Homelessness Prevention & Rapid Re-housing: Community Perspectives

Transcription

1 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program Homelessness Prevention & Rapid Re-housing: Community Perspectives 2009 REGIONAL HPRP TRAINING Sponsored by: Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs (SNAPS) U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development

2 Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust David Raymond, Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust Dr. Paul Ahr, Camillus House Monica Vigues-Pitan, Esq. Legal Services Silvia Hernandez, Lutheran Services of Florida

3 Continuum of Care Role of the CoC Key Planning Decisions- Miami-Dade County Homeless Plan- 10 Year Plan Strategies- Best Practice Field Trips-

4 How was Program Implemented Phase in of additional Prevention Services Phase in of Additional Rapid-Re-Housing Services Homeless Helpline System and Funding Capacity

5 Stakeholders Design- Trust Board, Committees, Providers Operations-Privatized system of care through not-for-profits-providers Oversight- Homeless Trust monitoring process Evaluation- Independent Evaluation of entire CoC by UCF

6 Camillus House Prevention Program Processes Screening Process: Most clients contact the Homeless Prevention Program either by calling the Homeless Hotline or Camillus House directly. The potential client is interviewed over the phone to determine eligibility. If a client has an eviction notice, the client is referred to Legal Services via . Legal Services contacts the client and provides legal assistance. If the client meets the basic criteria, the Homeless Prevention Program provides economic assistance.

7 Camillus House Prevention Program Processes continued.. If the client has a three day notice or is about received it, the following information is obtained and shared: Basic demographic information, i.e. number and ages of people in the household Explain that the program can only cover one month s rent. Monthly rent cannot exceed monthly income. Name and address of the landlord How long arrears in rent?

8 Camillus House Prevention Program Interview Process If client meets basic eligibility requirements, an appointment is made. Clients are instructed to bring the following documentation to the interview: Picture identification for everyone in the household Proof of income Proof of hardship Notarized three day notice Last rent receipt Referral letter to Camillus House from the Neighborhood Enhancement Center (determined by zip code) Rent or lease agreement W-9 form from the landlord

9 Camillus House Prevention Program Interview Process Intake/Interview Process (45 minutes to an hour) Intake form completed by case manager. Case management needs are assessed and prioritized. Client signs the Clients Rights and HIPAA forms as well as A release of information form for the Clearinghouse at Salvation Army to ascertain that the client has not already received assistance from another homeless prevention program in the past year

10 Camillus House Prevention Program Implementation Process Implementation Process: Landlord is called in the presence of the client to determine if the check will halt the eviction process Client is referred to services Case manager verifies that the landlord owns the property on the Miamidade.gov website Check is sent by certified mail to the landlord within ten days. Follow Up Process: Clients are contacted at two and four months to determine if still housed and if there are ongoing needs.

11 Camillus House Prevention Program Staffing 1 FTE Program Director Oversees the operations of the program 1 FTE Clinician Completes intakes and provides services to more complicated cases 2 FTE s Case Managers Complete intakes and make referrals 1 FTE Outreach and Referral Monitor Answers calls, screens client for eligibility and calls clients to complete follow up questionnaires

12 Camillus House Prevention Program Lessons Learned Program criteria are currently too restrictive to provide prevention. The service being provided is actually early intervention. Attention needs to be paid to staff morale. Approximately 1 in 5 of the people requesting assistance is eligible. Although referrals are made, it is very difficult for staff to turn people down. As a result, staffing changes were made.

13 Camillus House Prevention Program Lessons Learned We originally thought the case managers would rotate and answer the calls. This became too overwhelming. We changed one of the positions so that one person answers the telephone and screens the calls. We did not anticipate the amount of investigation that would be required for each request. The program attracted scam artists. Staff need to verify that landlords do in fact own the property.

14 Camillus House Prevention Program Phone Calls Direct Calls Help Line Total Year to Date Rental Assistances Year to Date Single Women Women with children Families Single Men Total Black 26 Black 43 Black 23 Black 15 54% Hispanic 10 Hispanic 15 Hispanic 49 Hispanic 7 41% White 2 White 2 White 2 White 3 5%

15 Overview of Renters Education and Advocacy Legal Lines (REAL) REAL provides telephone legal assistance, and in selected cases extended legal representation to assist low income individuals throughout Miami- Dade County avoid becoming homeless due to eviction. LSGMI operates REAL in collaboration with the Camillus House Homeless Prevention Project Homeless HelpLine which is supported by Miami Coalition for the Homeless, Camillus House and Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc.

16 Overview of REAL (continued) REAL is modeled on the highly successful HomeLine Project located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The goals of REAL are: to provide immediate legal advice and information; and provide extended legal representation in selected cases to avoid the loss of private rental housing.

17 Service Model Individuals referred to REAL receive a call from a REAL staff member within one business day. The REAL staff member discusses the housing issue and provides legal advice when: the applicant is facing eviction, has a problem involving her security deposit, is renting a property in foreclosure, or has been locked out of her unit.

18 Service Model (continued) All applicants are provided with legal education materials either via mail or internet access. Applicants are encouraged to call back with questions or concerns in the future. All applicants are provided with a survey to evaluate the services provided.

19 Numbers Served April March 2009 Total Referred: 2771 Total Reached: 2378 Referred to Housing: 65 Comprehensive REAL Legal Advice: 1698 Legal Education Materials: 422 Miscellaneous: 193

20 Budget Personnel Costs: $150,809 (includes salary and benefits for Project Director, Supervising Attorney, and law clerks) Non-Personnel Costs: $ 94,853 (includes litigation, technology fees, office space, utilities, courier, postage, etc.) Total $245,662 Approx. cost per person served: $103 (includes clients with full representation and call backs)

21 Lessons Learned Our community is plagued with widespread misinformation about landlord tenant rights. REAL increased staffing and modified its procedures to serve all the clients referred without decreasing the service provided. Technology helped us overcome the difficulties of providing telephone advice.

22 Lessons Learned (continued) Law clerks effectively communicate with clients using simple and direct language that clients more easily understand. Because our clients speak a variety of languages and are culturally diverse, the REAL director is bilingual and we hire bilingual law clerks. Community education materials are also translated into Spanish and Creole.

23 Future Goals for REAL Develop a clinic to assist pro se tenants facing eviction. Increase extended representation. Increase community education to supportive service providers to maximize the efficiency of rental assistance. Increase and diversify funding sources.

24 Contact Information For more information on REAL please contact: Monica Vigues-Pitan (305) You can also visit our website at

25 CHANCE PROGRAM Children Having A New Choice Everyday Lutheran Services Florida, Inc.

26 Scope of Services: Place 80 families and 10 singles into permanent housing Eligibility Certification Housing Search CPH staff can use the housing locator website Lease Negotiation Financial Assistance Furniture, etc. Case Mgt and 1 yr follow-up

27 Referrals Referrals are received by continuum of care providers (CPHI, Camillus House, Salvation Army, etc) Outreach County and City Other Community Agencies and Neighborhoods No walk-ins are accepted No self referred

28 Who is Eligible? Must be homeless, fitting one of the following criteria: Living in hotels, motels, campgrounds, or inadequate trailer homes Living in emergency, transitional, or runaway shelters Living in cars, parks, abandoned buildings, or public spaces not intended for human habitation Living doubled-up with others due to economic hardship or loss of housing* * overcrowded/inadequate space/inappropriate

29 Who is Appropriate? Should not have Mental Health/Substance Abuse issues that would preclude them from living in unsupervised housing arrangements. Should be able to demonstrate sufficient income (Pay stubs, etc.) to pay ongoing rent obligations Please disclose if criminal background Does not disqualify from program, but does impact which landlords we will send them to.

30 What other assistance does LSF provide? Security/First/Last month (move-in costs) Basic furniture as needed Utility deposits as needed Case Management for one year Food vouchers/bus Tokens/Passes as needed Connection to community for ongoing resources Client financial plan at move-in determines if and how long a subsidy is appropriate. Goal is to have clients self-sufficient within three months.

31 Budget Budget $818,800 - Daily Operation -Agency Admin -Support Services

32 HMIS Data on 63 households/268 individuals in the program 32 single adults 88 adults in the family nucleus 148 children Ethnicity: 44 Hispanics 76 non-hispanics 72 Black or African American 33 Whites 1 Black/African & White 12 Multi Racial 2 Other Income Source: SSI, Social Security, Employment, food stamps, and TANF

33 Second Chance A Housing Option for Aging Out Foster Care Youth Lutheran Services Florida

34 Program Description The purpose of the this program is to provide services to 15 young adults (over 18) who have aged out of the Foster Care System. Services provided include: Housing subsidies Housing search assistance Partial subsidies for Utilities Life skills/budgeting counseling Case Management

35 Program Overview 15 to 30 youth are enrolled in program Referrals from Case Management Agencies Intake, housing search, lease negotiation, move in, subsidy set up and payments, housing focused case management and wrap around team meetings for 1 year

36 Program Overview Transition plan at 9 month, sign off by team Youth take over rent and utility payments at month 13 Follow up case mgt for 1 year Involve graduates in program advisory committee

37 How the Funding Works HOME -Not the typical HOME funding use (Bricks and Mortar) -Tenant Based Rental Assistance Program -Eligible expenses include Security Deposits, Utility Deposits Rental subsidies and Utility subsidies Limited administrative cost Must follow HUD guidelines Rent limits, HQS, Income limits Needed additional funding source to pay for program operating expenses and cost of services.

38 Budget Basic budget to run the program is about $ 266,000 Staff: - 2 case manager - 1 program manager - 1 administrative assistance Rental subsidies and utilities for 15 units for one year -limited administrative costs

39 Program s Goals Met YTD 45 youth placed 40 graduated from the program since May are still active in the program. FY youth will be placed by 12/31/2009 Transition supports: Mainstream community resources Transitional Living funds Road to Independence scholarships Employment Income Mentors and CMO s continue until age 23

40 HMIS Data on the 45 households 22 single adults 23 families 34 Black American 75 % 10 Hispanics 23 % 1 Other 2 % Extremely low income Income sources: RTI, Employment, Food Stamps, TANF Most are in school or working part time.

41 Lessons Learned Build it and they will come Move resources from deep end to front end Never enough money in prevention Keep people out of your system by all reasonable means

42 CoC Systems Change Community Homeless Plans- must be fluid and evolve with changing needs Take best practices and make them your own Visit, talk to providers, other Governments, and clients- Client survey in Miami led to systems change

43 Future Direction Expands current program allowing multiple months of assistance and a depth of services Tracking through HMIS will allow CoC s to review reports, track trends and recidivism Allows communities to build upon their success and make course corrections