Legislative Updates 
Planning for Outcomes
Since the demographics of homelessness, and therefore its solutions, vary in every locality, ending homelessness will require the development of local plans to systematically and quickly re-house those who lose their housing. The replacement housing should be permanent -- having no artificial limits on how long a person can stay. If an individual or family requires some type of temporary housing such as residential treatment (for illness) or residential separation (for victims of domestic violence, for chronically homeless people, for people in recovery) such interim housing should be firmly linked to eventual placement in permanent housing.
In order to develop local systems that do not tolerate homelessness, two things must happen. Accurate administrative data must be developed to understand the nature of homelessness and its solutions, and long range planning must take place with the goal of ending homelessness (defined as getting people into permanent housing).
DATA
Every jurisdiction needs solid information on who is homeless, why they became homeless, what homeless and mainstream assistance they receive and what is effective in ending their homelessness. This information is needed on a city- or state-wide basis, not just a program-by-program basis. This allows trends to be monitored to determine what is causing homelessness, to assess what types of assistance are available to address homelessness, and to fill the resulting gaps.
Questions that can be answered with such data include:
- With what mainstream public systems have homeless people interacted, and did this interaction result in homelessness (example: poor discharge planning, inadequate after-care, etc.)?
- How many units of supportive housing are needed to eliminate chronic homelessness?
- For those who enter and exit the system fairly quickly, what assistance is most effective in facilitating their re-housing?
- What mainstream services do families need after they are housed so that they do not become homeless again?
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Columbus, Ohio faced the need to relocate two downtown shelters due to a redevelopment effort. The Community Shelter Board had developed a jurisdiction-wide data collection system which showed that some 300 men more or less lived in these shelters - the chronically homeless. Rather than relocate these individuals to new shelters, Columbus will create permanent supportive housing (housing with services) to house them. This will reduce the need for replacement shelter
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Surprisingly, very few places have this kind of fundamental data upon which to base decisions. Accordingly, the approach to homelessness is more often intuitive and general than strategic and outcome driven.
Planning
At present, there is very little local planning to end homelessness, utilizing the full range of resources that is available at the local and state levels. A first step toward such an effort, the Continuum of Care process of applying for funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, has succeeded in increasing the level of cooperation and analysis at the local level. But genuine planning efforts are still rare.
Local planning should go beyond the effort to create a full spectrum homeless assistance system which manages people's experience of homelessness. Local jurisdictions should develop long term plans whose goal is to immediately re-house anyone who becomes homeless. Such a system will involve agencies and programs far beyond the scope of the homeless assistance providers. The following agencies should be involved in local (and state) planning to end homelessness.
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· State/local mental health department
· Mental health providers · State/local public health department · Health care providers · State/local corrections department · State/local veterans affairs department · State/local labor or employment department · Employment services providers · Employers · State/local substance abuse department · Substance abuse providers · Homeless assistance providers · Governor's/Mayor's office · County official(s) · State/local public assistance department · State/local housing department · Nonprofit housing developers/operators · For-profit housing developers/operators |
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The San Francisco/Oakland Bay Area has undertaken a major planning effort to coordinate the response to homelessness. Mental health, public health, housing and other agencies - both public and nonprofit sector - have been involved. An integrated strategy for addressing homelessness has resulted.
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The Homeless Assistance Centers (HACs) in Miami/Dade County, Florida are replacing the area's shelter system. All homeless people go through intake and assessment in these large centers. Their immediate needs are met, but the goal is to assess and evaluate overall needs and re-house people immediately in either permanent housing or a residential service program - to reduce the length of their homeless experience.
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What Gets Measured, Gets Done: A Toolkit on Performance Measurement for Ending Homelessness
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This toolkit provides an overview of performance measurement 101, including how to design a system and build it from scratch, using data to manage or change a homeless system, and understanding and implementing system-level performance measurement.
