Goal: To prevent homeless from being discharged back to the streets when they are released from the county jail.
Program launch: October 2009
Collaboration Partner: Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department
Because there are a limited number of beds for homeless people with mental illness, chronic alcoholism and substance abuse, jail has become the largest de facto in-patient psychiatric and detox facility in the county. They serve their time, depending on the offense, and are released back to the streets – most often to the same circumstances that landed them in jail. For many homeless, this is a revolving door that has proven to be unsuccessful – and expensive to the public. This program offers pre-release intervention to ensure the person has a place to live, a way to get there, and the supportive services needed to address the causes of their homelessness.
“I am optimistic that this program will achieve lasting results. I appreciate the partnership we’ve established to solve the problem of chronic homelessness and the impact it’s having on those in our jail.”
–Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown
Discharge planning is part of Bringing Our Community Home’s Prevention and Intervention strategy and is another form of outreach to the homeless. The 25 hour per week Discharge Planner position, serves the whole county, is funded through a $14,000 grant from the City of Santa Barbara, a $15,000 grant from the County of Santa Barbara and a $5,000 grant from the Fund for Santa Barbara.
The Discharge Planner is responsible for identifying and working with homeless inmates to develop case histories and connect them with a past or new case worker to ensure that the effort to develop relationships of trust so essential to bringing a person in from the streets is maintained. Additionally, the Discharge Planner actively works to help place homeless inmates in permanent housing upon release, with the supportive services they need to maintain residency.
Experience from programs across the county shows that homeless persons, especially those with mental illness, respond best to those people they have developed relationships with. Many, if not all, homeless people who end up in jail, will already have had contact with street outreach workers and case workers. Placing a Homeless Inmate Discharge Planner in the jail completes the cycle of contact and improves the likelihood of a homeless person accepting the supportive services that are available in the community.
If permanent housing is not available, the Discharge Planner will work to discharge homeless individuals to transitional housing programs, including homeless shelters, residential drug or alcohol treatment programs, one of the more than 30 sober living homes throughout the county, and any other appropriate residential setting.
The Jail Discharge Planning Program also provides transportation for all homeless inmates upon release. Experience has shown that releasing inmates on their own often results in a rapid breakdown of the discharge plan.
Experience from around the county indicates that it takes a minimum three-month stay to break the cycle of living on the streets.
One of the Prevention and Intervention strategies of the 10-Year Plan is to ensure vigilant discharge planning from all of the institutional settings which typically release homeless people back to the streets, including hospitals, jails, detox and other treatment programs, and the foster care system. Discharge planning occurs before an individual leaves an institution and involves creating links between the individual and the services and support the individual will need upon leaving including housing, services, treatment, and benefits/employment.
Homeless Inmate Discharge Program
Goal: To prevent homeless from being discharged back to the streets when they are released from the county jail.
Program launch: October 2009
Collaboration Partner: Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department
Because there are a limited number of beds for homeless people with mental illness, chronic alcoholism and substance abuse, jail has become the largest de facto in-patient psychiatric and detox facility in the county. They serve their time, depending on the offense, and are released back to the streets – most often to the same circumstances that landed them in jail. For many homeless, this is a revolving door that has proven to be unsuccessful – and expensive to the public. This program offers pre-release intervention to ensure the person has a place to live, a way to get there, and the supportive services needed to address the causes of their homelessness.
Discharge planning is part of Bringing Our Community Home’s Prevention and Intervention strategy and is another form of outreach to the homeless. The 25 hour per week Discharge Planner position, serves the whole county, is funded through a $14,000 grant from the City of Santa Barbara, a $15,000 grant from the County of Santa Barbara and a $5,000 grant from the Fund for Santa Barbara.
The Discharge Planner is responsible for identifying and working with homeless inmates to develop case histories and connect them with a past or new case worker to ensure that the effort to develop relationships of trust so essential to bringing a person in from the streets is maintained. Additionally, the Discharge Planner actively works to help place homeless inmates in permanent housing upon release, with the supportive services they need to maintain residency.
Experience from programs across the county shows that homeless persons, especially those with mental illness, respond best to those people they have developed relationships with. Many, if not all, homeless people who end up in jail, will already have had contact with street outreach workers and case workers. Placing a Homeless Inmate Discharge Planner in the jail completes the cycle of contact and improves the likelihood of a homeless person accepting the supportive services that are available in the community.
If permanent housing is not available, the Discharge Planner will work to discharge homeless individuals to transitional housing programs, including homeless shelters, residential drug or alcohol treatment programs, one of the more than 30 sober living homes throughout the county, and any other appropriate residential setting.
The Jail Discharge Planning Program also provides transportation for all homeless inmates upon release. Experience has shown that releasing inmates on their own often results in a rapid breakdown of the discharge plan.
Experience from around the county indicates that it takes a minimum three-month stay to break the cycle of living on the streets.
One of the Prevention and Intervention strategies of the 10-Year Plan is to ensure vigilant discharge planning from all of the institutional settings which typically release homeless people back to the streets, including hospitals, jails, detox and other treatment programs, and the foster care system. Discharge planning occurs before an individual leaves an institution and involves creating links between the individual and the services and support the individual will need upon leaving including housing, services, treatment, and benefits/employment.