1. 5.14 Ending Long Stays in Shelter
Michelle Flynn
The Road Home Salt Lake City, Utah NAEH July 2017
The Road Home

2. What The Road Home Does
We shelter. We provide services to help individuals and families achieve their goals. We deliver a spectrum of housing services. We operate Rapid Rehousing and Permanent Supportive Housing programs. We help empower people to build a support network, increase income and remain stably housed. We end homelessness.
The Road Home

3. The Road Home Programs
Housing First shelter and Housing First programs
76 % of all homeless individuals in Utah are sheltered at The Road Home – we shelter about 1,000 men, women and children each night in winter
Housing priorities for Families, Veterans, Individuals who are Chronically Homeless, Elderly and otherwise vulnerable
Develop housing strategies for long-term shelter stayers
Central Housing Agency for families in Salt Lake County
Rapid Rehousing and Progressive Engagement
Permanent Supportive housing for most vulnerable individuals and families
The Road Home

4. For each person in Group B that we house, we can serve 10 to 11 individuals from Group A
The Road Home

5. The Road Home

6. Who are the single adults in our shelters? Data limitations
Insufficient UHMIS data on who stayed each night
Self report data upon intake assessment for characteristics including disability, income.
We have better data reliability for those who are enrolled in case managed programs for longer periods of time – quarterly assessments
Case managed single adults include 50% of the total on a given night
Populations who are case managed include all families, Veterans, chronically homeless individuals, elderly, and some who are otherwise disabled or vulnerable
The Road Home

7. Who are the single adults in our shelters
Who are the single adults in our shelters? One year of data FY16 5,550 single adults
59% reporting disabled
(2,413)
Of those, 69% are male and
31% are female
74% male (4,108) 26% female (1,442) 12% Veterans 76% age is 24 to 55 years
Of those indicating Veteran status, 95% are male and 5 % female
Age breakdown: 15% are age 56 or older, 77% are between 24 and 55, and 8% are 18 to 23
The Road Home

8. Who are the single adults in our shelters? Reported Income
For FY16:
2,178 (39%) single adults entering shelter reported some kind of income
3,369 (61%) either reported no income or did not respond to the income question
103 single adults actually reported no income
The Road Home

9. Who are the single adults in our shelters? Shelter Nights
Total shelter night history for 5,550 single adults who stayed in our shelters in FY16: Nights 4,064 individuals 73% Nights 778 individuals 14% Nights 547 individuals 10% Nights 140 individuals 3% Nights 16 individuals ~0% Nights 2 individuals ~0%
103 single adults actually reported no income
The Road Home

10. Who are the single adults in our shelters? Chronic status
Total shelter night history for 5,550 single adults who stayed in our shelters in FY16: 705 single adults have a total of 365 or more shelter nights 509 of those are indicated as chronically homeless 196 are long term shelter stayers who are not indicating chronic status
The Road Home

11. Why focus on single adults who are not defined as chronically homeless?
We have approximately 800 units of permanent supportive housing in our community. With a 15 to 20 percent turn over rate, we have access to 120 to 160 units per year without any new growth. The 2017 PIT indicates approximately 163 chronically homeless individuals in Salt Lake County on a given night. We have implemented a Coordinated Entry process that prioritizes Permanent Supportive Housing for those who are most vulnerable. With this method, approximately 40% of those housed have little shelter history.
* HIC actually reports 940 units of PSH for chronically homeless individuals is a stretch when we are looking at units we actually have access to refer into.
The Road Home

12. Dual Priorities
Every day we are making decisions about who to house when there are not enough resources to go around.
HUD requires PSH prioritization for those with longest history of homelessness and most severe service needs.
We want and must continue to prioritize those most vulnerable and in need of PSH for those units.
Our County also has a priority to reduce the number of shelter beds and increase the focus on housing.
In order to use shelter beds most efficiently and increase our ability to house long term shelter stayers, we must:
The Road Home

13. Dual Priorities
Increase our ability to identify and document long term shelter stayers who are also experiencing chronic homelessness and are highly vulnerable. They will move onto the By Name list for PSH.
Develop other kinds of housing for long term shelter stayers who are not in need of the intensive services provided by PSH.
Engage with the 196 long term shelter stayers who are not defined as chronic and develop an alternative housing plan.
The Road Home

14. Housing Options PSH is not the only option
PSH or Rapid Rehousing are not the only options
Rapid Rehousing with Progressive Engagement is an option!
SSVF and ESG
Housing First Emergency shelter – all staff focused on housing
Delayed Diversion
Rent by the week
Roommates
Senior and other Special Population Housing
The Road Home

15. HnJ Program (I’ll explain the title) -It’s a Pay for Success Initiative!
Rapid Rehousing with Progressive Engagement for Single Adults launched in January 2017
Sponsored by Salt Lake County – as a key “pilot” program to develop a housing strategy for long term shelter stayers that will result in reduction of average length of stay and reduce the number of shelter beds needed
Rapid Rehousing enhanced with behavioral health assessment and referrals and employment focus
Target group is “persistently homeless” single adults age 30 or older who have between shelter nights in the previous 12 months
The Road Home

16. What’s Next?
Use data from HnJ Program to support increased investment in housing for long term shelter stayers (persistently homeless)
Institutionalize a community level strategy for housing single adults
Show the impact on shelters
Be creative in developing housing options – It’s not just permanent supportive housing or rapid re-housing!
Develop shared housing – roommate - options
Work with local motels, businesses to develop deeply affordable housing
The Road Home

17. Helping people step out of homelessness and back into our community The Road Home 210 South Rio Grande St Salt Lake City, Utah
The Road Home