Omaha/Council Bluffs “Homes For All”: 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness

Erin Porterfield, LCSW

January 26, 2010

Omaha Area CoC Beginnings

CoC for Douglas, Sarpy and Pottawattamie Counties) begun by Omaha City Planning Department – David Thomas and Mike Saklar in the mid 90’s

In 2006, city leadership of CoC ended The community came together in a

Decision Accelerator to determine next steps for the CoC Outcomes

Create a nonprofit to lead the CoC Goals identified for new CoC lead agency,

MACCH

Who/what is MACCH?

Mission: To lead a collaborative effort to prevent and end homelessness

Board of 20 directors - providers, public officials, people who are formerly homeless, etc.

Two staff Nonprofit, Membership Organization 11+ Volunteer Task Forces Coordinate Continuum of Care for the Homeless

Process, HUD NOFA and associated activities through the year $2.3 million (71% more than the previous year)

Coordinate efforts to prevent and end homelessness

MACCH Board of Directors

Decision Makers/Broad Policy decisionsMeet monthly20 Board MembersFiscal Accountability, Strategic PlanningReview Compensation Structure for MACCHSelect/Review Executive DirectorApprove articles and bylawsEx officio nonvoting member (Executive Director)

Board CommitteesExecutiveFinanceFund DevelopmentMarketing and Ten year Plan OversightGovernanceMembership

Executive Director

Consumer Advisory

Task Force

Cultural Competency Task Force

Transitional Housing

Task Force

HMIS (Homeless Management Information

System) Task Force

Other Task

Forces

Mission: Leading a collaborative network to prevent and end homelessness

Program Coordinator

Prevention Task Force

Youth Task Force

Co-occurring Task Force* Coordinator is funded, Community Alliance is the fiscal agent

Housing DirectorsTask Force

Chronic Home-lessness

Task Force

Housing Pipeline Task Force

Medical Task Force

Community Stake Holders

People who experience homelessnessHomeless and prevention service providersFundersCommunity advocates City, County, State government Members comprise dues paying organizations and individuals

“Homes For All”Omaha/Council Bluffs 10 -Year Plan to End Homelessness

Volunteer Task Forces

Why create a 10 - Year Plan to End Homelessness in our metro area?

Wilder Report – study of homelessness in our region highlighted the need for a plan to reduce or end homelessness.

Nationally, communities that have plans to end homelessness find: Fewer people experience homelessness Consensus focuses efforts and creates

accountability for results

10 - Year Plan to End Homelessness

Closing the front door to homelessness (Prevention)

and

Opening the back door to homelessness (Rapid exit through housing & support)

When developing our plan, we considered our regional homeless data

Studies about prevention of homelessness for families and individuals

Affordable housing data Top reasons people report

contributing to their homelessness Understanding homeless from the

people who experience it

Expenses for Emergency Services Estimated Cost 60 Days in Shelter for Four People $3,009.6012 Visits to the Emergency Room $25,877.403 Days in Jail $425Total Expense $29,312.00

Expenses for Permanent Housing Estimated Cost Fair Market Rent for a Three-bedroom Apartment for 60 Days Total Rent $2,022*

*This cost of Permanent Housing does not include Supportive Services which can be variable depending upon the household composition and needs.

A family of four, with another child on the way, spent 60 days in homelessness and had the following approximate costs as described in the table below

An individual experienced homelessness for 119 days and had the following approximate costs as described in the table below

Expenses for Emergency Services Estimated Cost

119 Days in Shelter for One Person $1,492.26Five Visits to the Emergency Room $10,782.25Total Expense $12,274.51

Expenses for Permanent Housing Estimated Cost Fair Market Rent for an Efficiency

Apartment for 90 Days $1,602*

*This cost of Permanent Housing does not include Supportive Services which can be variable depending upon the household composition and needs.

Affordable Housing

Compare:FMR for one bedroom apt. $569

Homeless median income $100 Median income for those $575

homeless and employed Income for homeless $653

receiving SSI

Top 5 Reasons for Homelessness

Jan. 31, 2008In-Depth Survey Omaha Area

April, 2008 Project Homeless Connect, Omaha

National Data

•Lack of a job

•Lack of affordable housing

•Credit problems

•Substance abuse

•Criminal background

• Lack of a job

• Substance abuse

• Eviction

• Mental health

• Medical condition

• Lack of affordable housing

• Poverty

• Domestic violence

• Mental health

• Substance abuse

Omaha Metro Point in Time Count August 2009

At least 1322 people are homeless in the metro area at any point in time

20% chronically homeless (long term homeless and disabled)

8% mentally ill 10% chronic substance use 26% people in families

The Cost of Homelessness

We are already paying to maintain homelessness:

shelter, ER visits, corrections, etc.

We should focus our efforts to pay for solutions to homelessness

housing, support when and how people need it

It is cheaper and more humane to offer solutions to homelessness.

A Lesson from Million Dollar Murrayhttp://www.gladwell.com/pdf/murray.pdf

“Why problems like homelessness may be easier to solve than to manage.”

Police officers knew Murray, an ex-marine, who died homeless on the streets of Reno, Nevada

They calculated how much it cost to maintain his homelessness – results $1,000,000

The cost comparison to fund permanent housing and support would have been far less and more humane.

How did we design our 10 - Year Plan to End Homelessness – “Homes For All”?

Viewed other community Ten Year Plans Get key and varied people to the table HUD technical assistance facilitated two

community forums AIM Compassion Grant for process and product Incorporated Nebraska and Iowa Plans Large group session broke into tables of ten, each

with a facilitator Themes of homelessness solutions led to goals,

two year objectives, action steps, who will lead efforts

How did we design our 10 - Year Plan to End Homelessness – “Homes For All”?

Draft copy reviewed by many, task forces, board, participants…

Created 10 - Year Plan Launch to tie credit and responsibility Director Phillip Mongano, USICH Mayors Fahey and Hanafan, Commissioner

Borgeson, Father Schlegel, etc. Mega Media – TV, radio, paper

When did we know our Plan was complete?

We accepted that it may be imperfect but can be changed

We are one year into the plan and will calculate progress and targets for next measurement periods

Of Note:Critique of our plan by Dir. Mangano, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) ** No goal for creating Housing First, the primary best practice model for reductions of homelessness!

The Seven Goals of Our 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness

The Seven Goals of Our 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness

Goal 1 Prevention Goal 2 Easy, immediate and appropriate

access to all servicesGoal 3 Create housing to meet the needsGoal 4 Construct and sustain

actions that end homelessnessGoal 5 Culturally competent services Goal 6 Housing and service to specific to the

needs of chronically homeless

Goal 7 Data to support goals to end homelessness

Progress

Biggest marker so far:

Permenant Supportive Housing (PSH) planned as of Dec. 2009, (including the 2009 NOFA) would accommodate a total of 383 people, 102 of the beds dedicated to chronically homeless

This is up from about 21 beds in 2007.

Currently working with Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) to develop a Housing Pipeline – quantifying the amount of PSH units needed and how to get it done.

Progress

Greater coordination for prevention – readiness for HPRP- New prevention programming

Focused collaborative efforts toward accessing services – co-occurring, specifically

SOAR Program Task Forces focus on actions that end

homelessness – always asking the question…“If we take this course of action will it increase system change to end homelessness?”

Looking to the future

Central intake and assessment (reduce the ricocheting people between providers) Coordinated prevention network Housing options Shelter diversion

Increase service access and follow up (recovery, medications, follow up service, co-occurring…)

Erin PorterfieldMetro Area Continuum of Care for the

Homeless (MACCH)115 S. 49 Ave. Omaha, NE 68132eporterfield@unomaha.edu(402) 561-7597www.MACCHomeless.org