Ending Family Homelessness Kelly King Horne, Executive Director Homeward kkhorne@homewardva.org www.homewardva.org

Greater Richmond Continuum of Care (Virginia) Established in 1997 Homeward was created in 1998 to facilitate the CoC funding program More than $4.5 million in HUD funds targeted to homelessness each year; $1.6 million in state funds 2017 PIT = 662 (down from 1150 in 2007 & 2009) Region = approx. 1.3 million individuals (560K households) Poverty rate > 20% AMI= $69K Map retrieved from http://www.richmondregional.org/

Before Housing First: “You don’t understand; our folks need us.” Emergency shelters for women and children Fathers & boys 12+ years old were separated from their families Many transitional housing program for mothers with children who were interested in services Median stay in TH approximately 9 months Cost per household could be as high as $35,000 for one year Waiting list for shelters Partnership with public housing was the primary housing intervention (only for City residents)

Turning Point: record #’s of children in summer point-in-time count (2007)

Making Changes Strategically All family transitional housing providers changed their program model (voluntarily) One Rapid re-housing & closed congregate site One Rapid re-housing & became emergency shelter One  PSH & added rapid re-housing program DV agencies also adopted rapid re- housing model Two other emergency shelters for households with children Focus on quality of RRH Emphasis on capacity-building Public funding aligned and many private funders fill gaps or fund supportive services and innovations Cost savings and increases in the number of households housed

Beyond Rapid re-housing Phone-based access Partnership development & governance to make difficult decisions Emphasis on diversion and problem-solving conversations Engaged partners serving survivors of domestic & sexual violence Developing strategies for unsheltered families & families in motels

What’s next? Homeless services system needs support from mainstream partners Households with higher barriers and more intensive needs Need to develop service partnerships with public sector (child welfare & mental health) Develop self-resolution strategies to help households with children connect to supports and find housing Right-size resources for households with and without children