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Monthly Archives: December 2011

New York Times: Help for Homeless Veterans

On Sunday the New York Times ran an editorial about the “real progress” by Obama administration in ending Veterans homelessness.  Check out the editorial for more…

 

Help for Homeless Veterans

December 18, 2011

The Department of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development have announced modest but real progress in the effort to house homeless veterans. A count of people living in shelters and on the street in 400 communities on one night in January found 12 percent fewer veterans than at the same time last year — 67,495, compared with 76,329 in 2010. The percentage of homeless veterans living in shelters and transitional housing was also slightly better, up by 2 percent.

 

 

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki has vowed to eliminate homelessness among veterans by 2015. If he is going to reach that goal, the pace will have to pick up. Still, the movement seems to be in the right direction, especially given the current dismal economy.

 

 

Both the V.A. and HUD are making a major effort not just to help veterans leave the streets but to keep them permanently housed, and to stabilize the lives of others who are in danger of losing their homes.

 

They have significantly increased the use of a voucher program that works with community agencies to put veterans in permanent supportive housing. The veterans receive help with rent and are assigned case managers who help them get access to health care and other lifesaving benefits. The departments announced last week that the program has housed more than 33,000 veterans since 2009. The V.A. also announced $100 million in grants to community agencies to help nearly 42,000 veterans and their families avoid falling into homelessness.


Click here to read the full editorial.

Trauma-Informed Care Resources

Earlier this week the National Center on Family Homelessness hosted a very informative webinar on trauma informed care for homeless parents and children.

 

Homelessness and trauma are inextricably linked. Many people who experience homelessness have also suffered from physical and sexual abuse, domestic violence, injury, and other traumatic events. Trauma can impact all facets of a person’s life and can result in challenges that include mental health and substance issues, struggles maintaining housing and employment, and difficulties in relationships. Trauma-informed services take into account how trauma impacts people on a daily basis.

 

Click here to access slides from the webinar.

 

Additional resources on developing and implementing trauma informed programs and services can be found by clicking on the links below:

Save the Date: Disrupting the Poverty Cycle: Emerging Practices to Achieve Economic Mobility

Crittenton Women’s Union announces its first “Disrupting the Poverty Cycle: Emerging Practices to Achieve Economic Mobility” conference. The conference will bring together experts in program delivery, applied research, public policy, philanthropy, and program participants to share and learn practical emerging approaches to engage low-income families in a journey to economic self-sufficiency.

 

Tuesday, May 1, 2012
8:00am-2:30pm
Simmons College
Boston, Massachusetts

 

REGISTRATION OPENS
JANUARY 15, 2012

 

Registration fee: $75
Early Bird discount: $60
(before March 15, 2012)
Students: $40

 

For more information, contact Kelly Dowd at 617.259.2949

22nd Annual Interfaith Memorial Service For The Homeless

Government officials, homeless advocates, members of faith communities, homeless people and other concerned individuals will gather at Church on the Hill to observe National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day on Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at noon.

 

Held on the shortest day leading into the longest night of the year, the interfaith service is an opportunity to mourn those who have spent many long nights on the streets and ultimately suffered from the country’s failure to end homelessness. Religious representatives from Islamic, Jewish, Christian and other faiths will share a sacred text or prayer from their tradition. The names of known homeless individuals who have died in Massachusetts during the year will be read aloud.

 

In a tangible remembrance of the deceased individuals, handmade tombstones for each will line the sanctuary of the Church on the Hill during the hour-long service.

 

The Interfaith Memorial Service for Homeless People will begin at noon at the Church on the Hill, 140 Bowdoin Street ~ Beacon Hill, Boston, across from the State House. All are welcome. For more information, contact Michael Bancewicz.

 

 

A small luncheon will follow and there is very limited parking with RSVP.

 

Click here for more information.

 

Targeting Prevention Resources

The National Alliance to End Homelessness recently released a white paper focused on best practices in targeting prevention resources.

 

Prevention Targeting 101
INTRODUCTION

Programs aimed at preventing homelessness have become increasingly popular in communities due to new funding sources, a desire to reduce costs to the homeless assistance and other systems, and the belief that providing short-term financial assistance upfront can prevent a homeless episode. Many communities used Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) funds to create their prevention programs. Under HPRP, communities were advised to serve the households that would become homeless without the receipt of this assistance and would also be completely stable in permanent housing afterwards. Communities faced a daunting task in accurately identifying households that fit this description. An additional hurdle to figuring out proper targeting techniques was that determining the success of prevention efforts was difficult due to the need to follow up with recipients.  It should come as no surprise, then, that communities have struggled to find the most effective targeting threshold. While good targeting may seem difficult, it is possible. By using an approach driven by local data, communities can use their prevention funds more efficiently to resolve housing crises. This brief is a concise “how-to” guide on how communities can begin or improve efforts to identify and effectively assist the households who are most likely to become homeless and serve them appropriately.

Click here to download the Prevention Targeting White Paper.

Maurice Lim Miller: The Power of Social Networks to Break the Cycle of Poverty

Family Independence Initiative  President and CEO, Maurice Lim Miller, blogged in the Huffington Post yesterday about the vital role that networks play in moving communities out of poverty and about learning from the failures of the war on poverty.

 

From his blog post:

 

With more Americans than ever in poverty and with funding for social services dropping day by day, the nation’s attention is rightly focused on scrutinizing the status quo. Some of us are also looking critically at our failed poverty-fighting efforts. As we consider what to do to move our nation forward, I suggest we also look back at the lessons of our past.

 

Throughout U.S. history, entire communities of poor people have left poverty. But remarkably, none of these successes look like the public and philanthropic approaches we have relied on in our 47-year war on poverty. Nor do they look like the gravity-defying “up by your boot-straps” proposition of those who seek to dismantle the safety net.

 

Learning from History

 

If we look at the histories of “making it in America” we will see common themes and practices among very different communities. Historically, if you were poor but working hard, you were able to get a leg up from family and friends who helped with places to stay, connections to jobs, loans, and investments in your start-up ventures. People knew they needed one another and that those succeeding had a responsibility to help those following.

 

In the mid-1800s, poor Irish families housed each other and followed one another into construction and police jobs. In the early 1900s, African Americans settled in Tulsa, Oklahoma, bringing capital and resources into a growing community that had a strong ethic of community support — thus facilitating the development of a strong black middle class. Many groups built mutual aid societies or fraternal organizations, where they would pay monthly dues into a fund that was available to any member in need. To this day, those that beat poverty are those that share their resources. Afghan refugees in Washington, D.C. followed each other into the taxi business via one Afghani man who created a successful business and hires many new arrivals. Today, many of these drivers are able to send their kids to college.


Click here to read the remainder of the blog post.

Findings from One Family’s HomeBASE Listening Tour

One Family, Inc. supported the creation of the HomeBASE program during the FY 2012 budget process. We remain committed to the continuation of the program and the use of housing resources to prevent and end family homelessness. However, we also recognize that the original program, based on what we have learned since the program was implemented on August 1, could be improved if reforms were made for the balance of FY 12. It would also be beneficial to continue to examine the program and to make additional reforms, as needed, for FY 13 and beyond.

 

In an effort to inform our advocacy based on the experiences and lessons learned from the field, One Family recently conducted a listening tour with eight of the eleven HomeBASE Administering Agencies. The purpose of this exercise was to collect information and insights from providers regarding the success and challenges within the HomeBASE program. Specific attention was paid to recommendations for improvement to the program and ideas to better target the program in an attempt to make scarce program resources stretch further.

 

One Family met with the following agencies during the tour:

  • Berkshire Housing Development Corporation and Berkshire County Regional Housing Authority (Western Mass/ Berkshires)
  • Community Teamwork, Inc. (Merrimack Valley)
  • Franklin County Regional Housing & Redevelopment Authority and Service Net (Western Mass/ Franklin County / Hampshire County)
  • HAP Housing (Western Mass/ Springfield/ Hampden County)
  • Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership (Metro Boston)
  • RCAP Solutions (Worcester County)
  • South Middlesex Opportunity Council (Framingham/Metro West)
  • South Shore Housing and Father Bill’s and MainSpring (South Shore)

 

The remaining three administering agencies were unable to schedule meetings during the available time for the listening tour, but we remain open to meeting with them to hear their perspectives.

 
By traveling to meet with each agency at their offices we were able to engage a diverse group from staff from the agencies. In most cases we met with the Executive Directors, Program Managers, HomeBASE staff, and in some circumstances sub-contractors as well. This diversity enriched the process and allowed us to hear multiple perspectives from the same agency.

 

Click here to access the findings from this listening tour.

Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development Budget Hearings Announced

The Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development has announced the dates and locations of its FY13 budget hearings.

 

Hearings will be held on Tuesday December 20th at 5:00pm at the Union Station Grand Hall in Worcester and on Tuesday December 27th at 10:00am at at 1 Ashburton Place, conference rooms 2 and 3.

 

This is a great opportunity to express your ideas and recommendations regarding homeless and affordable housing programs.

Veterans Homelessness Declines 12% in 2011

The USICH announced today that veterans homelessness has declined significantly since January 2010.

 

News Release from USICH E-Blast:

Veterans Homelessness Declines 12% in 2011

December 13, 2011

 

Today, the Department of Housing and Urban Development released the results from the 2011 Point in time (PIT) count which took place on a single night last January. The report shows a 12% reduction in the number of Veterans experiencing homelessness from 76,329 in January 2010 to 67,495 in January 2011. The 12 percent decline keeps the Obama Administration on track to meet the goal of ending Veterans homelessness in 2015.

 
HUD’s annual PIT estimate of the number of homeless persons and families is based on data reported by more than 3,000 cities and counties. In addition to the 12% drop in Veterans homelessness, these communities are reporting modest declines in homeless in every category or subpopulation measured including individuals, families, and those experiencing long-term or chronic homelessness.

 
During a meeting of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan who personally participated in the 2011 nighttime count said, “It’s remarkable that in the wake of the most serious economic decline since the Great Depression, we’re witnessing an across-the-board drop in homelessness. This tells us that the Obama Administration’s strategy is actually working and the results spur us to continue working to end homelessness in America once and for all.”

 
Since 2009, working with over 4,000 community agencies, VA and HUD have successfully housed a total of 33,597 Veterans in permanent, supportive housing with dedicated case managers and access to high-quality VA health care through the HUD-VASH program.

 

 

“This new report is good news for the tens of thousands of Veterans we have helped find a home. Our progress in the fight against homelessness has been significant, but our work is not complete until no Veteran has to sleep on the street,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “We have been successful in achieving this milestone due to strong leadership from the President and hard work by countless community organizations and our federal, state, and local partners who are committed to helping Veterans and their families get back on their feet.”
 
“Over the last 18 months, we have seen unprecedented levels of collaboration within the federal government,” said U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Barbara Poppe. “The federal government is partnering more effectively with states and local communities across the nation to align our efforts to make progress on the goals of Opening Doors.”

 

The reductions reported today are attributed in part to the impact of HUD’s $1.5 billion Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program (HPRP), a program designed to assist individuals and families confronted by a sudden economic crisis.Funded through the Recovery Act, HPRP spared more than one million persons from homelessness by offering them short-term rent assistance, security and utility deposits, and moving expenses.The US Conference of Mayors has described HPRP as “fundamentally changing” the way communities respond to homelessness.

Read the full report

 

 

Key Findings:
On a single night in January 2011, HUD and its partners found

  • 636,017 people experienced homelessness, a reduction of 2.1 percent (649,917) from January 2010, and 5.3 percent (671,888) since 2007.
  • Veteran homelessness fell by nearly 12 percent (or 8,834 persons) since January 2010.
  • Homelessness among individuals declined 2 percent (or 13,900) from a year ago and 5.6 percent since 2007. Meanwhile, the number of homeless families fell 2.8 percent from last year and 8 percent since 2007.
  • Street homelessness (the unsheltered homeless population) declined by 13 percent (or 36,786 people) since 2007.
  • Persons experiencing long-term or chronic homelessness declined 2.4 percent (or 2,664) from last year and 13.5 percent (or 16,635 persons) since 2007. This steep reduction in chronic homelessness is largely attributed to the sharp growth in the supply of permanent supportive housing units – more than 30,000 beds between 2010 and 2011, and by more than 83,000 since 2007.
  • Five states accounted for half of the nation’s total homeless population: California (21.4 percent); New York (10 percent); Florida (8.9 percent); Texas (5.8 percent); and Georgia (3.3 percent).

 

Harm Reduction for Youth Webinar

Save the Date: USICH Webinar on Harm Reduction for Youth

January 12th 3:30-4:30     

 

Harm reduction is a model that has been very successful helping youth experiencing homelessness gain stability and direction. Using harm reduction for youth requires adapting the model to develop a youth appropriate intervention focused on positive development. Panelists from Lighthouse Youth Services in Cincinnati, OH and Preble Street in Portland, ME will join Jennifer Ho in an interactive forum to discuss the basics of a harm reduction model for youth and the benefits gained from meeting youth where they are at, offering them the supports and trusting relationships they need to gain stability.

 

-  Register now