IN THE STATES: HAWAII GOVERNOR FINALIZES RESULTS-ORIENTED STATE PLAN TO END CHRONIC HOMELESSNESS. Calling the state's new plan "the culmination of two years' of collaborative efforts involving federal, state, county, non-profit, and private sector representatives, Governor Linda Lingle of Hawaii unveiled Hawaii's 10-Year Plan last week. The plan sets six goals, each with identified Action Steps, and an implementation strategy with measurable outcomes and benchmarks. One of the six goals is partnership, pointing to tourism authorities, neighborhood boards, business associations, and tenant associations as partners who encounter homelessness and can collaborate to solve it.

Hawaii's plan finds that homelessness is both unacceptable and solvable and predicts that "every part of our society benefits when all individuals have access to safe, decent, and affordable housing." The plan supports partnerships for Housing First strategies and prevention, and promises accountability for results, stressing that funding should be tied to evidence of what works.

Following her July announcement to the Hawaii Chamber of Commerce that she would create a planning process to end homelessness in the 50th state, Governor Lingle moved forward with a meeting of the 80-person Affordable Housing Task Force of developers, property managers, bankers, business leaders, social workers and state officials. The Task Force, which met in August, focused on three key issues in housing development in the state: speeding the public approval process, funding, and the need for infrastructure, including streets, utilities, schools and parking. Governor Lingle in July called for a partnership among government, private sector, and non-profit organizations to create 17,000 additional rental units in the state over the next six years to meet a housing shortage and assist the state's estimated 6,000 homeless people.

Nashua, NH, Mayor Bernard Streeter was joined by government partners New Hampshire Governor Craig Benson and United States Interagency Council Executive Director Philip Mangano last week for the unveiling of Nashua's new 10-Year Plan, "A Home for Everyone." Following a meeting with Governor Benson who has moved forward with both a State Interagency Council and state participation in the federal Policy Academy process this year, Director Mangano joined Mayor Streeter and a broad group of community partners for the unveiling of the first such 10-Year Plan completed in New Hampshire and one of the first for a city of Nashua's size. Nashua has proposed a 4- step plan that seeks to prevent homelessness, rapidly re-house those in need and increase available housing stock, improve resources for service delivery, provide cost monitoring and integration of best practices, and oversee plan implementation.

In his remarks at the event, Governor Benson thanked Mayor Streeter for his partnership at the local level, expressed his appreciation for the federal partnership and the role of the Interagency Council, and once again affirmed his commitment to work to end homelessness in his state. Governor Benson is pictured here greeting local partners prior to the event. With the Governor are (right to left) Nashua Mayor Streeter, Director Mangano, Nashua Interfaith Hospitality Network Director Linda Skibba, and Fannie Mae Northern New England Partnership Office Acting Director Ignatius Maclellen who is also a member of the New Hampshire Interagency Council on Homelessness. In a Mayoral Proclamation issued for the unveiling, Mayor Streeter stated, "The key to the success of the plan is the partnership between government, the private sectors, and the non-profit and volunteer sectors." He went on, "We believe that communication, coordination, mutual cooperation, and collaboration will strengthen that commitment."

Participating in the 10-Year Plan announcement and a subsequent tour of Harbor Homes' Veterans FIRST program with Director Mangano and Governor Benson were Harbor Homes Executive Director Peter Kelleher, New Hampshire Military Order of the Purple Heart Commander Byron Buckingham, and Disabled American Veterans Gate City Chapter 7 Commander Griffin Delianis who also serves on the Mayor's Veterans Council and is chairman of the State Veterans Advisory Committee. Veterans FIRST, a Department of Veterans Affairs Per Diem funded transitional housing program for 20 homeless veterans, opened its doors in January 2004.

"Let me be clear on three points I believe strongly. We cannot and will not ignore people who are homeless in this County. We can and will have affordable housing, and the services needed to keep people in housing. We will never succeed in eliminating homelessness without genuine private and public collaboration." So stated Washtenaw County Administrator Bob Guenzel in describing the reason for the regional planning process that this week resulted in the unveiling of "A Home for Everyone," the region's new 10-Year Plan. Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje told the planning partners that "we will build more affordable housing in the first five years of this decade than in all of the last." But, he said, the effort can't be "stop-start . . . it must be sustained."

Washtenaw Housing Alliance Executive Director Diane Davidson opened the Community Forum, and United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano was invited to keynote the unveiling. He was joined by Council Coordinators John O'Brien and Daryl Hernandez. Other partners on the program are pictured here (left to right): Washtenaw County Administrator Bob Guenzel, Ypsilanti City Manager Ed Koryzno, Director Mangano, Washtenaw Housing Alliance Board Chair Dick Soble, Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners Chair Leah Gunn, Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje, and Consumer Verna Spayth.

With a concrete goal of ending homelessness in the region, the plan also identifies that "our effectiveness rests on our ability to work across the boundaries of business, government, and service sector." The Washtenaw planning process, begun in December 2003, declared as basic principles investment in prevention, providing Housing First, integration and coordination of resources, and accountability to the community.

A feature of the Ann Arbor Forum was a call for private sector partners and others to step up and make contributions into the Plan's implementation. Ann Arbor Community College committed to be a "door-opener" and "champion" of one of the Plan's 16 strategic goals. The Ann Arbor Foundation will work to create a new fund to invest in supportive services. Tables of Forum attendees began to challenge one another with check-writing and the completion of commitment cards as the pace picked up, and final commitments included private sector business people and consultants who forwarded time commitments to write businesses plans, provide a architectural services, and develop graphics for the partners. "Up to now, the county has had a well-intended, but fragmented approach to homelessness," said Housing Alliance Board Chair Soble. "For the first time, the community says we have a common set of priorities."

The historic St. George Hotel on Skid Row in Los Angeles re-opened last week as permanent supportive housing for 88 formerly homeless men and women. The Skid Row project is one of the 11 Collaborative Initiative to Help End Chronic Homelessness sites funded across the country with last year's unprecedented $35 million federal interagency investment by the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, and Veterans Affairs. Joining Mayor James Hahn were District Councilwoman Jan Perry, Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Executive Director Mitchell Netburn, and representatives of City and County housing and community development, corrections, mental health, and human services agencies. Federal partners present for the opening included VA Homeless Coordinator Bill Daniels, HUD Los Angeles Field Office Director Theresa Camiling, Operations Specialist Stephen Clark, and Community Planning and Development Representatives Joe Lisante and Rhoda Milton, the VA's Greater Los Angeles Comprehensive Healthcare System, Federal Home Loan Bank, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano, and Region IX Council Coordinator Eduardo Cabrera.

The St. George Hotel now features 88 units of permanent supportive housing and services that include substance abuse treatment and medical programs. Redevelopment expenditures of over $4 million were supported by the Skid Row Housing Trust and additional program services are provided by 12 partnering agencies called the 'Skid Row Collaborative', funded by a combination of public and private funding resources. Pictured here at the opening are (left to right) Director Mangano, Mayor Hahn, Poet and St. George resident Hugh Tinsley, Jim Bonar, St. George Hotel Manager Mike Johnson, and Service Spot Manager Angela Harris.

The 11 projects around the nation were competitively selected from more than 100 applications to participate in an historic effort by the federal government to combine resources from U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, and Veterans Affairs targeted to 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 seven months, these 11 collaborations have successfully housed more than 350 persons with disabilities experiencing long-term homelessness. In the experience of one of the collaborations, the 36 homeless individuals they have housed have a combined 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. 78 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 in July.

WORDS OF THE WEEK. "It's a great morning when we can celebrate the opening of this wonderful hotel and the public/private partnership that made its rehabilitation a reality. A partnership between the public and private sectors is the only way that we will improve the quality of life for chronically homeless individuals by building quality affordable housing integrated with supportive services. I'm proud that the Los Angeles Housing Department and other government agencies contributed millions of dollars to this project. St. George is a worthy investment that will improve quality of life for the people living here, for every resident in this neighborhood," stated Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn at the historic St. George Hotel on Skid Row re-opening. "The success of this program should resonate throughout the country as we see gains in reducing the chronically homeless population. We thank the Bush Administration and the Interagency Council on Homelessness for believing in the efforts we're making in Los Angeles to end chronic homelessness," stated Mayor Hahn.

Reflecting the broad partnerships at work in San Diego City and County as the region moves ahead to end chronic homelessness, events last week in venues as varied as the San Diego City Council Chambers and the San Diego Police Department spotlighted the growing planning partnership of the City and County of San Diego and the United Way. Seeking to meet the needs of the estimated 7,000 homeless people in the area, the partners have targeted preventive cost-savings strategies, results- oriented service models, and access to mainstream programs as key elements of their initiative. San Diego last week launched a recruitment initiative for its planning partnership, which will include state and local municipalities, business, law enforcement, homeless providers and advocates, homeless people, faith-based organizations, the foster care system, and philanthropy.

Evidencing partnership at the public announcement held at Police Headquarters were (left to right) San Diego Plan Leadership Council Chair and business leader Dene Oliver, United Way CEO Fred Baranowsky, United States Interagency Council Executive Director Philip Mangano, Policy Chief Bill Lansdowne at podium, and Mental Health System CEO Bill Eastwood, Deputy City Attorney Joan Dawson, and County Alcohol and Drug Services Deputy Director Connie Moreno-Peraza. Director Mangano met with Mayor Dick Murphy at the San Diego City Council and with Deputy Mayor Toni Atkins, who is responsible for issues relating to homelessness and housing in San Diego. Mangano accepted an invitation to address the Council on their 10-Year Plan effort, commending them for their partnership and regional effort and pointing to the Serial Inebriate Program as a national model for engaging chronic inebriates.

The public announcement was followed by a tour of the St. Vincent de Paul Village Clinic to see the one- stop medical services that support San Diego's Serial Inebriate Program (SIP), an innovative and cost- saving partnership of law enforcement, treatment, and housing agencies that has reduced street homelessness in the city (see Did you know . . .e- news story). "We began this program because it reduced the number of repeat offenders," said Chief Lansdowne. "SIP dramatically impacts the number of hours that law enforcement officers have to spend on alcohol and other issues involving those who live on the streets."

"For decades we've all understood the quality of life reasons and the moral and spiritual obligations to respond to homelessness. Only recently have we understood the economic impact. And that's best exemplified and symbolized by the study done right here in San Diego that has demonstrated the costliness of homelessness. This is the evidence that is moving mayors, county executives, and governors to commit to plans and solutions, " stated Director Mangano. While in California, Director Mangano also accepted an invitation to address the Region IX Federal Regional Council, chaired by Calise Muñoz of the Department of Health and Human Services.

"The conclusion drawn from these findings was the need for a change in the strategic direction of the organization," states the Business Plan rather dryly. But that final line in the new strategy of the Immaculate Conception Shelter & Housing Corporation (ICSHC) reflects the decision of a longstanding Hartford, CT, faith-based provider of emergency services to homeless individuals to turn from a focus on emergency shelter operations to permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless individuals. The new strategy was unveiled as part of the ICSHC's "Symphony of Light" event in Hartford last week. Mayor Eddie Perez of Hartford, who is moving forward with a 10-Year Plan for his city was joined at the event by United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano who was invited to keynote. During the event, Mayor Perez recounted his own move from Puerto Rico to Hartford and his commitment to homeownership and ending homelessness in his city.

ICSHC, providing services to homeless men in the city of Hartford since 1980 and to over 1,000 people needing shelter last year, has also provided case management, educational, and job training services, in addition to shelter, on property owned by the Archdiocese of Hartford. The emergency shelter was housed in the church's basement and administrative services, case management and the educational services were housed in the rectory. Like many providers, ICSHC initiated a permanent supportive housing program, Casa de Francisco, in 1998 to move 35 shelter residents into permanent settings. This Department of Housing and Urban Development funded program has been successful and has a retention rate that is comparable to other housing programs in the city of Hartford.

More recently, however, relocation and cost issues, as well as a hard look at the needs of those it serves, caused the organization to, in its words, "participate in a national call to end homelessness." States the Business Plan, "Immaculate has embarked on this bold journey, because addressing the national crisis of homelessness is no longer about managing homelessness, it is about ending homelessness."

. . . that San Diego's Serial Inebriate Program (SIP), started in January 2000, is a partnership involving the City and County of San Diego, the San Diego Police and Sheriff's Departments, the Public Defender's Office, San Diego County Superior Courts, San Diego County Health and Human Services and Mental Health Systems, Inc. SIP's goal is to reduce the number of chronic, homeless alcoholics going in and out of Detoxification Centers, County Jail, and local emergency rooms through intervention and treatment, providing a less expensive and more appropriate alternative to emergency departments and jails for treatment of homeless chronic inebriates.

. . . that, since its inception, SIP has produced quantifiable results for law enforcement that have improved the lives of homeless individuals while reducing public expense through police, hospital and emergency costs. 32% of clients entering the Serial Inebriate Program complete the program. A study by the San Diego Police Department' showed that individual arrests were down 12%, total arrests were down 33%, and arrests per person were down 25% for SIP clients.

. . . that emergency health care services also demonstrated cost savings. A sample study of the impact of SIP on hospital emergency departments and Emergency Medical Services showed that hospital and EMS contacts were reduced 80% to 90%, while hospital costs were reduced 80%.

Shown here visiting the St. Vincent de Paul Clinic staff that provides medical services to SIP are Council Executive Director Mangano at left and San Diego Police Officer and SIP initiator Rick Schnell at right.

"Homelessness has been of great concern to us, and we need to hear this message," said Larry Phillips, Chair of Washington's King County Council after hearing the national strategies to end chronic homelessness described by United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano, who was invited to address the Council last week. According to Region X Council Coordinator Paul Carlson, the County Council was especially interested in the description of human service technologies such as Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) engagement for homeless persons and supportive housing, as well as the shift by communities to a results-oriented, outcome-based approach to ending homelessness. In October the County Council will consider approval of a King County 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness.

Intergovernmental partnership was in evidence in King County last week, where members of the Federal Region X Interagency Council on Homelessness and members of the Committee to End Homelessness in King County met prior to the King County Council meeting. Mirroring the Washington, DC, based Council, the federal agencies in Region X regularly meet to establish coordination between agencies and to engage with local community partners in strategies to end chronic homelessness.

Challenging the 750 housing developers, property management companies, banks, investors, state and local government officials, and service providers at the Housing Washington Annual Conference to partner with communities in Washington State that are developing local 10-Year Plans to End Homelessness, Director Mangano (pictured here) told the statewide audience, "No one can do this alone, not local government, not the state, not homeless providers, not even the federal government. To be effective, plans must establish an inclusive and expansive public and private government and community partnership." Fourteen 10-Year Plans are currently in development in the State of Washington. Many of these plans are multi- jurisdictional, meaning that together they have been endorsed by 30 mayors and county executives.

"I am so glad to hear the message of partnership," said Bellevue, Washington, Mayor Connie Marshall who met with Director Mangano to discuss federal initiatives. "I want what is best for my community, and we want real solutions for homeless people," she continued. The City of Bellevue is the next largest city in King County after Seattle and a leader in a unified regional strategy to end homelessness.