PLANNING TO END HOMELESSNESS

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PLANNING TO END HOMELESSNESS

• Geraldine McCafferty
• Springfield, Massachusetts

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Whats new about this effort?

• Existing homeless assistance system provides for
  emergency needs
• Communities now changing systems to focus on
  preventing, reducing and ending homelessness
• Data-driven, results-oriented

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National Alliance to End Homelessness 2000 Plan

• Plan for Outcomes
• Plan based on local data and current research
• Close the Front Door
• Public systems of care/discharge policies
• Prevention rent arrears, Landlord-Tenant
  mediation
• Open the Back Door
• Housing First, Rapid Re-house
• Build the Infrastructure
• Address root causes by working toward livable
  incomes, affordable housing, access to services
  for people who need them

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Concept has spread

• 300 U.S. communities planning to end
  homelessness at least 100 completed plans
• Phil Mangano outlined results numbers of
  homeless decreasing

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Massachusetts

• Handful of local planning efforts
• Springfield plan, Jan. 2007
• Policy Academy State Plans
• One Family Support for 3-County Plan and 5 others

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STRATEGIES

• Seven Tools for Ending Homelessness

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1. DATA

• Creation of a Homeless Management Information
  System
• Assess how long people are homeless, what their
  needs are, what the causes are
• Use data to evaluate programs and allocate
  resources

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2. EMERGENCY PREVENTION PROGRAMS

• Rent, mortgage, utility assistance
• Tenancy preservation services
• Legal assistance in Housing Court

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3. SYSTEM CHANGES THAT PREVENT HOMELESSNESS

• Easy access to mainstream programs that serve
  low-income people TANF, Medicaid, mental health
  services
• Assessment and response to housing needs by
  mainstream programs
• Discharge from public institutions only into
  stable housing

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4. SHORTEN TIME PEOPLE SPEND HOMELESS

• Housing First
• Eliminate criteria of housing-ready
• Provide housing, then services
• Rapid Re-house
• Housing search and placement
• Flexible/varied financial assistance
• Landlord outreach incentives

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5. MAINSTREAM SERVICES

• Rapid access to services such as substance abuse
  mental health treatment
• Expedited eligibility for mainstream programs
  such as TANF, SSI, Medicaid

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6. AFFORDABLE HOUSING

• Insufficient stock of housing affordable to those
  with extremely low incomes
• Limited federal support
• Must find new means of financing

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7. INCOMES TO PAY FOR HOUSING

• Increased employment income
• Increased access to mainstream benefit programs

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RECAP 7 STRATEGIES

• Data
• Emergency Prevention Programs
• Systems Changes
• Shorten Length of Homelessness
• Mainstream Services
• Affordable Housing
• Incomes to Pay for Housing

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IMPLEMENTATION

• Planning for Success

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1. QUANTIFIABLE PERFORMANCE MEASURES

• Establish for overall plan
• Include in agency contracts

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Agency performance goals example

• Family Shelter

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2. TIMELINES

• Establish target dates to meet goals
• Consider phased strategies

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3. SPECIFIC FUNDING SOURCES IDENTIFIED FOR
SPECIFIC STRATEGIES

• EXAMPLE
• Moderate Need Chronic Homeless
• Sponsors
• SHA to provide 60 project-based vouchers
• Private property owners to provide units
• Services sponsor for 12 FOH, funded by MHSA
• Services sponsor for 48 to be identified
• Outstanding need
• 180,000 to fund housing retention services
  (Funding has been requested from DTA.)

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4. IDENTIFICATION OF RESPONSIBLE PARTIES

• List all parties with roles
• Designate lead party

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5. IMPLEMENTATION OVERSIGHT

• Built-in reporting requirements
• Implementation committee

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RECAP 5 WAYS TO PLAN FOR SUCCESS

• Quantifiable performance measures
• Timelines
• Specific funding sources
• Identification of responsible parties
• Implementation Oversight