 25% of families have histories of child maltreatment and/or neglect. Mothers in recovery have often had children removed to foster care before their mothers sought treatment. Beyond Shelter requires that an adult family member with a history of substance abuse have at least six months in a recovery program (post-treatment, post-detox) before

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moving into permanent housing. Similarly, Beyond Shelter requires that families who have experienced domestic violence have at least four months of separation from their abusive partner. Program Description Homeless families are referred to the "Housing First" Program for (1) assistance in moving into permanent, rental housing in residential neighborhoods, and then (2) the provision of home-based case management support for six months after the move, to help them transition to stability. The overriding goal of the program is to return homeless families to permanent housing as rapidly as possible. Referred families meet with Intake Workers at the Beyond Shelter offices for screening and needs assessments. Upon enrollment, the family and Beyond Shelter staff work together to develop an individualized Family Action Plan. This plan identifies the family's housing and social service needs and the steps necessary to assist the family in moving towards stability in permanent housing. Beyond Shelter Housing Relocation staff then assists families in relocating to affordable rental housing in residential neighborhoods throughout Los Angeles County, usually within three months of enrollment. Families are assisted in negotiating leases, accessing move-in funds, and overcoming the barriers of poor credit history, prior evictions, and discrimination based on ethnicity, family size, or income source. Through targeted Section 8 programs, approximately 75% are assisted in obtaining a Section 8 subsidy. Beyond Shelter builds and maintains close working relationships with private sector building managers, non-profit affordable housing providers, and local, state and federal housing assistance programs. The fact that there exists a support system for their tenants motivates many private landlords to participate in the program. Each family is also assigned a case manager, who provides individualized case management support as the family carries out its Family Action Plan. This support begins during the housing relocation phase and continues with home-based case management after the family has moved into their new home. Case management services are time-limited and transitional. The primary function of case management is assessing the needs of the family, developing a plan of action to attain identified objectives, linking families to community resources and advocating on their behalf, and monitoring the progress of families. Families are supported as they reorient to stable living patterns, and are provided assistance with homemaking, nutrition, parenting education, money management, child care, job training, job placement, and job retention. After initial, intensive contact, the focus is on linking families to mainstream programs and resources to meet their on-going and/or special needs. The "housing first" methodology provides a critical link between the emergency shelter/transitional housing systems and the community-based and governmental services and resources that are often fragmented, difficult to access or simply not available to homeless families trying to attain stability and independence in permanent housing.

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The program methodology facilitates the move into permanent housing for homeless families and then engages the newly-housed family in a progressive set of individualized case management activities and interventions for a limited period of time, as they move toward improved social and economic well-being. The "housing first" methodology is premised on the belief that multi-problem and at risk families are often more responsive to interventions and support after they are in their own housing, rather than still living in housing programs that are temporary or transitional. Source of funding Original funding for the Housing First program came primarily a demonstration program at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Primary funding has been provided since 1996 through the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), particularly the Supportive Housing Program (SHP), supplemented by a variety of local, state, and federal contracts and private foundation funding. Available Data From 1989-2001, the program enrolled over 2,500 homeless families, with approximately 2,200 relocated to, and stabilized in, permanent housing. The Housing First Program has been tested and refined through several national demonstration projects implemented by Beyond Shelter for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Better Homes Fund. In 1990-1993, Beyond Shelter designed and implemented the Los Angeles Early Intervention Demonstration Project for Recently Homeless and At-Risk Families (in collaboration with Para Los Ninos), with an evaluation by a UCLA researcher. In 1992-1995, the home-visitation model was expanded through the HHS Family Support Center Demonstration Project, conducted over four years for over 250 homeless families. As part of the Pew Partnership initiative, “Wanted: Solutions for America,” a two-year evaluation of Beyond Shelter's Housing First program has recently been conducted by researchers from the University of Southern California, coordinated by Rutgers University. Data on 185 families were collected from April 1, 2000 to October 1, 2001, based on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) Program Logic Model for Homeless Families. More than 90% of the mothers who graduated the program at the end of six months in permanent housing had achieved the short, intermediate, and long-term goals identified in the SAMHSA Logic Model and over 80% of the children's goals were achieved. Over 80% of adults were attached to the labor force through employment, and others were enrolled in job training programs. Only 2.3% of those who entered the program with reported substance abuse problems had relapsed and .4 % of domestic violence survivors had returned to a dangerous relationship.

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Recognition for the Housing First Program for Homeless Families includes the following: • One of "25 US Best Practices,” representing the United States at the United Nations

Conference, Habitat II, held in Istanbul, Turkey in 1996 • One of "100 International Best Practices," chosen by The United Nations Centre for

Human Settlements (Nairobi, Kenya) in 1996 for dissemination worldwide. • Non-Profit Sector Award, National Alliance to End Homelessness, 1996 For More Information, Contact: Tanya Tull President and CEO Beyond Shelter 520 S. Virgil Avenue, Suite 200 Los Angeles, CA 90020 Phone: (213) 252-0772 Fax: (213) 480-0846 Email: [email protected]

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!Best Practice – Housing First

Community Care Grant Program Washington, DC

In response to increasing shelter requests by families, the District of Columbia developed a cost-effective, humane, and innovative response to help those at imminent risk of homelessness: providing substantial resources at the front-end of the homeless services continuum to help families rapidly obtain permanent housing without ever entering a homeless shelter program. The program is a collaborative effort of the Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness and federally funded Family Support Centers. The staff of seven community-based Family Support Centers helps families to access housing and offers transitional, intensive case management services to ensure they stabilize in that housing. The Community Partnership provides funds to support the transitional case management and flexible, time-limited resources to help defray the cost of housing. The program provides the services and support families require while diverting many from shelter stays. The Community Care Grant program costs an average of $7,000 per family served and provides up to a year's support. In contrast, the average stay of six months in a family shelter costs $11,439.

History and Background By the end of 1997, the city had 350 families on their waiting list for emergency shelter. Once in shelter, families spent an average of 4-6 months before either moving on with an unknown outcome or being placed in permanent housing. There was concern that providing additional shelter units would provide little relief. In addition, with the onset of welfare reform in the city and the imposition of a two-year time limit for cash benefits, some argued that families could ill afford extended stays in shelters. The envisioned solution was to maximize efforts to help prevent families from needing to enter the shelter system altogether and to intervene at the earliest moment to help people achieve the goal of self-sufficiency. The strategy was seen as complementary to welfare reform and one that would also serve the goals of using existing resources, such as other public and community based providers, and maximizing housing opportunities in the private rental market. Thus, the demonstration project was approved to use state TANF resources:

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We have a greater need than ever to help families facing homelessness to get the necessary services that prevent their having to enter a shelter system and that move them immediately toward the objective of permanent housing and the ability to support themselves. We must find ways to do this in the private unsubsidized housing market. We must utilize a new and different set of community institutions and family support systems than we have yet used to address homelessness. We must invest the limited funds we have in a way that leverages and builds the resources of communities and families. And we must make certain that everything we do is coordinated with, and contributes toward meeting, the self-sufficiency requirements of the new welfare system.1

Program Structure The city's shelter system for families has a central intake site, where each receives a preliminary assessment. The majority of families seen at central intake are not immediately placed into shelter unless their situation is dire; instead they are placed on a wait list. Following the preliminary assessment, families may be offered the opportunity to participate in the city's Community Care Grant program as an alternative to entering the shelter program.

Eligibility The program serves families that are at imminent risk of homelessness. This includes families who are doubled up and those with a pending eviction. The adult family member(s) must be employed or be able to obtain employment. They are also assessed as to whether they are able to become and remain permanently housed and self-sufficient in a short period of time. Eligibility for the program is determined within 30 days. Before officially entering the program, each family receives an in-depth assessment and a specially developed case plan. The family must agree to work with the Family Support Center and make progress on the family's case plan. Program Services Accepted families can elect to work with one of seven Family Support Centers located throughout the city. It is recommended that the family work with a program near their community of origin or the community in which the family intends to reside. A grant of up to $7,000 is provided to the Family Support Center for each family that is referred by the Community Partnership. The Family Support Center uses $4,000 to finance the provision of transitional case management and can use the remaining $3,000

1 Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness (1997). “Community-Based Care for Homeless Families: An Alternative to Emergency Shelter.” A concept paper presented to the District of Columbia Department of Human Services. Washington, D.C.

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more flexibly to help the family transition quickly into permanent housing. If necessary, more resources can be provided to help re-house a family. However, additional expenditures must have pre-approval from the Community Partnership. The housing portion of the grant can cover security deposits, first month's rent, a short term housing subsidy, furniture, utilities, or needed household items. Through a Memorandum of Understanding the Family Support Centers agree to provide case management services until the family's goals are met and to prioritize efforts to help the family obtain permanent housing as soon as possible. The Family Support Centers do not receive the final payments until the families actually obtain housing.

Accessing Housing Several of the Family Support Centers have housing specialists on staff. This has proven useful as the staff have developed on-going relationships with landlords in their neighborhood and with the housing authority. The housing specialists keep abreast of available units in the neighborhood, advocate with the landlords on the family's behalf, help the family manage paperwork, and resolve credit history issues. If the family has not been placed on the waiting list for a housing voucher, the agency will help them through that process. Some families entering the program are already eligible or have received a housing voucher, so the housing specialist helps them identify viable units. Other families are housed without a housing subsidy.

Case Management Services The transitional case management services focus on helping ensure that families will not have another housing crisis. This may include providing the family with help to develop a financial plan and helping them access community resources. The Family Support Centers consists of a wide variety of agencies and programs that collaborate to provide easily accessible services to help support low-income families in a neighborhood setting. Because of this role in the community, the Family Support Centers can serve as a gateway to services that can help stabilize the family and promote the well-being of all the family members. Because the services are available to community residents, the transitional case management services can also help foster the development of an on-going relationship with the programs offered by the Family Support Center. Thus, the neighborhood-based organizations can also serve as a frontline defense and helping agent should there be a crisis in the family's future.

Funding Building from the initial demonstration, the city has committed $1.43 million to the program over the last three years – primarily state TANF resources. The cost, including

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adapting services, is estimated at $7,186 for every family housed. This is equivalent to the cost of providing 116 days in shelter. In each year, more families have been successfully housed. The provision of a grant with a value of up to $7,000 to a Family Support Center that successfully prevents a homeless stay is seen as a cost effective alternative to a "typical" stay in the city's emergency shelter system. The typical length of stay in the city's shelter system for a family is 186 days and costs $62 a day. An average length of stay, costs $11,439.

Outcomes From 1998 to July, 2002:

• 275 families participated in the program • 231 families exited the program • 71% successfully housed (165 families) • 12% terminated from the program (32 families) - terminations can result when the

Family Support Center loses contact with the family, for noncompliance with the case plan, infrequent contact or substance abuse

Recommendations/Observations

If starting over, one administrator reports, he would do more at the front-end to build the political will behind the housing first approach so that the program could be implemented more broadly as an alternative to the more expensive shelter system. Engaging families earlier and preventing shelter stays lessens the strain on the existing shelter system. Furthermore, it avoids the occasionally challenging task of encouraging families to transition out of homelessness and into permanent housing. This has emerged as an issue when some families who do enter the shelter system are reluctant to begin the work necessary to secure "permanent" housing because they are often content with the scattered-site housing units that the city offers in the emergency shelter system. Implementing a "housing first" approach helps families avoid entering the emergency shelter system and creates a greater opportunity to use case management to help people retain the permanent housing they have secured. For More Information, Contact: Steve Cleghorn Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness 801 Pennsylvania Avenue SE Washington, DC 20003 (202)543-5298 Email: [email protected] Website: www.community-partnership.org

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An evaluation of the program is available online from the Center for the Study of Social Policy and provides helpful profiles of families that have been served through the Community Care Grant. The evaluation is available online or can be accessed from: Center for the Study of Social Policy 1575 Eye Street NW Washington, DC 20005 (202) 371-1565 www.cssp.org

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!Best Practice – Housing First

Rapid Exit Program Hennepin County, Minnesota

Hennepin County is a state and national leader in developing new tools to rapidly re-house families and individuals experiencing homelessness. The Rapid Exit Program is an innovative program that facilitates rapid re-housing by relying on early identification and resolution of a family's or individual's "housing barriers" and providing the assistance necessary to facilitate their return to permanent housing. Based on the assessment of a family or individual's housing barriers, a referral is made to a subcontracting agency best able to respond to the client's housing needs. This approach puts "housing" at the front and center of efforts to help people experiencing homelessness, prioritizing the rapid return to housing and providing the assistance necessary to achieve housing stability. Target Population The target population of the Rapid Exit Program is those families and individuals who have moderate to severe barriers to obtaining market housing and are currently residing in the county funded shelter. Program Description Within one week of entry to the county funded shelter, the family or individual is referred to a Rapid Exit Coordinator for a housing barrier assessment. The assessments incorporate a locally developed scale that reflects client characteristics and challenges that make local landlords reluctant to rent to a family or otherwise make locating housing difficult. To facilitate client disclosure, the Rapid Exit Coordinator services are sub-contracted to a private, non-profit agency with which the client can feel more comfortable sharing information. The Rapid Exit Coordinator also does criminal, credit and housing checks on the clients that are also likely to be done by prospective landlords. Based on the assessment conducted by the Rapid Exit Coordinator, the individual or family is referred to one of the agencies Hennepin County has contracted with to provide clients with individualized assistance to locate and secure housing or provide transitional housing. Non-contracted agencies will also accept referrals from the Rapid Exit Coordinator. The contract agencies will provide individualized assistance to locate and secure housing. Such assistance may include: • Direct financial assistance for application fees, deposits and other household "start

up" costs. • Direct financial assistance to resolve other barriers to housing is provided as part of a

pilot project and includes activities such as resolving outstanding debt. • Legal assistance.

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• Case management to resolve personal issues that are, or may become, barriers to achieving housing stability.

• Assistance securing furniture and food. • Provision of short-term or longer-term transitional housing as indicated by the

housing barrier assessment and need to reestablish a stable rental history. • Provision of follow-up case management and referral to stabilize families in their

homes following rapid reentry to permanent housing. With a metropolitan housing vacancy rate under 1%, the county and contracting agencies are attempting to find innovative ways to seek and retain affordable housing. Such efforts to expand the supply of housing for very low income and homeless people include: • Intervening to keep housing units affordable when housing developments for low-

income people are sold to a new owner. • Advocacy to promote the "usability" of Section 8 vouchers by reducing landlord

disincentives to entering the program. • Providing dedicated staff time to locating potential housing units and developing an

on-going relationship with landlords and responsible landlord association groups in their area.

• Paying double security deposits for those with poor rental history. • Providing landlords up front Unlawful Detainer/Eviction costs deposits so the

landlord will not absorb all of the risk. • Co-signing leases. • Paying holding fees, a new fee to keep an apartment available while the landlord

considers the application of the "troubled" tenant, sometimes refundable, sometimes not.

• Remaining responsive and committed to provide on-going case management intervention with the client and assist the landlord in resolving issues that places the client's housing in jeopardy.

Source of Funding Minnesota Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program (FHPAP) funds were instrumental in the development of the Rapid Exit Program. It continues to fund the Rapid Exit Coordinator and is used to provide the on-going case management and services that help stabilize individuals and families in homes that are not eligible activities or extend beyond the time limits set by HUD programs. Following the successful implementation of the Rapid Exit Program with state FHPAP funds, administrators sought HUD funding. The program relies on two HUD programs, the Supportive Housing Program (SHP) and Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG). As the HUD funding is typically more restrictive, FHPAP funds are used to complement and extend services. Available Data Hennepin County contracts with the Wilder Research Center to maintain a data reporting and outcome system on individuals and families served by the Rapid Exit Program.

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According to the last biennium report, 2,463 families (8,976 members) were screened and referred by Rapid Exit Coordinator and 1,714 families (6,933 members) were served in Rapid Exit Program. With a program targeted to those with moderate to severe barriers, the outcome data demonstrates great success. Even though 34% of families served by the Rapid Exit Program had been homeless before, only 9% returned to a shelter after receiving services funded by FHPAP in the following year and 85% did not return within two years. For those families that did return, their average stay in homelessness declined by more than half, from 29.5 days to 10 days.

For More Information Contact: Shirley Hendrickson Grants Administrator Adult Housing Program A1501 Government Center Minneapolis, MN 55487-0151 [email protected]

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!Best Practice – Housing First

Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota Crow Wing, Morrison, & Todd County, Minnesota

Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota is facilitating the re-housing of homeless youth and families in several rural counties in Minnesota through their Housing Options for Everyone Program. The Family Homelessness Prevention and Assistance Program helped the agency respond to the increasing number of their clients who reported having a housing crisis. Although a grantee and direct provider, Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota benefits from the FHPAP requirement that an advisory group comprised of local community members and organizations develop the program and program goals and assess progress toward measurable outcomes. As an agency, Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota is invested in promoting a "housing first" approach--rapidly returning those who experience a housing crisis to permanent housing and linking them with the available supports to promote future housing stability. Intervention to stabilize families and individuals in housing--including financial assistance, landlord mediation and case management--are similar for those who are re-housed and those whose homelessness was effectively prevented. Target Population The target population includes families with dependent children, youth under 22 and single individuals who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness. Referral Process

! Central agency is the initial point of contact. This agency administers an on-site Housing Resource Center, along with several other programs including LIHEAP, credit counseling, financial education. The agency developed the Housing Resource Center as it identified housing needs among clients served.

! Receives referrals from county administered programs, churches and Community Action Programs (CAPs).

Services

! Provides financial assistance for those at risk of losing housing. ! Provides direct assistance in the form of rent deposit, first month rent and

mortgage assistance for those who are homeless or facing homelessness. ! Provides assistance in locating housing, case management services and education

about tenant rights and responsibilities. ! Conducts a self sufficiency plan with the family, identifies budgeting, housing

subsidies and increasing familial financial resources as paramount to preventing future episodes of homelessness.

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! Connects family members with resources in the community, builds self-advocacy skills, provides follow up case management weekly during initial stabilization period. May decrease in intensity, but family remains eligible for case management services for 12 months following intervention.

Resource Development Dedicated housing staff with background in property management develops relationships with landlords, works with housing authority to identify available rental assistance resources and participates in housing membership organizations. Sources of Funding

! Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program (FHPAP) that includes TANF block grant and state general revenue funds

! Small grants and funding through local churches ! Community Action Program (CAP) agencies ! United Way award

Available Data

! Served 212 households from 1999 to 2001 ! 94% of total households were in permanent housing twelve months after receiving

assistance ! 85% of families who were homeless were in stable housing nine months after

receiving assistance ! 90% of families have accessed at least 40% of community resources listed in their

self-sufficiency plan

For More Information Contact: Joel Salzer Housing Director Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota 2414 Park Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55404 (612) 879-5303 [email protected]

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!Best Practice – Housing First – State Policy

Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program State of Minnesota

Minnesota's Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program (FHPAP) is facilitating the end of homelessness by providing state funds, including TANF block grant dollars, that can be used innovatively by counties and community nonprofit organizations to help families remain in their homes, re-house those who become homeless and shorten the length of time families spend in shelters. Last year, the Illinois State Legislature established a Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program modeled after the Minnesota legislation.

History and Background Created in 1993 by the Minnesota State Legislature, the Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program is designed to achieve three primary goals:

! Prevent homelessness from occurring ! Shorten lengths of time in homelessness and emergency shelters ! Prevent repeated episodes of homelessness

The program provides grants to local communities to achieve the goals of the legislation. The funds are very flexible and use of funds is determined at the local level by an advisory group. The application process for grant funds is competitive and grantees must reapply every biennium. The program requires grantees report outcome data and future funding decisions are determined based on performance. The program originated after Hennepin County administrators successfully heightened public awareness that the county's existing emergency shelter system would not be able to meet the demand and, as a result, families would soon be turned away from shelters. The Governor was committed to responding to the need and the Administration developed a policy proposal. Rather than building more shelters to meet the demand they decided to take action to reduce demand--by preventing homelessness, facilitating people's re-entry to and stabilization in housing. In developing the state policy, a collaborative of private non-profit agencies used focus groups with families who experienced homelessness to shape the legislation. They identified the reasons they became homeless, what might have prevented them from losing their housing and what were the barriers they encountered in becoming re-housed. The Republican Governor's proposal received strong bipartisan support and passed easily. The legislation allows for a great deal of local flexibility in determining the use of funds and stresses tracking outcomes. It has received increased appropriations every year since it was created, with continued bipartisan support.

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Program Description Funding for the program is awarded on a competitive basis to counties or community nonprofit organizations. Grantees are required to establish a local advisory group responsible for the local initiative, including designing the program, developing eligibility criteria, problem solving throughout implementation, identifying sub-contractors and submitting biennial reports. Local advisory groups are advised to meet monthly and are expected to be active in their community's Continuum of Care efforts. A dedicated staff person in the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency is responsible for reviewing funding applications, program reports and provision of technical assistance. State leadership in developing and promoting the "culture" of the program – to end, not manage homelessness – is viewed as a critical component. Perhaps contributing to the success of the program and grantees' adherence to meeting the purposes of the legislation is the involvement of the state Interagency Task Force on Homelessness (ITF). Each local advisory group must include a member of the ITF, which consists of representatives from nine other state agencies. Each Interagency Taskforce member is assigned to a grantee advisory group and attends the grantee's meetings as representatives of the ITF. The state ITF also meets monthly as a group and reports on what is occurring at the local level. Grantees must reapply every biennium. Applications are reviewed by a state advisory committee that makes recommendations on level of funding for applicants based on their performance on outcome measures. Funding is very limited, which forces the advisory committee to target the dollars and limit the amount of assistance to promote the program's effectiveness. Outcomes are stressed not outputs or numbers served. This requires tracking individuals and families served to capture future incidents of homelessness or sustained housing stability. The grant application process and outcome data requirements are viewed as helping direct local activities toward achieving the purposes of the legislation. Currently there are fourteen grantees representing one half of all the counties in Minnesota. The program relied on state general funds until 2000 when dedicated TANF block grant dollars were added, creating more funding and a new level of complexity with federal reporting and eligibility requirements. $6.5 million has been budgeted for the next biennium, and an additional $4.6 million is being sought by the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless to expand services to new parts of the state and increase capacity with existing grantees.

Legislation and State Advocacy Efforts Legislation for the Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program can be reviewed online through the Office of Revisor of Statutes, State of Minnesota: http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/stats/462A/204.html

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Updates on relevant advocacy activities can be found on the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless website: http://www.mnhomelesscoalition.org Impressions of Program Administrators/Advocates The advisory committees are perceived to be particularly effective in solving problems and opening dialogue around homelessness in the community. Advisory groups are typically comprised of a broad spectrum of the community – including advocates for the homeless, homeless or formally homeless people, housing developers, representatives of the local public housing authority and employers. Local advisory groups have become active on homelessness issues beyond the administration and oversight of the local Family Homelessness Prevention and Assistance Program and have advocated for local policy changes and better utilization of locally controlled resources to respond to the needs of homeless people. Local flexibility is viewed as a vital component in a large geographically diverse state and diverse counties. It allows for a range of responses appropriate to the particular community and experiments with small "pilot" projects that may prove effective. Administrators recognize the importance of developing strong relationships with landlords to prevent homelessness and re-house families. Some programs dedicate staff to respond to landlord concerns and work with landlords and tenants to address issues that may threaten housing stability. If necessary, local programs may assist in paying for damages by tenants placed into housing that exceed the security deposit. Preventing homelessness has become the priority for many administrators. The state's shortage of affordable housing and high rents make re-housing families difficult and they have decided those with affordable, sustainable housing should receive the necessary assistance to retain it through a short-term crisis. Further, the flexibility of the FHPAP funds have facilitated the development of prevention efforts that was reported by some grantees as too difficult to accomplish with HUD funding restrictions. The program is administered by a dedicated staff person at the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency. The administration of the program is described to be staff intense, particularly in the early stages. There is a need to provide technical assistance that may include helping to develop strong advisory boards and a group culture that will help achieve the purposes of the legislation. FHPAP is an outcome-based grant program that places the emphasis on results rather than process or numbers served. Numbers served aren't ignored but 'process' is not the emphasis. Grantees have received more funds when they have performed well and some have had funding reduced. This is viewed as an important component carried out both at the state and local level and a key to its success. Rapid re-housing of families and individuals with greater challenges may require more flexibility in providing follow-up support and case management than can be provided by

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the six months of after care that HUD allows for those who can no longer be classified as "homeless." Flexibility to provide follow-up assistance for those rapidly re-housed would remain cheaper than allowing those with significant challenges to remain in transitional housing. There may be a benefit to increasing federal collaboration between HUD and HHS to better partner housing with services. This would meet both agencies goals as HUD wants to work toward more bricks and mortar yet requires services for some programs and housing is needed for anyone to stabilize sufficiently to benefit from services. Potential Concerns Local flexibility -- As program design occurs at the local level, there may be issues around the use of funds and eligibility criteria. For example, some advisory groups have elected not to serve families who have been sanctioned from TANF. The program administrator in one such community reported that they provide assistance to families to help reconcile their sanctions first so they can become eligible for assistance. In this community, the family's resources are enhanced as a result of reconciling the sanction that should increase the likelihood of future housing stability. Without assistance to reconcile sanctions, families in need of assistance might be excluded from this source of assistance. Families who have been sanctioned may experience significant barriers to achieving self-sufficiency, such as mental health and substance abuse disabilities, domestic violence and low educational attainment. Coordination with Emergency Assistance Funds -- Like many other states, Minnesota has continued to approve Emergency Assistance funds under its state TANF block grant plan. Emergency Assistance funds can be used to provide assistance to families at risk of homelessness and are accessed through the local Division of Human Services. For communities interested in establishing a Family Homelessness Prevention and Assistance Program, coordination at the state and local level with the administrators of the existing Emergency Assistance program will enhance effectiveness. Further care may be required to ensure the creation of a FHPAP program serves to enhance measures to prevent homelessness rather than supplanting them by ensuring both FHPAP and Emergency Assistance funds are maximized. For More Information, Contact Rhonda McCall Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program Minnesota State Housing Finance Agency 400 Sibley Street Suite 300 St Paul MN 55101-1998 (651) 297-3294

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Denise Rogers Minnesota State Housing Finance Agency 400 Sibley Street Suite 300 St Paul MN 55101-1998 (651) 296-8206 Michael Dahl Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless 122 West Franklin Avenue, Suite 306 Minneapolis, MN 55404 (612) 870-7073

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!Best Practice – Emergency Prevention

Hennepin County Homelessness Prevention Programs Hennepin County, Minnesota

With a housing vacancy rate below 1% and very high rental rates, Hennepin County is promoting efforts that will keep families in sustainable housing and preventing them from ever requiring emergency shelter. The county is on the forefront of rapidly re-housing those who become homeless through the Rapid Exit Program, relying primarily on federal funds. The state Family Homelessness Prevention and Assistance Program supplements the Rapid Exit Program and provides the financing for homelessness prevention activities. The county subcontracts with eighteen nonprofit agencies to deliver services that include financial assistance, case management and other assistance to eligible families to prevent the loss of housing. Target Population The target population includes all imminently homeless families and single adults. Eligibility

! No other available public or private resources sufficient to resolve housing crisis including savings, use of public benefits, selling some goods, downsizing vehicle

! Family must be able to sustain housing following receipt of short-term assistance either in existing housing or in a more affordable housing unit

! Impending crisis--written eviction notice, overcrowded housing, condemned building, victim of domestic violence, lost income, hazard in home, mortgage in default, requires temporary housing subsidy to complete an approved family reunification plan.

Services

! Legal services to address eviction cases in court ! Short and long term case management ! Volunteer assistance to help families stabilize housing ! Landlord/tenant mediation and assistance in securing new housing (if housing is

lost) without requiring stay in homeless shelter ! Financial assistance.

Source of Funding The program is funded through the Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program (FHPAP) that includes TANF block grant and state general revenue funds.

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Available Data

! First year, 1,483 families served (4,712 individuals) with FHPAP funds ! Second year, 1,456 families served (5,063 individuals) with FHPAP funds ! 3-4 percent of families served became homeless in succeeding twelve months ! 9 percent of families served had history of county homeless shelter use in year

prior to receiving prevention services ! Over the two-year period $938,898 was used for prevention activities, an average

of $331 per family served.

For More Information Contact

Shirley Hendrickson Grants Administrator Adult Housing Program A1501 Government Center Minneapolis, MN 55487-0151 [email protected]

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Selected Research on Family Homelessness

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Family H

omelessness:

Where to From

Here?

Dennis C

ulhaneU

niversity of Pennsylvania

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Com

peting Explanations

“Housing, H

ousing, Housing”

Initial Explanation from early-and m

id-1980s (Bob

Hayes); focus on rental housing affordability crisis.

Hom

eless Families Are Troubled Fam

iliesExplanation since early 1990s; focus on “housing readiness.”

Emerged alongside grow

th in transitional housing m

odel.

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The Case for the ‘H

ousing’Explanation

The homeless problem

is relatively comm

onPoor housed and hom

eless families are not very

differentSubsidized housing “cures”

the problemServices appear to have no im

pact on the housingoutcom

e

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The hom

eless problem is com

mon

among poor fam

ilies

600,000 families are hom

eless annually (based on NSH

APC,

Rog, Shinn and Culhane, 2003)

10% of poor children and 8%

of poor families,

annually (based on NSH

APC, Burt et al., 2002; Rog, Shinn and C

ulhane, 2003)

Nat’l household survey: 20%

of families on public

assistance, in their lifetime (in 1990) (Link et al., 1994)

HM

IS Data in Phila: 40%

of all poor AA

children born in 1993, by age 5.

(Culhane et al., 2003)

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Proportion of NY

C Population That Experienced a Shelter

Stay in 1995, by Age (M

etraux&

Culhane 1998)

0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5%

05

1015

2025

3035

4045

5055

6065

Age

% of NYC Population Experiencing aShelter Stay

1995 Proportion by A

geG

eneral 1995 Proportion

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Annual R

ates of Shelter Utilization for

Selected Populations

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

General Population

Poor PersonsPoor C

hildrenPoor B

lackC

hildren, <5 yearsPoor B

lack Wom

en,18-29

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Hom

elessness is too comm

on to be exceptional.

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Poor Housed versus H

omeless Fam

ilies: Few

Behavioral H

ealth Differences

Hom

eless Families A

RE:

Poorer, younger, more likely to be pregnant, from

anethnic m

inority, and less likely to have a housing subsidyH

omeless Fam

ilies AR

E NO

T:M

ore likely to be mentally ill, depressed, or less

educated.

(Sources: Shinn & W

eitzman, 1996; B

assuket al., 1997)

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As a group, homeless fam

ilies are poorer, not m

ore “troubled.”

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Subsidized Housing “C

ures”H

omelessness

Rog

et al. 9-city study finds 88% rem

ained housed 18 m

onths post placement.

Two N

YC

studies finds 93% rem

ain housed two

years post-placement

38% of fam

ilies leaving w/out a subsidy returned

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Post-Placement Services: N

o Effect on

Housing O

utcome

Rog

et al. 9 city study, included varied service and service intensity packages post placem

ent:R

etention rates were equally high across sites

Weitzm

an NY

C study, random

ly assigned to post-placem

ent CM

versus usual condition (no CM

):N

o effect of services on housing outcome

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Length of Stay in and Service Intensity

of Transitional H

ousing: N

o Evidence Y

et That T

hey Matter

Wong, et al. study of LO

S on housing outcome

finds no effect, controlling for receipt of housing subsidy (no “dose response”)C

ulhane et al. study (unpublished) found no effect of am

ount of services available by TH facility on

housing outcome, controlling for receipt of

housing subsidy

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Housing subsidies are necessary, andsufficient to end hom

elessness for nearly all hom

eless families. Services are not

sufficient, and their necessity for the housing outcom

ehas not been

demonstrated.

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“Housing”

Explanation Supported,

No Support for a D

eficit Model

Hom

eless families are not “a poor apart,”

but like other poor fam

ilies

“Housing readiness”

and deficit model w

ere justifications applied afterthe TH

service model

was created.

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What Explains V

ariations in Fam

ily Shelter Adm

ission Rates?

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Adm

issions to Philadelphia Shelters: 1994-99

0 60

120

180

240

300

Jan-94Jan-95Jan-96Jan-97Jan-98Jan-99

Single Wom

enFam

ilies

Dec 94

–w

elfare to single adults over 45 is elim

inated.

July 95–

“crisis”in shelter dem

and.

Jan 96–

blizzard of 96.

July 96–

shelter admissions

suspended due to crowding.

Welfare cuts blam

ed.

March 97

–bed supply cut by 15%

.

July 97–

State “welfare reform

”enacted.

Jan 99–

“Sidewalk O

rdinance”passed, includes m

ore resources for services.

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Philadelphia (City) A

FDC

/TAN

F Caseload

and Unem

ployment R

ates: 1994-99

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

Jan-94Jan-95Jan-96Jan-97Jan-98Jan-99

0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10%TA

NF

UN

EMP

8/96 –PW

OR

A Passes

Congress

3/97 –A

ct 35 Implem

ents PW

OR

A in PA

work search requirem

entsrequires w

ork after 2 years of TA

NF receipt

five year limit on benefits

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Philadelphia (MSA

) Consum

er Price Index for Rent (C

PI –R

ent) and Philadelphia Fam

ily Shelter Adm

issions & Exits: 1994-99

0 50

100

150

200

250

Jan-94Jan-95Jan-96Jan-97Jan-98Jan-99

Households

150

160

170

180

190

200

CPI Index

Adm

issionsExitsC

PI - Rent

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AR

MA

Time Series M

odel R

egressing on Family Shelter A

dmissions

Variable

Coefficient

AFD

C/TA

NF C

aseload0.13

CPI –

Rent

0.14+

Unem

ployment R

ate0.30**

Post-PA A

ct 350.11

+ -p<.10; * -p<.05, ** -p<.01, *** -p<.001

Dependent variable and

coefficients are converted into the logged difference betw

een the current and previous m

onth (i.e., grow

th rate)

Caseload, C

PI, and UE are

lagged 1 month behind shelter

admissions

Model includes 2 autoregression

terms

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Are there identifiable subtypes of hom

eless families, based on

homeless history?

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Housing subsidies

don’t resolve service needs

Returns to hom

elessness, despite subsidized housing placem

ent, area concern (7-15%

2 years post placem

ent). Why?

Child-fam

ily separations are comm

on (Shinn &

Weitzm

an, 1996), and foster care interventions are surprisingly com

mon post placem

ent (20% foster

care) (Park, Culhane &

Metraux, 2004).

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Risk Factors for R

epeat and E

xtended Shelter Stays Am

ong Fam

iliesL

ower R

isk

Receipt of H

ousing SubsidyPregnancyD

omestic V

iolence

Higher R

isk

Black R

ace+ N

umber of C

hildren+ A

ge of Householder

Previous Hom

elessnessN

umber of A

dultsM

other’s FC H

istoryM

other’s Low

er Ed.

Mother’s L

imited W

ork Exp.

See Wong, 1997

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A Prelim

inary Typology of Family

Hom

elessness (based on H

MIS data in N

YC

)

3 Groups:

Transitional (1.2 stays, 59 days):

52%

Intermediate-stay

(1.2 stays, 211 days): 43%Episodic

(3.3 stays, 345 days): 5%

More research needed: m

ore cities, distinguishing demographic and B

H

characteristics, returns to homelessness, and child outcom

es, such as foster care involvem

ent and school outcomes post placem

ent

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Possible Next Steps: G

reater diversity of responses, m

atched to family needs and profiles

1) Prevention and rapid relocation (Housing First)

for transitionally homeless

2) More sustained subsidies for fam

ilies with

barriers to affordability (transitional rental assistance, and transitional services)

3) Long-term subsidies and intensive services by

mainstream

social welfare system

s, where child

welfare, special education or parental behavioral

health problems exist.

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Problems w

ith Current H

omeless System

Housing is not the prim

ary interventionH

omeless system

incentivizesshelter entry, and in som

e cases, long shelter stays, instead of preventionFederal funding encourages m

aintenance of transitional housing system

of unknown benefit

High-cost interventions like TH

are not usually targeted to the m

ost vulnerable families

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Conclusions:

If housing unaffordabilityis the prim

ary cause of fam

ily homelessness,housing

affordability is the primary solution.

If certain families face barriers to exiting

homelessness or are m

ore likely to return, engage them

in mainstream

service system

s (MH

, CW

) along with housing.

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Thought Experiment: H

ousing FirstC

urrent system provides 10,000 fam

ilies with subsidized housing at cost of

$38,000 per family per year

A federal subsidy in N

YC

averages $8,000 in value annually (estimated)

NY

C’s fam

ily shelters, if “cashed out,”w

ould provide a full housing subsidy for nearly 50,000 fam

ilies year round: 5 times as m

any families could be assisted as

are currently servedA

“shallow”

subsidy, at a value of $4000 annually, or $333 per month, could

serve 100,000 families

If 125,000 families are current TA

NF recipients w

ithout a housing subsidyC

urrent Tier II providers could convert to supported housing forparticularly needy fam

ilies, or serve as temporary housing for A

CS-involved fam

ilies (preservation), funded and m

anaged through AC

S.

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How

to Proceed?C

ity and Panel initiate discussion with state and advocates

to pilot a “Housing First”

model; consolidate all

prevention and housing assistance resourcesPilot in a section of the city over a one or tw

o-year period; evaluateD

evelop actuarial models for how

to structure the program

, and how to project costs

Acknow

ledge limits of housing m

arket

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Section 8 Housing Subsidies: Effectively Ending Homelessness for Families

• A study in New York City found that families that accessed subsidized housing

upon exiting homelessness were 21 times more likely to be stably housed than comparable families five years following a homeless episode.i Families that remained stably housed in subsidized housing included those with a history of mental illness, substance abuse, health problems, and histories of incarceration.

• A study in the Boston area found that nearly 90% of families that exited

homelessness with a housing subsidy remained stably housed 6-12 months later.ii

• An evaluation study of the Family Unification Program (FUP) voucher program

found that 88% of child welfare involved, homeless families remained stably housed 12 months after receiving the FUP voucher. The homeless families that received vouchers were at risk of having their child(ren) removed and placed in foster care due to inadequate housing or they had children in foster care and reunification of families was delayed because they lacked adequate housing. In the FUP model, the housing authority provides a Section 8 housing subsidy and the local child welfare agency agrees to provide intensive case management services to the family post-housing placement.iii

• An evaluation of a service-enhanced housing model for homeless families

supported by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and The Robert W. Johnson Foundation, found that 85% of families that received a Section 8 housing subsidy along with supportive services remained stably housed after 18 months. At 30 months, 80% of families in three demonstration sites remained stably housed and 65% of families remained stably housed in the remaining three demonstration sites. Many of the homeless families that participated in the study had multiple challenges including substance abuse, physical and mental disabilities, histories of abuse and violence and an unstable housing history.iv

• Early studies have also demonstrated the effectiveness of affordable housing

subsidies. An examination of exits from homelessness in New York City found that only 8% of families that left shelter for subsidized housing had a subsequent homeless episode. In Philadelphia, when the city adopted a strategy of moving homeless families into subsidized housing, “repeat” episodes of homelessness dropped from 50% to 10% over a three-year period.v Similarly, a study in St. Louis found that 6% of families that exited homelessness with a housing subsidy subsequently experienced a homeless episode. In contrast, 33% of families who left without a housing subsidy experienced a subsequent homeless episode.vi

i Shinn, M., Weitzman, B. C., Stojanovic, D., Knickman, J. R. Jimenez, L. Duchon, L. and Krantz, D. H. (1998). Predictors of homelessness among families in New York City: From shelter request to housing stability. American Journal of Public Health, 88(11), 1651-1657. [Available online: http://www.nlihc.org/bookshelf/shinn.htm]. ii Friedman, D.H., Meschede, T. and Hayes, M. (2003). Surviving against the odds: Families’ journeys off welfare and out of homelessness. Cityscape: A journal of Policy Development and Research, 6(2), 187-206.

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iii Rog, D. J., Gilbert-Mongelli, A. M., and Lundy, E. (1998). The Family Unification Program: Final Evaluation Report. Washington, D. C.: CWLA Press. iv Rog, D. J. and Gutman, M. (1997). Homeless families program: A summary of key findings. In S. L. Isaacs & J. R. Knickman (Eds.) To improve health and health care 1997: The Robert W. Johnson Foundation Anthology. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. [Available online: http://www.rwjf.org/health/anthologies/1997chap10.htm]. v Culhane, D. P. (1992). The quandaries of shelter reform: An appraisal of efforts to "manage" homelessness. Social Service Review, 66, 428-440. vi Stretch, J. J. & Krueger, L. W. (1992). Five year cohort study of homeless families: A joint policy research venture. Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, XIX(4), 73-88.

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Research on Homelessness and Child Welfare

• A large proportion of children in foster care have a parent that is homeless or

unstably housed. A GAO study found that 30 percent of children in foster care system have a homeless or unstably housed parent.i A survey of 195 children in foster care found that half of the children’s birth parents had a history of homelessness.ii

• According to a study in Toronto, caseworkers reported that in 20 percent of child

welfare cases reviewed, the families’ lack of appropriate housing influenced the decision to remove a child from a family or led to a delay in the return of a child to a family. Moreover, social workers estimated that the delay in returning children to their families because of poor housing was six months, representing a cost burden of $2.9 million.iii

• According to a recent study, which examined the factors that facilitate or impede

reunification of children who were placed in foster care, the reunification rates were nearly 50 percent lower for families who experienced a homeless episode in the 12 months before the child was placed into care.iv

• In one large city, children born to women who experienced homelessness were

four times more likely to be involved with the child welfare agency before age five than children born to other low income women. Such involvement entailed actively monitoring of the child’s well-being by the child welfare agency due to reports of abuse or neglect. Among children who were monitored by the child welfare agency, those whose mothers experienced homelessness were more likely to be placed in foster care than children born to other low income women. The rate of child welfare involvement resulting in a foster care placement for low-income mothers was 39 percent. For child-welfare-involved families in which the mother experienced homelessness, the rate was 62 percent.v

• One study that examined outcomes of families five years after they experienced a

homeless episode found that 44 percent of the women surveyed had a child in an out-of-home placement. Most out-of-home placements occurred before or during the homeless episode (60 percent). However, 40 percent of the families were separated following the homeless episode. The study further found that a homeless episode was a stronger predictor of an out-of-home placement than a parent’s depression, use of drugs or alcohol, domestic violence or an institutional placement.vi

• Nationally, the average annual cost of placing the children of a homeless family

in foster care is $47,608, while the average annual cost for a permanent housing subsidy and supportive services for a family of equal size is about $9,000.vii Without access to a housing subsidy, some families remain homeless for a longer period of time. Ironically, the cost of a voucher that would prevent homelessness or reduce the length of time families remain homeless is often less than the cost of providing shelter assistance.viii

i GAO (1998). Foster Care: Agencies Face Challenges Security Stable Homes for Children of Substance Abusers. GAO/HEHS-98-182. Washington, DC: GPO.

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ii Zlotnick, C., Kronstadt & Klee (1998) Foster care children and family homelessness. American Journal of Public Health, 88(9) 1368-1370. iii Chau, S., Fitzpatrick, A., Hulchanski, J. D., Leslie, B. & Schatia, D. (2001). One in five….housing as a factor in the admission of children to care: New suvey of Children’s Aid Society of Toronto Updates 1992 Survey. [Research Bulletin, 12/01, No. 6]. Toronto: Center for Urban and Community Studies. [Available online at: http://www.urbancenter.utoronto.ca/researchbulletin.html#5] iv Courtney, M., McMurtry, S. L., Zinn, A. (2005). Predictors of reunification in a sample of urban out-of-home care cases. Paper to be presented at Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference: Celebrating a Decade of SSWR, January 16, 2005 in Miami, Florida. Abstract available online at: http://sswr.confex.com/sswr/2005/techprogram/S1145.HTM v Culhane, J. F., Webb, D., Grim, S. and Metraux, S. and Culhane, D. (2003). Prevalence of child welfare services involvement among homeless and low-income mothers: A five year birth cohort study. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 30(3) vi Cowal, K., Shinn, M., Weitzman, B., Stojanovic, D., & Labay, L. (2002). Mother-child separations among homeless and housed families receiving public assistance in New York City. American Journal of Community Psychology, 30(5), 711-730. vii White, R.A., Seth, C.M. (2003, March/April). No place like home. Children’s Voice. Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America. viii Office of Policy Development and Research, U.S. Department. of Housing and Urban Development, Evaluation of the Emergency Shelter Grants Program, Volume 1: Findings September 1994. The average cost of a shelter bed funded through the Emergency Shelter Grant cost is $8,087 annually, a cost slightly over $24,000 for a family of three and well beyond the cost of a housing subsidy. Transitional shelter programs are typically more family-friendly in physical design and have an average cost of $10,695 per person and $19,470 per household.

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Supplementary Information & Resources

Page 101: National Alliance To End HomelessnessNATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS 1518 K STREET, NW SUITE 410, WASHINGTON, DC 20005 TELEPHONE 202-638-1526 FAX 202-638-4664 EMAIL naeh@naeh.org

National Alliance to End Homelessness: Selected Bibliography of Recent Research on Family Homelessness *

National Data on Family Homelessness & Demographic Information

Burt, M.R. (2001). Homeless Families, Singles, and Others: Findings from the 1996 National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients. Housing Policy Debate 12(4): 737-780.

U.S. Conference of Mayors – Sodexho (2003). Hunger and homelessness survey:

A status report 2003. Washington, DC: U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Homelessness, Housing Problems and Child Welfare

Chau, S., Fitzpatrick, A., Hulchanski, J. D., Leslie, B. & Schatia, D. (2001). One in five: Housing as a factor in the admission of children to care. [Research Bulletin #5]. Toronto: Centre for Urban and Community Studies.

Courtney, M. E., McMurty, S. L. & Zinn, A. (2004). Housing problems

experienced by recipients of child welfare services. Cowal, K., Shinn, M., Weizman, B. C., Stojanovic, D., & Labay, L. (2002). Mother-child separations among homeless and housed families receiving public assistance in New York City. American Journal of Community Psychology, 30(5), 7-11-730.

Culhane, J. F., Webb, D. Grim, S., Metraux, S. & Culhane, D. (2003). Prevalence of child welfare services involvement among homeless and low-income mothers: A five year birth cohort study. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 30(3), 1-11.

Park, J. M., Metraux, S., Brodbar, G. & Culhane, D. P. (2004). Child welfare involvement among children in homeless families. Rog, D. J., Gilbert-Mongelli, A. M. & Lundy, E. (1998). The Family Unification Program: Final Evaluation Report. Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America Press.

Zlotnik, C., Kronstadt, D., & Klee, L. (1998). Foster care children and family homelessness. American Journal of Public Health, 88(9), 1368-1370. Homelessness, Inadequate Housing and Domestic Violence

Bassuk, E., Perloff, J., Dawson, R. (2001). Multiply Homeless Families: The Insidious Impact of Violence. Housing Policy Debate 12(2): 299-320.

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Correia, A. (1999). Innovative strategies to provide housing for battered women: Building comprehensive solutions to domestic violence [Publication #2]. Minneapolis, MN: Violence Against Women Network.

Hammeal-Urban, R. (1999). Housing and battered women: Using housing

vouchers to assist battered women move from welfare to work: Building comprehensive solutions to domestic violence. [Publication #4]. Minneapolis, MN: Violence Against Women Network. Housing Affordability Challenges Facing Poor Families

Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University (2004). The state of the nation’s housing: 2004. Cambridge, MA: Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. Pitcoff, W., Pelletiere, D., Crowley, S., Schaffer, K., Treskon, M., Vance, C. & Dolbeare, C. N. (2003). Out of reach 2003: America’s housing wage climbs. Washington, DC: National Low Income Housing Coalition.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research. (2001). Trends in Worst Case Needs for Housing, 1978-1999: A report to Congress on Worst Case Housing Needs Plus Update on Worst Case Needs in 2001. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Impact of Homelessness & Inadequate Housing on Children

Bassuk, E.L., Buckner, J.C., Weinreb, L.F., Browne, A., Bassuk, S.S., Dawson, R., & Perloff, J.N. (1997). Homelessness in female headed families: Childhood and adult risk and protective factors. American Journal of Public Health 87(2), 241-248.

Better Homes Fund (1999). Homeless children: America’s new outcasts.

Newton, MA: The Better Homes Fund.

Buckner, J. C., Bassuk, E. L., Weinreb, L. F. & Brooks, M. G. (1999). Homelessness and its relation to the mental health and behavior of low-income school-age children. Developmental Psychology, 35(1), 246-257.

Committee on Community Health Services. (1996). Health needs of homeless children and families. Pediatrics 98(4): 789-791.

Sharfstein, J., Sandel, M., Kahn, R., & Bauchner, H. (2001). Is child health at

risk while families wait for housing vouchers? American Journal of Public Health, 91(8), 1191-1192.

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Weinreb, L., Goldberg, R., Bassuk, E., Perloff, J. N. (1998). Determinants of health and service use patterns in homeless and low-income housed children. American Academy of Pediatrics, 102(3), 554-562. Housing Solutions to End Homelessness

Beyond Shelter, Inc. (1998). The “Housing First” Program for Homeless Families: Methodology Manual. Los Angeles, CA: Beyond Shelter, Inc.

Family Housing Fund (1999). The Supportive Housing Continuum: A Model for Housing Homeless Families. Minneapolis, MN: Family Housing Fund.

Friedman, D.H., Meschede, T. and Hayes, M. (2003). Surviving against the odds: Families’ journeys off welfare and out of homelessness. Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research, 6(2), 187-206

Rog, D. J., Gilbert-Mongelli, A. M. & Lundy, E. (1998). The Family Unification

Program: Final Evaluation Report. Washington, DC: CWLA Press. Rog, D. J. and Gutman, M. (1997). Homeless families program: A summary of

key findings. In S. L. Isaacs & J. R. Knickman (Eds.) To improve health and health care 1997: The Robert W. Johnson Foundation Anthology. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Sard, B. & Harrison, T. (2001). The increasing use of TANF and state matching

funds to provide housing assistance to families moving from welfare to work – 2001 supplement. Washington, DC: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Shinn, Weitzman, B. C., Stojanovic, D., Knickman, J. R., Jiminez, L, Duchon, L.,

James, S., Krantz, D. H. (1998). Predictors of homelessness among families in New York City: From shelter request to housing stability. American Journal of Public Health, 88(11), 1651-1657.

Stojanovic, D., Weitzman, B. C., Shinn, M., Labay, L. E., & Williams, N. P.

(1999). Tracing the path out of homelessness: The housing patterns of families after exiting shelter. Journal of Community Psychology, 27(2), 199-208. Preventing Homelessness Among Families

New York City Family Homelessness Special Master Panel (2003). New York City homelessness prevention report. New York: New York City Special Master Panel.

Shinn, M. & Baumohl, J. (1998). Rethinking the prevention of homelessness. In L. B. Fosburg, & D. L. Dennis (ed.) Practical Lessons: The 1998 National Symposium on Homelessness Research. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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Promoting Education of Children Experiencing Homelessness

American Bar Association Commission on Homelessness and Poverty (2003). Educating children without housing: A primer on legal requirements and implementation strategies for educators, advocates and policymakers. Washington, DC: American Bar Association Commission on Homelessness and Poverty. Funding Services

Straka, D., Tempel, C., Lipson, K. (2001). TANF funding for services in supportive housing for homeless families and young adults. New York, NY: Corporation for Supportive Housing, Of Special Interest

Fitchen, J.M. (1996). Poverty and homelessness in rural upstate New York. In Dehavenon, A.L. (ed.), There’s no place like home: Anthropological perspectives on housing and homelessness in the United States. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.

Hirsch, A., Dietrich, S., Landau, R., Schneider, P., Ackelsberg, I., Bernstein-

Baker, J. & Hohenstein, J. (2002). Every door closed: Barriers facing parents with criminal records. Washington, DC: The Center for Law and Social Policy. * A comprehensive annotated bibliography of research on family homelessness is available from the National Resource Center on Homelessness and Mental Illness, available online at: www.nrcmhi.samhsa.gov.

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www.endhomelessness.org

NAEH web resources for ending family homelessness The Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness – the seminal document that challenged America to change its thinking and pursue steps that seek not just to manage but to permanently end homelessness within 10 years ! http://www.endhomelessness.org/pub/tenyear/ Ten Essentials Toolkit - a comprehensive set of resources designed to help communities prevent and end homelessness - features the ten essential components that every community needs to end homelessness among individuals and families !http://www.endhomelessness.org/pub/toolkit/ State and Local Plans to End Homelessness – links and summaries to the plans that various states, cities, and counties have already developed and are presently implementing to end homelessness in their communities ! http://www.endhomelessness.org/localplans/ Best Practices - profiles of program models, state and local policies, and advocacy efforts that are taking groundbreaking steps toward the goal of ending homelessness for families and individuals ! http://www.endhomelessness.org/best/ Leadership to End Homelessness Audio Conference Series – the monthly series of national conference calls on the leading strategies that states, local jurisdictions, and nonprofit organizations have employed to end homelessness – sponsored by the Council of State Community Development Agencies, the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the National Council of State Housing Agencies, the National League of Cities, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors ! http://www.endhomelessness.org/audio/ Housing First Network – a resource hub for those active or interested in developing, implementing, or refining a housing first approach to shorten homelessness in their communities – includes best practices, FAQ, listserv and other resources !http://www.naeh.org/networks/housingfirst/ Housing First Resource Guide – a comprehensive examination of housing first programs that have developed around the country and are effectively changing the way communities are responding to homelessness among families ! http://www.endhomelessnes.org/pubs/HousingFirstResource.pdf

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Alliance Online News – the nation’s leading weekly newsletter on homelessness delivering the latest information on promising new policies and practices in the field, new developments in federal programs and policy, grant opportunities, groundbreaking research, and upcoming events ! http://www.endhomelessness.org/pub/onlinenews/ Section 8 and McKinney Vento Advocacy Center – provides updated information on the resources critically needed by communities to make progress in ending family homelessness and information on how individuals and organizations can affect change ! http://www.endhomelessness.org/advocacy/ Ending Long-term Homelessness Services Initiative (ELHSI) – complete information and working group resources for the national joint initiative to provide services in permanent supportive housing for people who have been homeless for long periods of time !http://www.endhomelessness.org/pol/ELHSI/ Links to key studies and research – important resources for policy and program change, including the Out of Reach report on the wage-rent gaps in jurisdictions across the country, reports detailing the housing affordability challenges faced by low-income families and research papers on homelessness compiled as part of a 1998 symposium by HUD and HHS entitled “Practical Lessons” ! http://www.naeh.org/back/ Analyses and alerts on the latest policy developments related to homelessness -includes HUD appropriations bills, housing legislation, and reauthorization proposals for HUD Homelessness Programs and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) ! http://www.endhomelessness.org/pol/ Links to key statistical documents on Homelessness in the U.S. that can be used for grant-writing and public awareness activities ! http://www.endhomelessness.org/back/ Links to over 40 national organizations and government agencies addressing issues related to homelessness ! http://www.endhomelessness.org/links/

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Model Plan to End Family Homelessness

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Letter from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg 2

Acknowledgments 3

Introduction 4

Chapter 1: Overcome Street Homelessness 7

Chapter 2: Prevent Homelessness 11

Chapter 3: Coordinate Discharge Planning 15

Chapter 4: Coordinate City Services and Benefits 18

Chapter 5: Minimize Disruption to Families who Experience Homelessness 22

Chapter 6: Minimize Duration of Homelessness 25

Chapter 7: Shift Resources into Preferred Solutions 29

Chapter 8: Provide Resources for Vulnerable Populations to Access and Afford Housing 32

Chapter 9: Measure Progress, Evaluate Success, and Invest in Continuous Improvement 36

AppendixGuiding Principles APrevention Principles BPlanning Process CCoordinating Committee DTask Force Members E

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Dear Friends:

All across America, small towns and large cities are experiencing increased levels of homelessness. This is certainly the case in New York City, where we continue to see record levels of homeless men, women, andfamilies in shelters each night.

I am proud to report that over the past two and a half years, the City launched a series of initiatives aimed atstrengthening our response to those in need – and we have made significant progress. The Department ofHomeless Services introduced new homeless prevention initiatives, helped record numbers of people leaveshelters and find permanent homes,and asked those receiving shelter services to take steps to help themselvesand move toward self-sufficiency.

To address the long-term concerns, my administration released The New Housing Marketplace, a plan to buildand preserve more than 65,000 homes and apartments in neighborhoods around the City. Sustainedinvestment in affordable housing is fundamental to our long-term economic prosperity, as well as to overcominghomelessness. We must continue to find innovative ways to support affordable and supportive housingdevelopment, even in challenging economic times.

Uniting for Solutions Beyond Shelter is a 10-year action plan that brings together the business, nonprofit, andpublic sector communities to address the challenging issue of homelessness at its core, rather than manage itat the margins. It reflects my strong belief that every individual and family deserves safe, affordable housing –a goal we can achieve through proactive, coordinated action and investments in cost-effective initiatives thatsolve homelessness.

I look forward to working with you to achieve these important objectives that will further improve our greatCity for all New Yorkers.

Sincerely,

Michael R. BloombergMayor

TH E CI T Y O F NE W YO R KOF F I C E O F T H E MAY O RNE W YO R K, NY 10007

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Uniting for Solutions Beyond Shelter is the result of the dedication and generosity of numerous New Yorkers. Manythanks are extended to:

• Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, Peter Madonia, and William C. Rudin for their leadership in co-chairing the planning and initiative development process;

• The commissioners and their staff members at participating agencies;

• Presenters and special guests at the planning conference;

• The homeless and formerly homeless individuals who offered input throughout the process;

• All the other experts who donated their time to working with the task forces;

• Nan Roman and the National Alliance to End Homelessness for their advocacy and support; and

• Philip Mangano, Executive Director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness,for his guidance and support.

The City of New York is grateful to the following organizations and individuals for their support and donations:

• The Association of the Bar of the City of New York• The Association for a Better New York• B.R. Guest, Inc.• Brooklyn Botanical Gardens• John P. Curran• John Feerick• The New York Community Trust• The New York Times Foundation, Inc.• The Rockefeller Foundation• The Sirus Fund• The Starr Foundation• United Way of New York City

Special thanks go to members of the coordinating committee for their leadership and insight, and to all the task force members for their willingness to share their knowledge and work tirelessly towards the completion of the plan. A detailed list of the coordinating committee and task force participants is included in the appendices.

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INTRODUCTIONThe City of New York has created the most comprehensiveand extensive shelter services system in the world.

In the last decade, approximately 4.6 billion dollars havebeen spent building and maintaining a network of emer-gency shelters and an astounding 416,720 individuals,including 163,438 children, have received shelter servicesduring this time. New Yorkers can take pride in the com-passion and generosity that has come to characterize thecity’s response to those in need.

But as vast resources and energy have been focused oncreating and maintaining this extensive shelter network,the discussion around how best to address homelessnesshas become a discussion about the provision of shelter,rather than long-term solutions.

As a result of these factors and a persistent and signifi-cant affordable housing crisis, the number of people inshelter continues to exist at extremely high levels.The average daily census in the shelter system for the firstnine months of fiscal year 2004 hovered around 38,200individuals, including 16,100 children. Several thousandadditional men and women remain on city streets.

Highlighting the need for a new response to homeless-ness are the following observations, made by publicofficials, homeless services providers, and business andnonprofit leaders.

• Street homelessness should not be accepted as a fact of city life.Today it is.

• Children should not grow up in homeless shelters.Today they do.

• Incentives should not encourage or needlessly prolong dependence on shelters.Today they do just that.

• Direct discharges of clients from other service systems into shelters represent failures of public agencies.Today,discharges to shelter occur frequently.

• Long-term shelter stays represent a failure of the systemand a negative outcome for those in shelter.Today this is commonplace.

• Tax dollars earmarked for homelessness should support solutions like prevention, rental assistance, and supportivehousing.Today they mainly support shelters.

• No single public agency – indeed, not even a single sector – can by itself overcome the complex issue of chronic homelessness.

Today, the city’s first line of response to nearly any type ofhousing instability – i.e., potential eviction, householdtension, medical emergency, or falling behind on rent – isshelter. Despite the fact that the shelter system wasdesigned specifically to protect people from the streets,shelter has become the de facto, institutionalizedresponse to wide-ranging needs – many of which couldbe better addressed with nuanced and more flexibleinterventions that help people stabilize housing, retaincommunity ties, or transition successfully from institu-tional or custodial settings to community housing.

Ensuring access to shelter to those in need remains a corevalue. A “shelter first” response to any and every need orhousing crisis, however, will continue to drive up costsand shelter usage, while diverting attention away fromprevention, supportive housing, and other community-based interventions that solve homelessness.

TAKING ACTIONIn November 2003, Mayor Bloomberg convened anunprecedented group of public, private, and nonprofitleaders to develop a 10-year, multi-sector strategy toaddress these concerns and strengthen the city’sresponse. A 41-member coordinating committee, as wellas hundreds of task force participants and experts convenedfrom November 2003 through April 2004 to produce anine-point strategy.That strategy aims to:

1. Overcome street homelessness2. Prevent homelessness3. Coordinate discharge planning4. Coordinate city services and benefits5. Minimize disruptions to families whose homelessness

cannot be prevented 6. Minimize duration of homelessness7. Shift resources into preferred solutions 8. Provide resources for vulnerable populations to access

and afford housing9. Measure progress, evaluate success, and invest in

continuous improvement

In ways large and small, these strategies will reshape thecity’s approach to assisting at-risk and homeless NewYorkers. Collectively they will:

• Create a roadmap that invests new money and redirects existing resources from shelters to expanded community-based prevention programs and other housing solutions.

UNITING FOR SOLUTIONS BEYOND SHELTER:THE ACTION PLAN FOR NEW YORK CITY

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• Raise the level of public awareness and communityinvolvement to challenge a collective acceptance ofhomelessness both on the streets and in shelter.

• Bring public agencies together in a coordinated campaignto maximize available government assistance to those in need and to reduce institution-to-institution dischargesthat result in homelessness.

• Reverse the trend in which families and individuals whobecome homeless remain homeless for excessively longperiods of time, with a particular emphasis on preventingchronic homelessness in shelters and on the streets.

• Ensure access to shelter for those in need, whileaffirming the responsibilities of those receiving servicesto move toward self-sufficiency.

Achieving reforms of this magnitude will require differentspending priorities, policies, and programs. Uniting forSolutions Beyond Shelter includes the principles, concepts,and policy directions that will guide the city over the nextdecade.

NEXT STEPSFollowing the release of this plan, a full implementationstrategy will be developed within 60 days.This will identifyresponsible authorities for each task, as well as a workplan with timeframes.The strategy will include targetsand milestones, which will gauge progress in achievingthe following key indicators:

• Decrease in the number of individuals living on the streets and in other public spaces

• Increase in the number of people leaving shelter to stable housing

• Increase in the supply of affordable,service-enriched and supportive housing

• Decrease in the number of applications for shelter• Decrease in the length of stay in shelter• Decrease in the total number of people in shelter

Uniting for Solutions Beyond Shelter represents the poten-tial to deliver improved outcomes to those at risk ofhomelessness, as well as those already homeless in NewYork City. By incorporating the best thinking and contri-butions of the public, private, and nonprofit communities,the potential for a true citywide campaign to effectivelyreduce homelessness and better meet the needs of thoseat risk becomes possible.

ON ENDING CHRONIC HOMELESSNESSThe national conversation is shifting from “managing” to“ending” homelessness, especially chronic homelessness.New York City embraces the goal of ending chronichomelessness in 10 years. At the same time, the way inwhich New York City experiences homelessness is differ-ent from other jurisdictions. The scope of Uniting forSolutions Beyond Shelter, therefore, must also be different.Broader commitments to preventing and divertinghomelessness and rapidly re-housing those who dobecome homeless will do much to overcome the massurban homelessness now experienced in New York City.

For the purpose of measuring progress toward endingchronic homelessness, the following definition will be used:

• A chronically homeless individual is any currently homeless individual (including single adults and individuals in adult couples) who is disabled and has been homeless for at least 365 days of the last 2 years,not necessarily consecutive; or any currently homeless individual who has been homeless for 730 days of the last 4 years, not necessarily consecutive.

• A chronically homeless family is a currently homeless family that has been homeless for at least 365 days of the last 2 years, not necessarily consecutive.

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Source: DHS Administrative Data

Source: DHS Administrative Data

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THE CHALLENGE

Several thousand homeless individuals remain on citystreets despite the fact that the city guarantees freeshelter and sponsors outreach teams that work aroundthe clock to encourage street homeless individuals tocome inside.

Many of these individuals, especially those who arechronically street homeless, believe that remaining out-side makes more sense than entering the shelter systemas it now exists. Some acknowledge that they cannotmaintain sobriety or comply with program require-ments. Others resist the structure and order that com-munal shelter life requires. And others believe thatshelters are unsafe, despite many gains in creatingsafer environments over the years.

The street homeless population is largely comprised ofindividuals with mental illness and/or substance abuseissues. They are survivors, having forged lives in publicspaces for many years. No doubt, the generosity ofpassers-by enables many to remain on the streets.

New York City’s outreach teams and drop-in center staffare successful in convincing some individuals to giveprograms or shelter a chance. But outreach and drop-incenter efforts are under-equipped for the task at hand.There is, at times, a lack of coordination with other pro-grams that provide aid.These nonprofit organizationsare limited by an inability to offer individuals flexibleservice options – especially in that fleeting momentwhen engagement is possible.

SOLUTIONS

A successful effort to overcome street homelessnessmust ensure the availability of and easy access to safeand viable alternatives to the street.This must be cou-pled with accountability mechanisms that hold providers,as well as public agencies, responsible for producingresults.

Ending street homelessness also requires an acknowl-edgment that street homelessness is harmful for thosewho live in public spaces, and has negative effects onthe communities and areas in which street homeless-ness proliferates. For humanitarian and quality of lifereasons alike, people on the street should be helped andstreet homelessness, as a condition of urban life, shouldnot be tolerated.

The initiatives in this chapter build on best practices,such as the coordination and expansion of outreach anddrop-in center services. They expand “housing first”options and low-threshold shelter – permanent andtransitional housing models that first focus on movingpeople from the streets and incorporating progressiveservices over time.They also establish goals and targetsfor reducing street homelessness complete with neigh-borhood-by-neighborhood strategies and strongaccountability standards for agencies and providers.

In the last decade, tremendous progress has been madein reducing the number of individuals living on thestreets, yet street homelessness remains a fixture of citylife. The knowledge and skills to end it exist. What’sneeded now is the commitment of resources and thepolitical will to make it happen. The initiatives hereprovide that critical foundation.

OVERCOME STREET HOMELESSNESS

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Source: DHS Homeless Outreach Population Estimate 2004

Source: DHS Administrative Data

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The Next Step Current Status Taking Action

Expand the Capacity ofDrop-in Centers

New York City currently has 10 drop-incenters that offer street homeless indi-viduals a range of social and medicalservices, assistance in accessing bene-fits, and permanent or transitionalhousing placement services.Thesecenters are effective at engagingthose who wouldn’t ordinarily comeinto shelter.

The capacity and coordination ofdrop-in centers will be expanded.Using data from the annual street survey in conjunction with input fromoutreach providers, the city will workto ensure increased availability ofservices, particularly in underservedareas.

Create an AccessibleCitywide ClinicalDatabase

A database system containing demo-graphics, lodging and housing history(including hospitalization and incar-ceration), clinical information, anddetails about prior homelessnessepisodes will be created.This systemwill be accessible to participatinghomeless outreach and drop-in serviceproviders and others to share informa-tion to better engage clients. Safeguardsto ensure client confidentiality will beestablished and maintained.

At this time, no system exists to collect,manage, and share information aboutstreet homeless individuals whoreceive services from drop-in centersand outreach programs. Because manystreet homeless individuals arenomadic, they receive services from avariety of providers in different loca-tions.The absence of a citywide data-base sometimes slows the process ofengagement and may actually hinderoutreach efforts.

TAKING ACTION

Establish a CitywideOutreach/Drop-in CenterCoordinating Council

Dozens of organizations today servestreet homeless individuals, yet thereis no system in place to facilitate formal communication or coordinationamong them. As a result, efforts areduplicated, some opportunities toreach homeless individuals are lost,and resources are not coordinated or maximized.

A citywide coordinating council willguide and coordinate policy and practice of providers engaged in outreach and drop-in services. It willensure that providers and city agenciesestablish and meet goals for reducingstreet homelessness. It will also ensurebetter coordination among groupswhose different funding streams haveled to varied approaches.

Reconfigure OutreachServices

Historically, outreach programshaven’t employed clinically trainedstaff or utilized a traditional casemanagement approach for thosewith co-occurring mental health orsubstance abuse issues. Outreachprograms have had few resourcesbeyond shelter to offer those wholive on the streets.

Borough-based, multidisciplinary out-reach teams will offer comprehensiveintegrated treatment for co-occurringmental health, substance abuse, andmedical issues (particularly HIV).Thenew approach will include a strongpeer component, enhanced ties tolocal communities, and increasedaccess to permanent and transitionalhousing options with minimal entryrequirements.

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The Next Step Current Status Taking Action

Conduct Citywide StreetEstimate Annually

A complete estimate of the size of thestreet homeless population in New YorkCity does not exist. The HomelessOutreach Population Estimate (HOPE),apoint-in-time estimate of the streethomeless population, has been con-ducted in Brooklyn, Manhattan, andStaten Island.The lack of an annual city-wide estimate makes it difficult to knowif outreach programs are reducingstreet homelessness.

In 2005, HOPE, which is carried outwith the assistance of hundreds of volunteers, will be conducted in all fiveboroughs. It will be repeated on thesame night of the year, every yearmoving forward.The estimates will beused to measure the effectiveness ofoutreach programs and ensure thatprograms adapt to changing conditionson the streets.

Three smaller intake centers will beopened throughout the city to easeentry into the shelter system for singleadult men.The new centers will includea user-friendly design, a computerizedbed reservation system to ensure swiftplacements, and enhanced staffingmodels.

The 30th Street Men’s Shelter in midtownManhattan is currently the only placefor homeless men to enter the sheltersystem.The large number of people thatreceive services there, the perception ofthe site as unsafe, and its inaccessibility tomen living on the streets in other bor-oughs discourages some homeless menfrom seeking shelter.

Decentralize Men’s Intake

Expand “Housing First”Options for Those on theStreet

The existing range of services doesnot meet the needs of some streethomeless individuals. Chronicallystreet homeless individuals, in particu-lar, may not be able to meet therequirements (such as sobriety) ofexisting programs. In other words, the“threshold” is too high.

Permanent housing program modelsthat couple supportive services withindividual apartments,single rooms,orother housing options,will be expanded.This “housing first”strategy,which hasproven extremely effective in engagingchronically street homeless individualsto leave the streets,aims to stabilize indi-viduals in permanent housing and thenprovide services that lead to recovery,stability,and ultimately independence.

Expand TransitionalPrograms with LowThreshold/ProgressiveDemand

Transitional housing models thatrequire less of individuals in the begin-ning and more over time will beexpanded.These models include “SafeHavens,”which are similar to drop-incenters but have onsite beds,and shelterprograms that accept people directlyfrom the street and subsequently engagethem in drug and alcohol rehabilitation.

Some street homeless individuals rejectexisting services. Others are unable toaccess them or meet entry require-ments. Many existing programs haverequirements that are in fact unattain-able, especially to those with profoundmental health or substance abuseissues.

Create Community StreetPopulation Estimates,Targets, andAccountabilityMechanisms

Once taken citywide,HOPE data will beused to target neighborhoods withhigh levels of street homelessness.Neighborhood-based policies will then beenacted to reduce street homelessness inhigh concentration areas,encouragingand supporting communities to addressthe issue locally. Outreach providers inthese areas will establish goals and beheld accountable for reducing the localstreet homeless population.

There is no estimate of the neigh-borhoods with the highest concen-trations of street homelessindividuals. Therefore, no targetedplan to reduce homelessness inthese areas exists.

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THE CHALLENGE

Thousands of people enter shelter each year withouthaving benefited from homeless prevention programs.Some attempt to receive aid, but the assistance fails or isotherwise insufficient. Many do not seek aid from exist-ing programs that might have stabilized or saved theirhousing.

Families who become homeless in New York City typi-cally enter shelter after leaving a shared living situation,usually with immediate family members. Single adultsgenerally become homeless after leaving an institutionor losing housing. Most of these families and individualsare grappling with underlying issues that precipitatedtheir housing crisis.

Today, the overwhelming majority of resources and pro-grams that help those with housing instability only takeeffect after someone has become homeless. Whileensuring shelter to those in need is critical, the thrust ofresources should be spent preventing rather than shel-tering homelessness.

SOLUTIONS

The initiatives outlined in this chapter shift priorities andservices to homelessness prevention, primarily bystrengthening programs, resources, and collaborationsat the community level. Innovative programs that focuson helping landlords and tenants avoid evictions athousing court will also be pursued. It is at these commu-nity locations that the underlying needs of those at riskcan be spotted and addressed.

Making this shift will require some trade-offs, as well asdisciplined decision making.This will include takingaffirmative steps to ensure that prevention programsoffer meaningful alternatives to shelter services, usingdata and cross-agency partnerships to target resourcesto those at risk, and creating strong accountability provi-sions to ensure providers, agencies, and those receivingprevention services all take necessary steps to make pre-ventive interventions work.

It is well documented that preventing an episode ofhomelessness costs less than sheltering an episode ofhomelessness – and the potential to generate cost sav-ings is important. But shifting the city’s reliance awayfrom an ever-expanding network of shelters to expandedand integrated community-based prevention servicespresents the potential for achieving something moreimportant: diminishing the trauma and dislocation thathomelessness causes in the lives of too many individualsand families.

PREVENT HOMELESSNESS

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Source: Vera Institute of Justice and DHS Administrative Data

Source: DHS Administrative Data

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The Next Step Current Status Taking Action

Introduce Innovations toHousing Court to Focus onHomelessness Prevention

In certain cases, evictions are orderedbecause the tenant is unable to obtainproof of income and benefit docu-mentation.There is little support cur-rently available at housing court toprevent these avoidable evictions.

Expand Aftercare Initiatives High rates of families and individualswho leave shelter re-experiencehomelessness after losing permanenthousing again. Aftercare servicesincrease the likelihood for some toachieve stability in their new homesand communities. Historically, theseservices have been provided to alimited number of high-risk families,and only to those who have wantedthem.

Aftercare services will be expanded sothat more families and individuals benefitfrom them.These programs will beevaluated to learn the best ways tohelp at-risk households avoid anotherexperience in shelter. Services will bemandatory for those who need, butreject, this assistance.

ImplementCommunity-BasedPrevention Services

In 2004, DHS launched the HouseholdStability Initiative, a neighborhood-based homeless prevention program,in six communities that experiencehigh rates of homelessness. An evalua-tion of this program will follow. DHSwill continue to expand the programto reach more communities, individuals,and families with rental assistance,anti-eviction services,and other preven-tion initiatives.

Shelter has often been the first andonly assistance offered to families, sin-gle adults, and couples faced withhousing instability. In addition, rentalassistance, anti-eviction services, andgeneral casework that may preventhomelessness have only been offeredon a limited basis.

Provide “Brief” LegalServices

City-funded nonprofit legal serviceswill provide a more flexible range ofservices. Full legal representation willbe available in some instances, whilebrief legal assistance (such as draftinga document or negotiating with alandlord) will be available in others.This will increase the number of peo-ple receiving assistance, while maxi-mizing public resources.

Currently, there is a “one size fits all”approach to providing anti-evictionlegal services. This results in some ten-ants getting more anti-eviction legalservices than needed, while others areunable to access these services.

The New York City Civil Court willcoordinate with public agencies toconduct case conferences and addressissues that may result in an eviction.Community court models that stresslandlord-tenant mediation will be exa-mined and best practices incorporated.

TAKING ACTION

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The Next Step Current Status Taking Action

Implement Standards ofClient and ProviderResponsibility inPrevention Interventions

Individuals and providers do not atthis time benefit from clearly definedroles and responsibilities that ensurethat expectations are clear and bestoutcomes achieved, as preventionservices are received and administered.

Enhance Client Involvementand Self-Advocacy

Despite the fact that programs andservices are designed to meet theneeds of clients, they have had littlerole in shaping those programs.Thishas led to missed opportunities fordeveloping services that empowerclients and take the strengths ofclients into consideration.

Those responsible for creating pro-grams will include clients as partnersin program development and deci-sion-making.This builds on the beliefthat when clients are able to advocatefor themselves, clients and communi-ties benefit. Opportunities to includeclient participation will be activelypursued.

Include HRA AdultProtective Services(APS) as a FullPartner in TargetingPrevention Services

A joint HRA-DHS initiative will assist inpreventing homelessness among APSclients. Also, at-risk individuals whoare not eligible for APS services will bereferred, when appropriate, to preven-tion and aftercare programs.

APS helps special populations, such assenior citizens,adult dependent children,and developmentally delayed individuals.At this time it does not link thosedeemed ineligible for its services tohomeless prevention programs.

Make Alternative HousingSolutions Preferable toShelter

Programs will continue to provide safeand appropriate shelter and servicesto those in need. Incentives that makeshelter preferable to available housingoptions will be redirected into com-munity-based prevention settings.Other options, including supportivehousing, will also be expanded as apreventive intervention.

Most people who receive shelter serv-ices are homeless and have nowhereelse to go. In some instances, however,shelter may be seen as preferable to analternative housing situation.

Standards of mutual responsibility willbe introduced in homeless preventionprograms. A principle will be estab-lished that individuals and familiesreceiving prevention services mustparticipate and take responsibleaction to the extent they are capable.

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THE CHALLENGE

One common avenue into homelessness is a “discharge”into shelter from another custodial or institutional set-ting. Data show that significant portions of the singleadult population, in particular, become homeless inthis way.

Adults leaving jails and prisons, for example, often entershelter immediately after release or after a less-than-stable housing situation falls through.These individualsoften have few social or family supports to lean on andface major challenges finding employment, stayingclean and sober, and accessing housing or rental assis-tance.Taken together, these challenges are difficult toovercome.

Institutional discharges occur from other settings aswell. Adults discharged from mental health facilities andhospitals routinely enter shelter.Young people agingout of foster care sometimes have nowhere else to turn.Too often, parents reunifying with children who havebeen in foster care do so in shelter. Many times, clientsfind themselves applying for shelter after being advisedto do so or referred by a social worker from anotherservice system.

While ensuring shelter to those in need is critical, thereality is that shelter is no substitute for permanenthousing or the stability that comes with it. For many ofthese vulnerable populations, stable housing is key torecovery or successful integration back into community.Homeless shelters are neither equipped nor meant toserve this purpose.

SOLUTIONS

The initiatives in this chapter outline new commitmentsand increased partnerships to reduce the number ofindividuals and families leaving one system and enteringanother.They embrace the notion that homelessness isan outcome that all agencies and institutions shouldwork to prevent.

Promising new collaborations between the Departmentof Correction and the Department of Homeless Services,which focus on reducing homelessness and re-incarcera-tion, will be expanded. A pilot undertaken by the StateDivision of Parole that helps parolees currently in shelterquickly transition to permanent housing will also beexpanded. Ongoing work by the Administration forChildren’s Services will continue to be strengthened tobring the stability of permanent housing to high-riskpopulations.

For many years, shelter-providing agencies have beendiscussing the high number of individuals and familiesdischarged into homelessness. Uniting for SolutionsBeyond Shelter replaces that discussion with the activeparticipation of all key agencies and institutions neededto reduce this pervasive trend.

COORDINATE DISCHARGE PLANNING

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Source: Dept. of Correction and DHS Administrative Data

Source: Study by Park, Metraux, Brodbar and Culhane (2004) using ACS and DHS Administrative Data

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The Next Step Current Status Taking Action

Coordinate DischargePlanning for IndividualsEntering Shelter fromPrison

Many individuals released from stateprisons enter shelter each year. A pilotprogram between the State Divisionof Parole and DHS, which was startedin 2002, helps parolees move fromshelter to independence.

Coordinate DischargePlanning for IndividualsEntering Shelter fromHospitals and Community-based Treatment Facilities

Some at-risk or homeless individualsin hospitals, mental health facilities,and substance abuse programs enteror return to homeless shelters aftercycles of care.Too often, shelters areused as a discharge resource, yet shel-ters and homelessness do not offerthe stability these individuals needduring recovery.

Providers and treatment facilities willdevelop a range of initiatives todecrease the number of people leavingtreatment facilities for shelter. Anaccountability and evaluation systemwill be created to monitor and improveresults.Referrals,when appropriate, tosupportive housing settings for at-riskindividuals will be encouraged.

Coordinate DischargePlanning for IndividualsEntering Shelter from Jail

New efforts are underway to preventdischarges from jails into homelessshelters and re-entries from sheltersinto jails. These initiatives focus onhelping former inmates gain employ-ment and substance abuse assistance,as well as access to other benefits orassistance that helps them find hous-ing stability.

Many individuals released from jailenter shelter each year. Studies showthat these individuals are more likelythan others to end up in jail again. Formany, a pattern of cycling back andforth between jail and shelter devel-ops – at great cost to individuals andsociety alike.

Coordinate City Servicesand Benefits in a ChildWelfare Collaboration

Initiatives will help families reunite inhousing rather than shelter so theycan avoid the negative consequencesof homelessness at a moment of familyvulnerability. Efforts to connect teensaging out of foster care with supportedindependent living programs will alsobe pursued.

Some parents with children in fostercare are ready to bring their familiesback together, but need housing inorder to create a stable home environ-ment. Sometimes these families reunitein a homeless shelter, which does notprovide the stability of permanenthousing. Also, when young adults ageout of foster care they experience anincreased risk of homelessness.

The current pilot program will be eval-uated and, if successful, expanded.State and local agencies will increasethe use of data to understand the sizeof the problem, increase access toresources that lead to housing stabil-ity, and form new partnerships thathelp ex-prisoners with mental illnessavoid homelessness.

TAKING ACTION

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THE CHALLENGE

Homelessness is triggered by the loss of housing, butthe loss of housing is usually precipitated by the presenceof other risk factors.These include poverty; a history ofchildhood housing instability or incarceration; a lack ofadequate education, employment readiness or opportu-nity; and the presence of mental health or substanceabuse issues.

By the time individuals and families reach out for shelter,many have had long histories of interaction with othersocial service agencies and providers. Yet these agen-cies do not routinely or easily share information witheach other to create integrated service plans,maximizeresources available to clients, and decrease housinginstability that may lead to homelessness.

In addition, eligibility rules and the service approaches ofvarying agencies sometimes come into conflict, leavingclients confused or unaware of services that can helpthem. These disruptions can add to the challenges at-risk or homeless New Yorkers already face.

SOLUTIONS

At-risk and homeless New Yorkers are typically eligibleto receive a wide range of benefits from federal, state,and local agencies.The initiatives in this chapter aim toensure that benefits are maximized and services stream-lined in order to increase stability in their lives.

New case conferencing models will bring together caseworkers from multiple agencies to problem solveand mitigate barriers their shared clients may face. Newtechnologies will enable caseworkers to share informa-tion about those they serve – again to troubleshootmore effectively on their client’s behalf. An emphasis onensuring access to benefits at the community level isalso included.

The ultimate goal for those serving homeless and at-riskNew Yorkers is to help them move toward self-sufficiency.By ensuring the streamlined delivery of services to individuals and families during their most vulnerablemoment, public agencies work to advance this important goal.

COORDINATE CITY SERVICES AND BENEFITS

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Source: HRA and DHS Administrative Data

Source: HRA and DHS Administrative Data

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The Next Step Current Status Taking Action

Implement Cross-AgencyCase Conferencing

Clients often receive services frommultiple public agencies.Yet eachagency is designed to address a spe-cific issue.This can lead to conflictingdirections and a fragmentedapproach. Few opportunities exist forclients to interact with multiple agen-cies at the same time in order to cre-ate coordinated service plans.

Deliver and CoordinateServices and Benefits at theCommunity Level

Individuals seeking and receiving services are not always able to do so intheir neighborhood. Community-basedproviders experience frustration as theyattempt to access benefits from multi-ple agencies for their clients.

With services delivered at a communitylevel through neighborhood groups,holistic service plans that build onclients’ strengths and minimize theirfrustrations will be developed.The citywill pilot this effort in one communityin order to develop strategies that canbe taken citywide.

Coordinate City’s HumanServices and Benefits with a“One-City” Integrated CaseManagement System

A “one-city” case management systemwill improve information sharing, thedelivery of resources, and the ability ofclients to receive timely and responsiveaid. It will include every appropriatesafeguard to ensure confidentiality.

Some people receive services frommany public agencies, yet there are notechnologies in place to systematicallyshare information from one agency tothe next.This leads to unnecessarywaiting periods for clients, as well assome duplication of work for cityagencies and clients.

Implement New Tools toImprove Access to Benefits

The city will expand use of computer-ized technologies to help calculate thebenefits at-risk and homeless NewYorkers are eligible to receive.This willenable caseworkers to help themaccess and learn about appropriateresources,in order to avoid homelessnessor move from shelter to permanenthousing and self-sufficiency.

Many people who are eligible for butdo not receive benefits have difficultykeeping housing and accessing services.Technologies do exist that minimizeaccess challenges, but they are not inwidespread use.

Mechanisms will be created to enableand ensure that agency case workerscollaborate with colleagues at otheragencies.This will help to avoid con-tradictory decisions and reduce dupli-cated efforts. Clients will participate increating service plans and addressingproblems, stressing a client-centeredand strengths-based approach toservices.

TAKING ACTION

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The Next Step Current Status Taking Action

Pursue “Express Eligibility” Individuals who are eligible for onepublic benefit are often eligible toreceive others. Yet agencies haveseparate application processes and donot share information.This creates lostopportunities for clients and duplicativestaff efforts.

Expand Benefits AccessSupports

A unit at DHS called the CaseManagement Field Team has beenvery successful in helping homelessfamilies who are eligible for publicassistance access those benefits. Otherhomeless populations, however, donot receive similar assistance.

The city will expand the unit’sresponsibilities and the populationsserved, with a particular focus on prevention assistance.

Coordinate Services andBenefits to ChronicallyHomeless Individuals

New strategies to link street homelessindividuals with available assistancewill be pursued. Cross-agency partner-ships and accountability mechanismsto track outcomes will be developed.

Many chronically homeless people,particularly street homeless individu-als, are eligible for a range of federal,state, and local benefits that couldhelp them access services and leavethe streets. Accessing benefits is diffi-cult, often because of the mentalhealth or substance abuse issues theyexperience.

Advance Take CareNew York CommunityInitiatives

As close points of contact to at-riskNew Yorkers, new community-basedprevention providers will provide educational materials and make referrals that support the goals ofTake Care New York. This will supportthe Department of Health and MentalHygiene’s health-related preventionefforts and reduce reliance on acutecare interventions like emergency rooms.

People living in poverty experiencehigh rates of HIV, depression, substanceabuse, mental health problems, andother medical issues. The city recentlyreleased Take Care New York, a healthpolicy that prioritizes actions that helpindividuals, health care providers, andNew York City as a whole improve itshealth.

New standards will be developed sothat individuals who are known to beeligible for one benefit will have accessto a shortened review for other benefitsor an assumption of eligibility in limitedinstances.This may include a shareddatabase between participating agencies.

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THE CHALLENGE

The reasons that families approach the city for assis-tance are as diverse as they are complicated.Yet the his-toric response to almost any type of housing instabilityhas been shelter.This “one size fits all” reliance on shelterhas come at a particularly high cost to children, who arepulled away from their communities, their friends, andtheir schools.

Nowhere is this more obvious than at the EmergencyAssistance Unit (EAU), the family intake center located inthe South Bronx. Crowded conditions and late nightbusing to one-night shelters, for example, take a toll onthousands of families applying for shelter each year.

Throughout the years, the push and pull of well-mean-ing court orders and administrative policies has createdan intake process that does not meet the needs of at-risk and homeless families. As a result, staff’s ability toeffectively assess and address the needs of families isundermined. At best, families are merely processed intohomelessness.

SOLUTIONS

As a result of a landmark settlement in homeless familylitigation, a three-member court appointed panel hasconducted thorough evaluations of homelessnessprevention and the family intake and eligibility processes.The City of New York is committed to achieving reformsin these areas.

The initiatives in this chapter incorporate actions aroundfamily intake and eligibility into the city’s long-termstrategy. Key areas of focus include increasing preven-tion at the intake office, streamlining the applicationprocess, and assuring that families whose homelessnesscannot be prevented are placed quickly into shelters intheir home communities, when appropriate.

A system that provides timely, humane, and effectiveassistance to at-risk and homeless families mustembrace holistic and thoughtful policies and practices.The initiatives listed here create that new foundation.

MINIMIZE DISRUPTION TO FAMILIES WHOEXPERIENCE HOMELESSNESS

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Source: DHS Administrative Data

Source: DHS Administrative Data

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The Next Step Current Status Taking Action

Streamline Application andEligibility Process at FamilyShelter Intake

When a family applies for shelter theprocess can take two to four days. Inaddition, the intake office’s ability toserve homeless families is challengedbecause many families who are nothomeless attempt to have their needsaddressed in shelter when other assis-tance could work.

Expedite ShelterPlacements from FamilyShelter Intake

When a family first applies for shelter,they are often placed for one or twonights in a temporary placement.Thisoften results from the fact that manyshelters do not accept certain types offamilies, such as those with adult menor adolescents. In addition, manyshelters do not take placements lateat night, so families are left to stay in temporary placements until the next day.

A key goal of a reformed process ismaking a conditional placement onthe same day a family applies for shelter.This will require many morefamily shelters to accept all family typesand to do so at any hour of the day.

Reinforce Prevention andDiversion at FamilyShelter Intake

The current system of family shelterintake must be reworked to focusmore attention on prevention andother forms of emergency assistance.A redundancy of efforts to help familiesfind a way to avoid homelessness willbe built into the intake process.

When families leave housing andapproach the homeless system, somemay still be able to benefit from alter-native emergency assistance or pre-vention services. Today, very fewfamilies receive and/or ask for thisassistance. In addition, the range andeffectiveness of prevention resourcesdoes not meet the current need.

Place Families In SheltersNear Their HomeCommunities

The city will continue to place home-less families in shelters in their homecommunities whenever possible andappropriate. In particular, efforts willbe made to increase the number offamilies who are placed in a shelter inthe school district of the youngestchild.

Historically, there has been little priorityplaced on sheltering homeless familiesin their own communities.This hasmade it more difficult for some familiesto maintain community and family ties,while making it hard for children toremain in their own schools. Recent initiatives have begun to reverse thesetrends.

The city will implement major reformsto shorten the application process,improve the physical space of an intakecenter, and direct those families who donot need shelter to more appropriatesupports and resources.

TAKING ACTION

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MINIMIZE DURATION OF HOMELESSNESS

THE CHALLENGE

Over the past 20 years, vast improvements have beenmade in shelter conditions and services. During thissame time, the average length of shelter stays hasgrown.The average family today stays in shelter for justover 11 months. Nineteen percent of families stay formore than a year and a half. Sixteen percent of the singleadults in shelter use more then 50% of all of theresources.

These longer-term stays are caused by a number of fac-tors, including the lack of affordable housing. Historically,there’s been a lack of urgency in helping families andsingle adults prepare for and secure permanent housing(although significant progress has been made by familyproviders). Some clients have also been reluctant toleave, preferring the safe and stable living arrangementsprovided at no cost. Pathways out of shelter do not existfor many who are challenged in living independentlywithout supports.

All of these factors have created a need for the city tocontinue to build more and more shelter. After all, whenthe number of people entering shelter exceeds thenumber of people leaving, shelter expansion becomesnecessary.

SOLUTIONS

Shelter must again become a short-term and emergencyintervention for the overwhelming majority of shelterresidents.The initiatives in this chapter advance a strategyto reduce the average length of stay, while helping toprevent long-term shelter stays.

First, a series of performance and accountability meas-ures will be strengthened.These include heightenedstandards for providers and fair expectations for clientsto move with greater urgency to independence.

In addition, targeted housing and rental assistance andsupportive housing resources will be made available tochronically homeless shelter residents in order to improvethe speed and likelihood of their transition to perma-nent housing.These resources will also be developed foradult couples without children, for whom permanencystrategies have not yet been developed.The city will alsoenhance its ability to intervene early with single adultswhose homelessness could be averted through referralsto anti-eviction and other services provided by commu-nity-based groups.

Long-term shelter stays represent a failure on the part ofpublic agencies, providers, and clients alike.While NewYork City will always have unique housing and afford-ability challenges, this does not mean that shelter stayscannot be shortened. Rather, a profound shift in cultureand expectation in combination with the resourcesincluded in this chapter can help individuals and familiesmore quickly overcome their homelessness.

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Source: DHS Administrative Data

Source: DHS Administrative Data

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The Next Step Current Status Taking Action

Ensure that Clients AssumeResponsibility for ReducingReliance on Shelter

Client responsibility standards – rulesand expectations for clients in carry-ing out a plan for self-sufficiency –were implemented in shelters in 2003.Rates of clients leaving shelter for per-manent housing, particularly amongfamilies, have increased since thesestandards were introduced.

Introduce New Tools toTrack and Assist Help Long-Term Shelter Residents

Criminal histories, public assistancebarriers, a lack of client participation,and other factors sometimes result inclients staying in shelter for excessiveperiods. In some instances, shelter staffhave not had the resources or helpneeded to transition these clients toindependence.The costs of extendedshelter stays are high for clients andtaxpayers.

New client monitoring tools will tracklong-term residents in shelters,enabling staff and public agencies totroubleshoot around particular cases.Shelters with unusually high rates oflong-term residents will be examinedand assisted.Technical assistance willbe provided throughout the system toreduce long-term stays.

Strengthen PerformanceManagement Systems forShelter Providers

Performance incentive programs willbe enhanced.This will further shift theculture of shelters from one thatfocuses on providing services to onethat focuses, first and foremost, onreturning clients to permanent housing.

Performance incentive programs,which encourage providers to helpclients move to permanent housing,are already in place in shelters.However, the average length of staycontinues to be too high.

Prioritize HousingResources for ChronicallyHomeless Individuals andFamilies

Recent efforts to prioritize chronicallyhomeless individuals for supportivehousing apartments have been suc-cessful and these efforts will beexpanded. In addition, efforts will bemade to expand rental assistance forthe population, as well as develop newmodels of supportive housing thatmeet their unique needs.

Chronically homeless people are, attimes, unable to access permanenthousing.This is due to an inability toqualify for subsidies, a lack of viablehousing options for this population, orunwillingness on the part of housingproviders and landlords to accept them.

The commitment to client involve-ment will be strengthened.The princi-ple that no individual or family will berequired to do any more than they arecapable of doing will be maintained.An evaluation of the standards will beconducted so that quality improve-ments can be made.

TAKING ACTION

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The Next Step Current Status Taking Action

Assist Single Adults at theFront End of the ShelterSystem to AvoidHomelessness or AvoidUnnecessarily Long Stays

When single adults approach the cityto access shelter, little effort is made tohelp those individuals who can avoidhomelessness do so. After enteringshelter, and even as an assessmentbegins, little effort is made to helpthose whose housing instability couldstill be addressed get necessary assis-tance.

Develop PermanencyInterventions for AdultFamilies

Increasing numbers of adult familieswithout children are seeking shelter.Their needs are unique from other populations and their reasons forneeding shelter range from domesticviolence to eviction to substancedependency and other issues.This subpopulation falls outside the traditional framework of family composition; therefore, targeted casemanagement and permanency strategies are underdeveloped.

Building on recent efforts to create aseparate intake office for these fami-lies, targeted services and community-based resources will be developed tohelp them transition from shelter topermanent housing options. Clientresponsibility standards will also bestrengthened.

Develop a MobileServices Model to BridgeTransition of ChronicallyHomeless Individualsand Families from Shelterto Housing

A new service intervention will be cre-ated to help chronically homeless peo-ple before, during, and after their moveto permanent housing – in order toensure the placement is successful.Once the client has moved and stabi-lized in permanent housing, case workwill focus on connecting these individ-uals to existing community-basedservices for ongoing care if necessary.

The transition of chronically homelesspeople from the shelter or the streetsto housing is extremely challenging.The transition itself may intensify thealready profound service needs theseindividuals and families have.Today,there are no “bridge” services that canhelp ensure a successful transition.

Support services will be added to theintake offices for single adults.Theseservices will help individuals reunitewith families, obtain anti-eviction serv-ices and financial assistance that canprevent homelessness, and enter alter-native residential settings for mentalhealth or substance abuse whenappropriate.

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THE CHALLENGE

The majority of public resources earmarked for home-lessness today are spent supporting shelters and shelterservices. In fact, for every dollar spent on prevention by thecity, three and a half are spent on shelter services by DHS.

In some ways, New York’s extraordinary commitment toguaranteeing shelter has had the unintended conse-quence of driving most resources into shelter. Meanwhile,those who provide services to homeless New Yorkersbelieve that further investments in prevention programs,rental assistance, and supportive housing are the bestway to actually solve homelessness.

In addition, funding streams from the state and federalgovernment reimburse the city for a portion of home-less shelter services. It is not known if these streams willalso reimburse prevention or aftercare services. As aresult, ensuring new and predictable funding streamsfor prevention services has been an ongoing challenge.

SOLUTIONS

The initiatives in this chapter explore approaches tosecuring money for prevention and other solutions tohomelessness. In a world of limited resources, and giventhe extraordinary commitment of resources now lockedinto shelters, this work will require flexibility, a commit-ment to change the status quo, and political will.

Initiatives include a first-ever cross-sector analysis offunding opportunities, obtaining waivers from state andfederal partners to support prevention programs withshelter dollars, and increased up-front investments onthe part of the city.

The results of implementing this “prevention first”agendamay not immediately be noticed, even though the costsof supporting the shelter system will continue. Only intime, as prevention programs are established and theculture begins to shift, will the shelter census decreaseand shelter savings materialize. Reinvesting these sav-ings into best performing prevention programs, as wellas converting shelters to supportive or affordable housing,are the logical – and much desired – consequences.

SHIFT RESOURCES INTO PREFERRED SOLUTIONS

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Source: DHS Budget

Source: DHS Budget

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The Next Step Current Status Taking Action

Obtain State and FederalWaivers to CurrentReimbursementLimitations

At the state and federal levels, fundsare not available to offset costs forprevention, aftercare, and other similarprograms.This creates concern, espe-cially at the local level, that investmentsin prevention will end up costingmore money than is saved.

Increase Up-FrontInvestments for PreventionModels

Almost all money for homelessness istied to shelter – and these costs con-tinue to rise.This makes it difficult tofind additional money to begin newprevention programs, even thoughthey have potential to reduce the shel-ter census and create shelter savingsin the future.

There will be an initial period of simul-taneously funding new preventionprograms and shelter until preventionefforts reduce the size and cost of theshelter system.This “seed money” willsupport programs such as theHousehold Stability Initiative, a newcommunity-based prevention pro-gram. In addition,existing programs willbe surveyed to identify potential pre-vention components.

Analyze ResourceReinvestment by Sector

A review of funding streams will beundertaken to evaluate the cost effec-tiveness of programs in terms of theirability to reduce the shelter census.This will explore opportunities to usefederal and state money now dedi-cated to shelter to support prevention,as well as strategies to reinvest costsavings into other effective solutions,such as supportive or service-enrichedhousing.

The majority of city, state, and federaldollars targeting homelessness arespent on shelter and shelter services.No analysis exists that reveals oppor-tunities for shifting these resources toprevention. Further, no analysis existsto know which prevention programshave the greatest potential to reducethe shelter census and save money.

Reinvest Targeted Savings Prevention programs will be evaluatedand the resulting shelter savings willbe reinvested in the most successfulprograms. In addition, savings fromreduced costs of shelter can be dedi-cated to expand housing resources forthe chronically homeless.

Because the shift from shelter to preferred solutions like prevention has yet to occur, no savings havebeen generated.

Close Shelters to ReinforceSavings

As prevention programs begin to reducethe shelter census, performance incen-tive programs and other criteria willbe used to determine which shelterswill be closed first. Opportunities forconverting shelters into supportive orpermanent housing will be maximized.Shelter-closing schedules will be exam-ined routinely to make sure that thereis always enough capacity to accom-modate fluctuations in the population.

For the last several years, the city hasaggressively increased the number ofshelters to house record levels of home-less people.The costs of opening andmaintaining these shelters areextremely high.

Federal and state funds will be securedand redirected through demonstrationprojects and other innovative fundingmechanisms. Key goals include redi-recting existing funds now dedicatedto shelter, as well as savings-reinvest-ment strategies that support preven-tion, supportive housing, and othersolutions. Advancing new legislationthat funds prevention and aftercareservices is also needed.

TAKING ACTION

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THE CHALLENGE

The City of New York is experiencing a profound shortageof available housing at every rental level.This is particu-larly the case with affordable housing. In fact, recentsurveys conducted by the NYC Department of HousingPreservation and Development report that the vacancyrate for very affordable apartments is under 3%, meaningthere is a “housing emergency” for the lowest incomeNew Yorkers.

Many at-risk and low income New Yorkers turn to rentalassistance programs to maintain and secure housing.But demand continues to outpace supply; various agen-cies and their clients are in competition for these scarceresources; and the eligibility requirements and applicationprocesses can be confusing and contradictory. Inaddition, some people have a need for services beyondrental or financial support. The need for housing withsupport services also outpaces supply.

In addition, entering the shelter system has become thequickest and most certain way for families to receiverental subsidies. A family applying for assistance fromexisting housing will likely wait years to receive assistance,if they receive it at all. A family entering shelter may waitjust months.

SOLUTIONS

The initiatives in this chapter embrace and build uponMayor Bloomberg’s housing plan, The New HousingMarketplace, which is the most significant housingdevelopment and preservation strategy introduced inthe city in over a decade.That plan pledges $3 billionover five years to create and preserve 65,000 new unitsof housing.

Included, here, are new commitments to increase sup-portive and service-enriched housing.These are proven,cost-effective interventions that provide permanenthomes, as well as services, to formerly homeless people– people who might not be successful in permanenthousing without support services. Expanding New YorkCity’s leadership in the area of supportive housing isessential to overcoming chronic homelessness.Thisincludes increasing access to new and established at-risk populations, as well as using these interventions inhomelessness prevention efforts.

These initiatives also streamline and expand rental assis-tance options for individuals and families at risk ofhomelessness.They level the rental assistance playingfield, in order to reduce competition for subsidies andcounter the perverse message that becoming homelessis the best way to receive assistance.

PROVIDE RESOURCES FOR VULNERABLE POPULATIONSTO ACCESS AND AFFORD HOUSING

32

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33

Source: HPD

Source: Corporation for Supportive Housing, DHS Budget, Culhane Study

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34

The Next Step Current Status Taking Action

Develop a RentalAssistance Primer

Today, multiple rental assistance pro-grams exist,each of which have differentrequirements, rules, and applicationprocedures. As a result, there is confu-sion and competition between serviceproviders and those who receive the aid.

Streamline the RentalAssistance Application

Applying for rental assistance todayis a time consuming process thatrequires extensive paperwork andprocessing for applicants and publicagencies.

The city will introduce a new web-based application process.The use oftechnology such as signature pads,online client files, and digital scannerswill reduce paperwork, minimize infor-mation and documentation loss, andincrease efficiency for clients and staff.

Coordinate RentalAssistance AcrossAll Agencies

A citywide strategy will be imple-mented that grants uniform access torental assistance based on a citywidedetermination of priority need.Thisstrategy will reduce competitionbetween agencies, minimize inconsis-tent practices between agencies, andensure resources are allocated basedon need.

Currently, rental assistance is grantedto members of prioritized populations(such as homeless families and victimsof domestic violence), and consists ofprograms developed in isolation fromeach other.This leads to incoherenceand confusion by service providersand clients over what benefits areavailable. It also leads to competitionbetween agencies for limited housingresources.

Redesign RentalAssistance toDisincentivize Shelter

Rental assistance will be shifted fromshelter to the community so that entryinto shelter is not necessary to obtainassistance. At the same time, rentalassistance resources must continueto be available in shelter to re-housechronically homeless individuals andfamilies.

At present, the most effective way for afamily to receive rental assistance is toenter the shelter system.The currentsystem places those in shelter at ahigher priority for housing assistancethan those at risk of homelessness.Inadvertently, this system provides anincentive for people to leave unstablehousing rather than find solutions tostabilize and keep it when appropriate.

Once the citywide rental assistanceprogram is revamped, a plain lan-guage guide to rental assistance willbe created and broadly distributed toagencies, providers, and residents.Theguide will include essential informa-tion about eligibility requirements,regulations, and levels of aid available.

TAKING ACTION

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35

The Next Step Current Status Taking Action

Increase the Supply ofService-Enriched Housingfor Adults and Families

Service-enriched housing includes sin-gle apartments rented on a permanentbasis to formerly homeless individualsand families.Transitional or longer-term services that aim to link thesepeople with community-based serv-ices are “tied” to the apartment.

Advance The New HousingMarketplace

The Mayor’s 5-year plan to develop andpreserve 65,000 units of affordablehousing for individuals and families isambitious and will require collectivecreativity and support to accomplish.

City agencies and private interests col-lectively will leverage funding, providefinancial incentives, and simplify theregulatory and development processesto increase the supply of affordablehousing.This plan will encourage thedevelopment of lower-cost housing,for singles in particular, by reducingbarriers to the development of moremodern models of SRO-type housing.

Increase the Supply ofSupportive Housing forAdults and Families

The commitments made in The NewHousing Marketplace will be reinforcedand expanded. City and state agencieswill collaborate to identify appropriatefunding to support additional devel-opment and to identify additional at-risk subpopulations to serve.“MovingOn,” a successful program that providesaccess to rental assistance for those“graduating” from supportive housingwill be expanded to open existingunits to new clients.

New York City is the leader in develop-ing innovations in supportive housing.Mayor Bloomberg’s The New HousingMarketplace builds on this commitment.Nonetheless, demand for supportivehousing continues to outpace supply.

Improve CommunityRelationships to SupportNew Community HousingInitiatives

A coordinated effort to educate thepublic about the benefits and successof supportive housing and other inter-ventions will be undertaken. Improvedefforts to engage with communitieswill increase confidence around theseinterventions.

While there is support for affordablehousing generally, communities some-times feel less certain about supportivehousing and rental assistance programs.Not enough public dialogue hasoccurred around the success of theseinterventions and the ways in whichthey benefit communities.

The availability of service-enrichedhousing, as part of the city’s continuumof services, will be expanded. Differentmodels for different subpopulations,including chronically street homeless,will be explored.These will include“housing first”models.

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THE CHALLENGE

The city’s response to homelessness has been wellresourced and well meaning, but has not always bene-fited from ongoing accountability and quality improve-ment efforts based on emerging research and existingdata. Similarly, existing prevention efforts have not beenevaluated routinely, leaving policy makers with littledata analysis to target resources to the right people atthe right time. Significant challenges exist in developingnew prevention programs that effectively intervenewith at-risk populations.

In addition, large amounts of useful data sit in variouspublic agency and provider databases. Often, informationabout a specific person or household’s public assistancehistory is in one database, their involvement with childwelfare in another, and their history of homelessnesssomewhere else. Few efforts are made to bring these datasources together to create more holistic profiles of thoseat risk or experiencing homelessness.

A tremendous amount of interest exists in the academicand research communities to explore this informationand assist in policy formation and quality improvements,but these efforts are not always coordinated or compli-mentary to new directions in public policy making.

SOLUTIONS

The initiatives in this chapter recognize the centralimportance of evaluation and data analysis in creatingeffective programs and practices.They also acknowledgethe often untapped but critical assistance academics andresearchers can offer in improving the city’s response tothose with housing instability.

These initiatives establish a research advisory board andbuild on the Bloomberg Administration’s successfulefforts to coordinate the sharing of data between publicagencies.They establish meaningful opportunities forinterested researchers to help evaluate existing programsand inform the development of new strategies.

Perhaps most importantly, these initiatives establish thebenchmarks and outcomes associated with key initia-tives throughout Uniting for Solutions Beyond Shelter. Bybuilding into initiatives specific targets and evaluationcomponents, partners involved in their implementationwill hold themselves accountable for producing theresults envisioned in this plan.

MEASURE PROGRESS, EVALUATE SUCCESS,AND INVESTIN CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

36

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37

The Next Step Current Status Taking Action

Conduct One-City DataMatches

DHS has recently conducted anunprecedented number of datamatches with databases from otherpublic agencies.This information iscasting light on why many peoplebecome homeless, as well as the greatdegree to which different agenciesserve the same clients.

Track Key IndicatorsImpacting HomelessNew Yorkers

Research indicates that drug, alcohol,mental health, and health problemsare prevalent among segments of thehomeless population – particularlythose on the streets.While a wealth ofdocumentation about these issuesexists, there is no centralized databaseand tracking system.

A new homeless health tracking initia-tive, drawing on data from DHS andthe NYC Department of Health andMental Hygiene, will be used to trackand present information about thehealth status of homeless New Yorkers.With a commitment to continuousquality improvement, the system willhelp identify service gaps, aid programplanning, and assist in targeting medicaland other resources more effectively.

Create and Maintain aResearch Advisory Board

A board will assist public agencies andproviders as they launch new researchinitiatives. By setting priorities andreviewing methods, the board willencourage productive research thatadvances the initiatives in Uniting forSolutions Beyond Shelter. It will alsocommunicate key information to theresearch, provider, and governmentcommunities.

During the past few years, the city hasgreatly expanded efforts to useresearch and data to inform, evaluate,and improve programs for homelesspeople. A tremendous amount ofadditional interest on the part of aca-demics and researchers exists. But it isnot part of a coordinated effort toimprove results.

Use Data and Researchto Inform and EvaluateHomeless PreventionEfforts

HOMESTAT will give public agenciesand providers new data on reasons forhomelessness, best practices, andinsight into broader policies that canreduce homelessness. In addition,work conducted by various city agen-cies is identifying the most commonroutes to homelessness and will guideand serve as a baseline for comparingthe results of new prevention programs.

A significant amount of data andresearch exists on why individuals andfamilies become homeless.This samedata show the difficulties of effectivelytargeting homeless prevention efforts.Major projects have been undertaken toinform the city’s homeless preventionapproach.

These efforts will be formalized andthe data will be used to improve inter-agency partnerships to prevent home-lessness. For example, data matchesbetween the New York City HousingAuthority and DHS show when Section 8households fail to renew their subsidies.This information will be used to targetresources to at-risk households beforethey become homeless.

TAKING ACTION

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38

The Next Step Current Status Taking Action

Reinforce the Objectives ofUniting for Solutions BeyondShelter Through StaffTraining and Development

DHS has provided shelter staff withtraining on client responsibility andhosted quality improvement seminarson a range of initiatives. Some cultureshifts have occurred, but more areneeded.

Implement a Broad PublicEducation Campaign

Despite widespread concern for thewell being of homeless people, thereare few opportunities for meaningfulengagement for communities andindividual volunteers.This contributesto the sense that homelessness can-not be solved.

Marketing and public relations profes-sionals will be tapped to create a long-term public education campaign.Thiswill build public support for solutions,create community ownership aroundaddressing homelessness, and buildconfidence around ongoing and sub-stantial public resource investments.

Track Community LevelPerformance

With the release of Uniting for SolutionsBeyond Shelter, public agencies willidentify and track progress in achiev-ing milestones, targets, and results.A key tracking manager will bringtogether participants to discussprogress and maintain accountability.

Without concrete targets and mile-stones, a heightened level of account-ability for the many initiatives includedin this plan will not exist, with thechance they will not get accomplished.

In coordination with the release ofUniting for Solutions Beyond Shelter,staff training will be conducted utiliz-ing resources that focus staff on theplan’s priority areas.These will increasestaff fluency in subjects like homelessprevention and the principles of clientself-advocacy and responsibility.

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APPENDIX

Guiding Principles A

Prevention Principles B

Planning Process C

Coordinating Committee D

Task Forces E

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A

All individuals and families should have safe,affordable housing.• Ensuring all New Yorkers safe, affordable housing

requires effective collaboration among stakeholders.• Necessary support and preventive services should be

available to assist individuals and families to avoid homelessness.

• An individual or family that can be supported within their current appropriate housing situation should not come into the homeless system.

Homeless individuals or families should receive safe,temporary shelter; planning for permanent housingshould begin immediately.• If preventive interventions cannot support an at-risk

individual or family in their current housing situation,temporary shelter should be provided.

• Temporary shelter is a short-term intervention, not asubstitute for permanent housing.

• Homeless individuals and families should receive a thorough assessment for placement into shelters withservices that meet their particular needs and will expedite permanent housing placement.

• Individuals and families have the responsibility to provide accurate and complete information about theircircumstances and needs.

• Services should be culturally sensitive and available inthe client’s community to maintain community ties,if appropriate.

• Children in homeless families should be assured accessto a sound education by minimizing school disruptionthat may occur as a result of becoming homeless.

• Services must be structured to ensure permanent housingis preferable to shelter and maintained once achieved.

Individuals should not have to make their home onthe street or in other public spaces; safe and humaneoptions should be available.• Effective outreach must be provided to encourage

individuals living on the street to accept services and shelter.

• Practices that encourage individuals to live on the streetare counterproductive and should not be supported.

• Safe environments must be provided that appropriatelysupport individuals who fear service engagement.

All individuals and families deserve and are expectedto actively participate in the development and imple-mentation of their independent living plans.• Every individual and family deserves respect.• Individuals and families must receive clear information

and consistent services as they transition through the shelter system.

• Individual and family strengths should be integratedinto service plans.

• Individuals and families must be responsible for achievingindependence, and must be informed on how they areaccountable for completing service plans, and how thoseexpectations relate to securing permanent housing.

• Individuals and families should treat every personinvolved in their care, other temporary shelter residents,and their shelter space, with respect.

• Individuals and families should have permanent housingthat is reflective of their assessed needs, including services, if necessary, to support permanency.

All agencies must work as partners to ensure successful,long-term outcomes for individuals and families whoare, or who may become, homeless.• Public agencies must coordinate their services to ensure

their practices do not result in any individual or familybecoming homeless.

• Achieving successful, permanent housing for individualsand families depends upon inter-agency accountability,collaboration, and cooperation.

• Discharge planning and resource coordination shouldoccur to facilitate a safe and appropriate transition forindividuals and families being served by multiple service systems.

Services must be provided with the goal of achievingthe highest standards of practice through continuousquality improvement.• Every employee has a significant role in achieving

positive outcomes for clients, regardless of rank or title.• Open and honest communication in an atmosphere

without fear is critical to success.• Every effort must be made to engage clients to actively

participate in service delivery and planning, and torespond to feedback received from them.

• Providers should have the appropriate training andresources to enable them to achieve successful outcomes.

• Information must be used to drive improvements in out-comes and quality and must be made publicly available.

• Evaluation systems must be developed to accuratelymeasure and recognize success.

• Every provider is accountable for meeting standardsand achieving successful outcomes for clients.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

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B

All individuals and families should have safe,affordable housing.• Ensuring safe, affordable housing for all New Yorkers

requires effective collaboration among stakeholders –including providers, public agencies, community organizations, and clients.

• Services and support should assist individuals and families to avoid becoming homeless by maintainingcurrent, appropriate accommodations.

• Every effort must be made to prevent individuals andfamilies who have appropriate housing from enteringthe shelter system.

All efforts should be made to assist individuals andfamilies as soon as possible to avoid crises that causehomelessness.• Interventions should be delivered at the community

level before points of crisis, to avoid the disruption andinstability created by homelessness or the risk ofbecoming homeless.

• Coordination should occur to serve individuals and families holistically, addressing the circumstances thatcan cause homelessness.

• Agencies and providers should provide cohesive servicesfor individuals and families being served by multiple systems.

Homeless preventive services should provide flexibleassistance to meet individual and family needs.• Preventive services should be culturally sensitive and

easy to access at the community level, if appropriate.• Services should be flexible and responsive to client

needs, ensuring the earliest possible interventionsthrough a range of services.

Agencies that provide services to clients in institutionalsettings should ensure successful discharges to stable,permanent housing.• Discharge planning and resource coordination should

occur to facilitate a safe and appropriate transition thatensures individuals and families do not become homeless.

• Discharge planning should include provision of or referralto appropriate support services, when necessary.

All individuals and families receiving services deserverespect and must be respectful.• Individuals and families should have knowledge about

available preventive services.• Individuals and families should be aware of their rights

and responsibilities as tenants and clients, as well as therights and responsibilities of landlords.

• Individuals and families receiving preventive assistanceshould receive clear information, responsive services,and information about their rights as clients and theresponsibilities of agencies.

Preventive services should be guided by data andresearch.• Data should inform prevention interventions that

address the causes of homelessness.• Research should routinely inform policy development.• Service delivery should be based on both quantitative

and qualitative data, including client and staff feedback.• Agencies and providers must be accountable for meeting

standards and achieving successful outcomes for clients.

PREVENTION PRINCIPLES

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C

PLANNING PROCESSIn the fall of 2003, Mayor Bloomberg reached out to three individuals to lead the development of the 10-year strategyto address homelessness.They were his Chief of Staff Peter Madonia, Association for a Better New York ChairmanWilliam C. Rudin, and the United Way of New York City’s Senior Vice President Lilliam Barrios-Paoli.

The co-chairs formed a coordinating committee made up of leaders from every sector.The coordinating committee,comprised of 41 individuals, then invited providers, advocates, academics, government officials, and private sectorleaders to participate as members of four task forces focused on the following themes: 1) prevention and diversion,2) outreach, shelter services, and permanency, 3) community-based services and resource reinvestment, and4) research and quality improvement.

In November 2003, the Mayor kicked-off the planning process at a Gracie Mansion breakfast meeting. Soon after, thetask forces established their processes and routine meeting schedules. All the task forces consulted with external expertson various issues, inviting them to present and participate in meetings. In total, the four task forces, representing morethan 125 organizations, held close to 50 meetings through the end of February 2004.

The work of the coordinating committee and the task forces culminated in a two-day working conference, whichengaged a broader cross-section of stakeholders. More than 250 participants attended plenary sessions featuringnationally recognized experts and breakout workgroups focused on advancing the discussion around key themesof the 10-year plan.

Following the conference, task force recommendations were reviewed by the coordinating committee for final inclusionin Uniting for Solutions Beyond Shelter: The Action Plan for New York City.

Immediately following the release of the plan, public agencies designated as task leaders for various initiatives willdevelop work plans, listing responsible managers and timeframes for task implementation. Routine reporting updateswill be scheduled and released to the public.

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D

CO-CHAIRSLilliam Barrios-Paoli, United Way of New York City Peter Madonia, Office of the Mayor William C. Rudin, Association for a Better New York

COORDINATING COMMITTEE• Michelle Adams, Association for a Better New York• P.V. Anantharam, Office of Management and Budget• Douglas Apple, New York City Housing Authority• William C. Bell, Administration for Children’s Services• Lauren Bholai-Pareti, Council on Homeless Policies

and Services• Eric Brettschneider, Agenda for Children Tomorrow• Alfred Cerullo III, Grand Central Partnership• Peter Cobb, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, LLP• Mayor David N. Dinkins, Columbia University’s School

of International and Public Affairs• Shaun Donovan, Department of Housing Preservation

and Development • Verna Eggleston, Human Resources Administration• John D. Feerick, Fordham University School of Law• Father John Felice, St. Francis Friends of the Poor• Justice Fern Fisher, New York City Civil Court• Maureen Friar,The Supportive Housing Network

of New York• Ester R. Fuchs, Office of the Mayor • Linda Gibbs, Department of Homeless Services • John J. Gilbert III, Rudin Management Company• Lawrence Graham, Brookfield Financial Properties• Rosanne Haggerty, Common Ground• Steve Hanson, B.R. Guest, Inc.• Tino Hernandez, New York City Housing Authority• Peter Hoontis, West Side YMCA• Martin F. Horn, Department of Correction• David R. Jones, Community Service Society• Robert O. Lehrman, Resheff, Inc. and Community

Capital Bank • Carleton K. Lewis, United States Interagency Council

on Homelessness• Barbara Lowry,The Northern Manhattan Improvement

Corporation• Donald Marron, Lightyear Capital• Reverend Win Peacock, John Heuss House• Jennifer Raab, Hunter College• Steven Spinola, Real Estate Board of New York• Joseph Strasburg, New York City Rent Stabilization

Association• Constance Tempel, New York State Office of the

Corporation for Supportive Housing• Reverend Terry Troia, Project Hospitality• Nancy Wackstein, United Neighborhood Houses• Alan Wiener, American Property Financing• Paul T.Williams, Jr., Bryan Cave LLP and One Hundred

Black Men, Inc.

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E

TASK FORCES Prevention and Diversion• Scott Auwarter, Citizens Advice Bureau • Clarke Bruno, Department of Homeless Services• Jane Corbett, Human Resources Administration• Justice Fern Fisher, New York City Civil Court• Henrietta Fishman, Veterans Administration• Mike Gagliardi, Department of Homeless Services• Carleton K. Lewis, United States Interagency Council on

Homelessness• Carolyn McLaughlin, Citizens Advice Bureau• Jane Orenstein, United Way of New York City• John Sheehan, Phoenix House • Jackie Sherman, City Council• Marcia Stevenson, Department of Homeless Services• Jessica Ziegler,Task Force Liaison

Outreach, Shelter Services, and Permanency• Douglas Apple, New York City Housing Authority• Dennis Culhane, University of Pennsylvania• Brad Gardiner, BR Guest, Inc.• Lisa Green, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene• Tony Hannigan,The Center for Urban Community

Services• Mark Hurwitz, Department of Homeless Services• Reverend Win Peacock, John Heuss House• Sherry Schuh, New York City Housing Authority • Lloyd Sederer, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene• Fred Shack, HELP USA• Bob Skallerup, Department of Homeless Services• Reverend Terry Troia, Project Hospitality • Joe Weisbord, Housing First!• Amber Gay,Task Force Liaison

Community-Based Services and ResourceReinvestment • P.V. Anantharam, Office of Management and Budget• Robert Bishop, Pryor, Cashman, Sherman & Flynn LLP• Peter Hoontis, West Side YMCA • Sandra Jimenez, Department of Homeless Services• Verona Middleton-Jeter, Henry Street Settlement• Roger Newman, Department of Homeless Services• Steve Pock, Department of Homeless Services• Barbara Rosenberg, Department of Homeless Services • Anne Teicher, Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter• Nancy Wackstein, United Neighborhood Houses• Anne Williams-Isom, Administration for Children’s

Services• Pascale N. Graham,Task Force Liaison

Research and Quality Improvement• Jeff Barnes, New York State Office of Temporary &

Disability Assistance• Lauren Bholai-Pareti, Council on Homeless Policies and

Services• Carol Caton, Columbia University• T. Edwards, Department of Homeless Services• Kim Hopper, Nathan Kline Institute• Gabby Kreisler, Office of the Mayor• George McDonald,The Doe Fund• Roy Mogilanski, Office of Management and Budget • Muzzy Rosenblatt, Bowery Residents’ Committee• Maryanne Schretzman, Department of Homeless Services• Beth Shinn, New York University• Jessica McCabe,Task Force Liaison

Legislative Agenda • Michelle Adams, Association for a Better New York • Lauren Bholai-Pareti, Council on Homeless Policies and

Services• Clarke Bruno, Department of Homeless Services • Alfred Cerullo III, Grand Central Partnership• Peter Cobb, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, LLP• Rosemarie Coppola-Baldwin, Department of Homeless

Services• Maureen Friar,The Supportive Housing Network of

New York• John J. Gilbert III, Rudin Management Company• Ellen Levine, Office of Management and Budget• Steven Spinola, Real Estate Board of New York• Joseph Strasburg, New York City Rent Stabilization

Association• Constance Tempel, Corporation for Supportive Housing• Alan Wiener, American Property Financing

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