Stop
the Pattern of Chronic Homelessness
Through Prevention and Intervention
Bringing Our Community
Home prevention efforts will focus on providing the
services and treatment chronically homeless people need in order
to be successful in their housing, and intervening early if they
are at risk of losing housing.
A first step will be to define and fully describe
the characteristics that make individuals and families “at-risk”
of homelessness and to consult with nonprofit and for-profit housing
developers and property managers in the county to better understand
and quantify the level of interventions and support services that
would help their tenants avoid eviction and remain stably housed
(e.g.; one-time and short-term rent, mortgage, utility, and legal
assistance; case management; childcare; and in-home supports).
It will also be necessary to assess the resources
and capacity of current programs and systems to identify households
at risk of homelessness, engage them, and provide them with the
information and supports that they need to maintain housing stability
and determine the level of resources needed by at-risk households.
By identifying our assets and understanding the at risk population
and their needs we can coordinate efforts to increase access to
the available services and information needed to maintain their
housing stability and reduce barriers to access experienced by
households in need.
Additionally, prevention efforts will focus on
ensuring that no chronically homeless people are discharged from
public institutions without the housing, services, and treatment
they need. This will prevent an increase in the number of people
becoming chronically homeless. Transition Teams will do outreach
with institutions of custodial care and will interface with discharge
planners to accomplish this goal. The Transition Teams will be
composed of a social worker and a benefits specialist and will
rely upon institutional staff for diagnosis, medications list,
medical treatment, and assessments. These Teams will work out
of Transition Centers, places for people exiting hospitals, jails,
residential treatments, foster care, and detox to access basic
housing assistance until they can obtain permanent supportive
housing. Basic housing assistance is short-term housing supported
by services and treatment that is provided in the interim while
permanent supportive housing is being secured.
Through enacting these measures, Bringing
Our Community Home will have created, nurtured, and
fully implemented an intervention system focused on preventing
homelessness and immediately housing those who do experience homelessness.
System wide there will be a bolstered the capacity of, and shared
the responsibility among, mainstream service systems - including
health, mental health, alcohol & drug treatment, foster care,
and criminal justice - to have in place prior to reentry a long
term housing plan for every client and to have secured an appropriate
housing destination for them.
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