Serving the People That Need it Most Kaki Dimock, TJACH September 22,2014

TJACH Continuum of Care Outreach – PATH, street outreach, day shelter – The Haven Coordinated assessment – one right door, no wrong door Housing navigation – individual & system outcomes Prevention – focused on avoiding shelter Emergency shelter – 58 beds at Salvation Army, 60 beds at PACEM, domestic violence shelter, runaway youth shelter Rapid re-housing – focused on serving those with highest needs Transitional housing – focused on self-sufficiency outcomes, Hope House, Center of Hope, Shelter for Help in Emergency Permanent supportive housing – The Crossings, Region Ten, Positive Places for chronically homeless

Using Prevention to Avoid Shelter Who? Households at imminent risk of entering shelter Why? 85% of households with an eviction notice do not enter emergency shelter The biggest predictor of future homelessness is past homelessness Tools? Shinn/Greer Brief Screener to identify baseline eligibility and priority status Eligibility=previous homelessness AND currently staying with family or friends Priority =ranked based on additional risk factors

Using Prevention to Avoid Shelter 1 Point 1 point Pregnancy Children under 2 No H.S./GED Not currently employed Not leaseholder Reintegrating into community from an institution years old 1-3 moves in last year 1-2 disruptive childhood experiences Moderate discord with landlord, leaseholder or household 2 points Receiving public assistance Involved w/CPS/APS Applied for shelter in last 3 months 22 years old or younger 4+ moves in last year 3+ disruptive childhood experiences Severe discord with landlord, leaseholder, or household

Using Prevention to Avoid Shelter The devil is in the details! People are used to a traditional waitlist, based on first come=first served. A dynamic waitlist, based on priority status feels unfair. There are a lot people living in uncomfortable or tenuous situations out there. Our prevention coordinator’s job involves a lot of saying ‘no’. Preventing risk v. preventing homelessness

Using RRH for Those with the Highest Needs Who? Households with LOTS of housing barriers Why? Research shows that rapid re-housing works with high needs households High needs households cost the most to maintain in homelessness Tools? Modified Rapid Re-Housing Triage Tool to identify baseline eligibility and priority status Eligibility=literal homelessness & score on triage tool Priority=ranked based on additional risk factors (highest scores first)

Using RRH for Those with the Highest Needs The devil is in the details! People are used to a traditional waitlist, based on first come=first served. A dynamic waitlist, based on priority status feels unfair. High barrier participants surprised us…a lot. There remains a real and perceived need for more permanent supportive housing. If you build it, they will come… Successful RRH is successful housing stabilization.

How TJACH got here First, ‘here’ ain’t so pretty. Second, moving to targeting and prioritization strategies is a massive change project. Spend time on communication and relationship- building. And then do it again. – Create opportunities for joint problem-solving. – Talk about the people AND the numbers. – Get the right people engaged in governance. – Trust the data. Trust the research. – Be prepared to identify gaps in other systems of care and advocate for them.