Friday, April 20, 2007

A Diversity of Approaches

Last week I went to the State of North Carolina's Homeless Conference. It is one of the best conferences available for the price of $75 for the two days. The next one will be in November of 2008.

This year, I walked away from the conference thinking about the diverse strategies that are being implemented to end homelessness throughout the country. One of the workshops was the San Diego Seriel Inebriate Program. The program is run through San Diego's police department and is designed for folks who are being arrested for public drunkeness (an arrestable condition in San Diego). When you look at the model you can see that it is about making sure there are choices for those who are chronically drunk, including the choice of treatment vs. the choice of incaraceration. And when treatment is chosen there is no waiting time, the individual participants are enrolled immediately.

One fact I've learned is that head injury is more common in homeless people. This has added a new dimension for researchers requiring them to examine the cognitive function of those who are homeless. Interestingly enough, the many behaviors that I often time attributed to noncompliance, could have really been linked to head injury or another brain related injury that resulted in lower cognitive functioning. Many signs including confusion, poor memory, inability to organize and plan, inability to learn new information, impulsivity and poor decision making, and "simple" tasks that produce high levels of anxiety, are often overlooked by providers. These subtle behaviors, however, may be the key to determining whether or not there is an underlying disabling condition that can result in additional income and services that are available to homeless clients.

Targeting emergency assistance and focusing on preventing family homelessness is another big topic of discussion. The CAMBA HomeBase Program is one being funded by and evaluated by the New York City Department of Homeless Services. There program is described in detail and was one of the presentations at last weeks conference.

Finally, after the conference was over there was an additional session about the work being done in New York City, specifically in Times Square. Common Ground is a nonprofit organization in New York. There Street to Home Initiative is a good example of Housing First. Starting in 2004 with 40 some homeless people in the neighborhood, they started trying to place these folks in housing. In 2005, the number increased to 54 and they were puzzled because they had been placing people into housing directly from the street. Staff discovered that there were certain "anchors" in the homeless community in the neighbhorhood. These were individuals who had been chronically homeless and the ones whom newly homeless individuals would seek advice and assistance from. Outreach staff began targeting these individuals and moving them to permanent housing. Interestingly enough, some of the challenges of moving these people off the street were the many ways in which businesses, churches, and other providers enabled their survival on the street. Strategies were used to remind people that housing is available for these folks and as of the conference last week, the number of homeless people has dropped to 7 in the targeted region.

The other story that goes with this is the power that data has on policy makers. My understanding is that the NYC Department of Housing has renegotiated many of its outreach contracts to focus on this type of intervention that targets the center of the network of a group of homeless individuals.

All in all a great conference. Many diverse approaches to be considered.

Friday, April 13, 2007

TUW issues RFA's

We're putting our money where our mouth is here at Triangle United Way. This year, the Triangle Community Care Cabinet has set aside $10,000 to be used on an initiative to end homelessness throughout the region. In addition, TUW was recently given an additional $10,000 to support a project in Wake County that employees chronically homeless individuals.

One of the region's initiatives at this point is on funding up to three agencies, one from each county to implement a Project Homeless Connect. Project Homeless Connect integrates lessons learned from one-stop service centers that provided community supports for Katrina evacuees seeking stabilization services in communities across the country. Similar one-day efforts of the Veterans Administration’s Homeless StandDowns also offered lessons that have made Project Homeless Connect a nationally identified best practice in helping the homeless.

Project Homeless Connect (PHC) is a one-day one-stop center designed to link homeless people with a broad range of needed services, including but not limited to housing, employment and health care. PHC is not an information fair, but instead engages homeless people directly into services. PHC provides unique opportunities for community volunteers to be directly involved in helping individuals and families make significant steps towards ending their homelessness. PHC also facilitates improved collaboration between community service agencies.

PHC Funds can be used to reimburse costs incurred in implementing a community PHC event that is held between August 1, 2007 and November 30, 2007. Triangle United Way strongly encourages that applicant agencies coordinate there local event with the two other counties eligible for this support. The PHC event must be open to all persons who meet HUD’s definition of homelessness. Eligible reimbursable expenses could include, but are not limited to,

- Space costs
- Phone and internet connectivity fees at the PHC location
- Transportation for homeless people to attend the event (ex. van rental)
- Staff time for coordination and planning of the PHC event. It is not assumed that all staff costs would be covered by the funds awarded by the Triangle United Way.

Funds are to be used to supplement, but not supplant, any existing financial commitments to a PHC event.

Funds will be made available on a reimbursement basis only.

Successful applicants will be required to submit a report on the outcomes of their PHC event within 30 days of their event, or by December 31, 2007.

The Scope of Work for the RFA employing chronic homeless individuals will include funding to complete the following:
· Personalized assessment of clients
· Placement, including the identification of potential employers
· Initial employment supports
· Collecting and reporting key data elements
· Completing a final report of activities

Students Responding to Homelessness

April 24, 2007
6:00 – 8:00 PM

Forest Hills Baptist Church
201 Dixie TrailRaleigh, NC 27607(919)-828-6161

Throughout the Spring Semester of 2007, four groups of students (three from Meredith College and one from NCSU) have been working on projects that support the efforts of the Raleigh/Wake 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness. Please join us for an evening chock-full of information as these students share their research and experiences on their specific projects.

Light snacks will be provided

Sponsors: Meredith College, NCSU, Raleigh/Wake 10 Year Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness