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The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness e-newsletter |
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Partners In a Vision
Speaking to an audience of almost 1000 people at the Hawaii Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting on July 15, Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle (pictured here) announced a state planning process to end homelessness in the 50th state. Calling for a partnership among government, private sector, and non-profit organizations, Governor Lingle said that she would seek ways to create 17,000 additional rental units in the state over the next six years to address a housing shortage and assist the state's estimated 6,000 homeless people, stating, "We have come dangerously close to accepting the homeless situation as a problem we just can't solve." Pledging to meet with developers to come up with new ideas, she moved quickly to hold such a brainstorming session within days of her announcement. "We need their help," she said, pointing out that homelessness can ultimately affect the state's economy, tourist industry, and land values. Besides considering using state owned land for development, the Governor's recommendation to developers was for the state to combine financing, permitting, construction, and management of affordable units under a single one-stop entity that would use private sector investments and streamline the process for accessing housing resources. The Governor also plans to meet with county officials who play a role in Hawaii's housing development. The state legislature has given the Governor $100 million in bond authority to develop housing, the largest sum ever provided. Governor Lingle pointed to the Administration's commitment to end chronic homelessness in identifying the new housing approach she plans. "You have to get them permanent housing first," she said. "That's the change in concept."
Seventy-eight project directors, outreach staff, case managers, housing providers, and primary care, substance abuse, and mental health counselors attended the 3- day Collaborative Initiative to Help End Chronic Homelessness 1st Annual Grantee Meeting in Washington, DC, last week (see last week's e- newsletter). Team members represented the 11 projects competitively selected from more than 100 applications to participate in an historic effort by the federal government to combine resources from the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, and Veterans Affairs targeted to supporting community collaborations that reduce the number of chronically homeless persons living on the streets and long term in shelters through permanent supportive housing. Over the last six months, these 11 collaborations have successfully housed more than 300 persons with disabilities experiencing long term homelessness. In the experience of one of the collaborations, the 36 homeless individuals they have housed to date had a total of 473 years of homelessness- an average of 11 years each. The project names given to their efforts by some collaborations reflect the focus and strengths of these community partnerships, such as Chicago's ARCH (ACT Resources for Chronic Homelessness), Columbus' Rebuilding Lives PACT Team Initiative, Broward County's HHOPE (Housing Health Options Provide Empowerment), Philadelphia's Home First, New York City's In Homes Now, and Contra Costa County, CA's, Project Coming Home. The eleven collaborations represent a range of structures and service areas. Some have a local government agency as the lead coordinating body, such as Philadelphia, Broward, and Contra Costa counties. Others have a non profit as the lead, such as Chattanooga, Columbus, and Denver. Some are providing scattered site housing, such as New York City and Broward County, while others are using a single building as in Los Angeles' Skid Row and San Francisco. Some are serving limited geographic areas, such as the 50-square block Skid Row project in Los Angeles while others represent large areas such as Contra Costa County. All, however, have certain fundamental principles guiding their efforts, including use of assertive outreach teams, a determination to move eligible participants from the streets and out of shelters into housing as quickly as possible, provision of a full range of integrated supportive services needed to sustain tenancies including primary and behavioral health care and treatment, increased access to mainstream services and income support, and enhanced relationships between local government, local service providers, mainstream service agencies, and the VA system to sustain their efforts. The Grantees Meeting was keynoted by United States Interagency Council Executive Director Philip Mangano (see story in this e-newsletter) and sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Federal participation included representatives from the United States Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services (both the Health Resources and Services Administration and SAMHSA) and the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. Expert presentations included: Minnesota Hearth Connection's Jennifer Ho on project sustainability; Pathways to Housing's Dr. Sam Tsemberis on the theory and practice of Housing First; Boston Health Care for the Homeless' Dr. Jim O'Connell on the medically fragile client, and Seattle Downtown Emergency Service Center's Dr. Bill Hobson on collaborations and partnerships. Look for more news about the Grantees Meeting and the 11 collaborations on the Council web site in the coming days. One of the more enlightening sessions included presentations by three consumers whose insights and professional recommendations were warmly welcomed by the collaborative teams and the federal partners. Janice Grady of Washington, DC, Randle Loeb of Denver, and Tony Alvarez of Los Angeles reminded all present that the consumer "might not have the best grasp on broad concepts like sustainability but have an excellent grasp on what they need to move out of homelessness" and that homeless individuals "need to be listened to as advocates for our own growth and fulfillment" and "need to be included on decision making bodies and not marginalized on so-called advisory boards" . . . that homeless people "want to go home".
Miami Mayor Manny Diaz (pictured here) who described homelessness as "an issue of critical importance to our city" in his 2004 State of the City address, has unveiled "Helping Hands Mending Lives," the City's plan to end chronic homelessness. According to the Plan, partners will be critical to implementation of goals focused on prevention and 24/7 engagement initiatives: "Our success over our challenges will hinge on our ability to mobilize, expand, and coordinate our human and financial resources. To maximize and leverage our resources, we will enlist the support of the citizens of the city, the Homeless Trust, other agencies, and the private sector." Mayor Diaz, who governs a city of over 362,000 people, linked his city's initiative to federal partnership as well, stating in his State of the City address, "We are also working closely with President Bush's Interagency Council on Homelessness as we continue to develop a workable 10-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness." The City will add regional strategies to its local initiatives with its commitment to participate in the developing countywide plan for Miami-Dade County. The most recent homeless census in the County, conducted by the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust, found 4,400 people on the streets, with 41% of those in the City of Miami and the largest number in the Downtown Miami area. The City's Miami Homeless Assistance Program (MHAP), recognized nationally for its outreach program, will lead the new initiative, which will emphasize low demand shelter beds, use of Housing First models, and continued focus on new discharge planning approaches. The Plan, which calls for "a reorientation of the homeless delivery systems, redistribution of current resources, and cross- systems collaboration," will give additional focus to two recently implemented homelessness prevention initiatives that have been successful: targeting of individuals being released from area hospitals and outreach to homeless individuals being released from Dade County Jail.
Stating that "data-driven planning and evaluation will be the foundation" for all elements of "Homes for the Homeless: 10-Year Plan to Create Lasting Solutions," Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett (pictured here) and the City Council became the latest jurisdiction to adopt a 10-Year Plan on July 20. The new plan calls for initiating performance-based funding focused on measurable outcomes and initiating all planned actions steps simultaneously in order to maintain momentum and make annual adjustments. Oklahoma City's 10-Year Plan Committee was formed in August 2003 and brought together City staff, the local provider network, United Way, Oklahoma Choctaw Tribal Alliance, private funders, and existing work groups on discharge planning, the city's point- in-time count, HMIS, and the State Policy Academy team. Also included in planning were formerly homeless persons, the EZ/EC Committee, and NAMI Oklahoma. Oklahoma City, the 29th largest city in the nation with a population of 506,000, counted 2,600 people in its most recent homeless census. The new plan calls for promoting a Housing First strategy. It also proposes a centralized intake system and measures to close the Front Door into homelessness by reducing referrals and discharges from public systems of care, treatment, and custody, through improved coordination and education across systems, as well as other targeted initiatives for special populations. For example, the plan calls for development of transitional and supportive permanent housing units for youth aging out of foster care, using models that are proven to work with that population by allowing for social interaction. The plan also proposes to evaluate homeless programs according to their success in enrolling homeless persons in mainstream programs.
Perhaps the Virginian-Pilot newspaper said it best when it editorialized last week on the creation by the Norfolk City Council of a Norfolk Blue Ribbon Commission on Homelessness: "The 'We Believe' billboards and window signs around the area suggest a certain civic moxie about the quest to bring Major League Baseball to Norfolk. But what might happen if community leaders applied the same attitude to other important issues? We have a chance to find out." The City of Norfolk has now adopted a policy of ending chronic homelessness in 10 years, and Mayor Peter Fraim (pictured here) and the Norfolk City Council approved the creation of the Blue Ribbon Commission to implement their performance-based, results-oriented plan. Stated Mayor Fraim in his 2004 State of the City address, "Today, our city is experiencing its most important period of growth and development since the 1940s. While that's surely good news, we cannot forget that some of our citizens are not sharing in this success. For them, life is a daily challenge defined by loneliness and hardship. They are our homeless citizens." Observed Mayor Fraim, "This cause will require inspired leadership, hard work, and a collaborative approach to the problem . . One measure of a society's values is the compassion shown to its most vulnerable citizens. While we know ending homelessness in ten years is a daunting task, it is a challenge we will not shrink from or try to avoid." Last week's action is augmented by two other action steps from the City's efforts: creation of an Office on Homelessness and adoption of a regional approach to achieving the city's goal because, in the words of Mayor Fraim, "homelessness knows no city boundaries." A recent homeless census found 800 homeless in Norfolk and a need for 1,300 rental units for lower income residents. In addition to the Mayor, the Vice Mayor, City Manager, City Attorney, Schools Superintendent, Housing Authority Director, and Planning Commission Chair, Commission members will include U.S. Representative Robert Scott, Tidewater Community College's President, United Way's Executive Director, and four corporate executives. An inaugural meeting of the Commission is expected later this summer.
All those who offer care directly to people experiencing homelessness will benefit from a new clinical and education resource recently released by the National Health Care for the Homeless Council. The Health Care of Homeless Persons: A Manual of Communicable Diseases & Common Problems in Shelters & on the Streets is a practical, highly informative guidebook that will be a resource for clinics, shelters, service sites, and housing facilities affected by the markedly poor health of homeless persons. "Terrible health problems precipitate, result from, and prolong homelessness. This new manual provides an unprecedented opportunity for everyone who works against homelessness to better understand the specific physical health problems of homeless people, and to respond more appropriately and effectively," stated John Lozier, Executive Director of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council. Edited by Dr. James O'Connell of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, the heavily illustrated 384-page manual describes 36 serious health problems that frequently afflict homeless persons and discusses appropriate responses and treatment. The manual addresses communicable disease control and food handling in shelter settings, and describes current approaches to the management of chronic diseases. Also included are convenient patient education materials in English and Spanish that can be easily reproduced for clients, staff, and volunteers. The Health Care of Homeless Persons will prove useful in:
FOR THIS ISSUE, the e-newsletter focuses on remarks by United States Interagency Council Executive Director Philip Mangano (pictured here) prepared for the keynote address at the initial meeting of the 11 communities receiving Collaborative Initiative Awards in Washington, DC. " . . . Thanks to the efforts your eleven communities are making, the implementation of the Collaborative initiative is exceeding expectations. More than 300 disabled homeless people have been moved off the streets and out of long term stays in shelters into permanent housing with the needed support services. And by the end of the year the homelessness of hundreds more will be ended through your innovative use of the Assertive Community Treatment Team and Supportive Housing Technologies." " . . . Though modest in scope this precursor of the President's proposed Samaritan Initiative holds the promise of substantive change in our approach to the most vulnerable homeless people on our streets and in our shelters. Beyond a demonstration project, the Collaborative and Samaritan Initiatives will expand on already demonstrated successes across the country in housing people experiencing chronic homelessness. Research and data from multi-year efforts in New York and San Francisco demonstrate retention of tenancies and cost off-sets through solution-oriented approaches." " . . . Studies in San Diego, Seattle, and other cities demonstrate that people experiencing chronic homelessness are costly not only in homeless programs, but also in mainstream health systems. Your efforts will, I believe, continue to offer us the hope that the solutions of the future are less costly than the ad hoc responses of the past. Your attention to and capturing of cost benefit analysis data will help in harnessing the political will to support the President's mission to end chronic homelessness in the next ten years."
. . . that there are currently 165 Health Care for the Homeless programs across the country funded through the Consolidated Health Centers program at the Health Services Resources Administration (HRSA) in the U.S Department of Health and Human Services. . . . that the President's FY 05 budget request of $1.8 billion for Consolidated Health Centers includes a $218 million increase for the program. The Consolidated Health Center increase is projected to support 332 new or expanded health center sites as part of the President's 5-year Health Centers Presidential Initiative to create or expand 1200 community health centers to serve an additional 6.1 million persons by 2006. . . . that, as proposed, the President's FY 05 request carries an $18.7 million increase for Health Care for the Homeless programs, ultimately increasing the program's funding overall by 13.7% and bringing it to a record funding level. . . . that the FY 04 Health Care for the Homeless funding level of $130.1 million represented the President's requested funding. Health Care for the Homeless funding has steadily increased from levels of $121.7 million (FY 03), $108.3 million (FY 02), and $101 million (FY 01). . . . that, as was indicated in last week's e- newsletter, the National Association of Counties passed a resolution in support of the Administration's proposed Samaritan Initiative, now in Congress as H.R. 4057. The resolution was similar to the resolution passed unanimously last month by the U.S. Conference of Mayors that urged Congress to support this initiative in the ending of chronic homelessness through supportive housing.
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Washington · DC · 20410 |