New York, NY More than 500,001 Homebase I. Project Summary: New York, NY; More than 500,001; Homebase Homelessness Prevention

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1 I. Project Summary: New York, NY; ; Homelessness Prevention is a network of 13 neighborhood-based homelessness prevention centers designed to help families avoid homelessness. It is funded by the New York City Department of Homeless Services, and operated by community-based organizations with decades of experience tackling poverty and homelessness. is designed to achieve three primary goals: 1) prevent homelessness from occurring, 2) help families who seek shelter find immediate alternatives and shorten their time in shelter and 3) prevent repeated stays in shelter. To achieve these goals, provides a combination of case management services and financial assistance to tailor a solution that helps the family avoid entering shelter. acts quickly to help the family preserve their housing, and then develops a long-term plan for housing stability. The service plan is unique to each household and is developed in conjunction with the family. The plan may include short-term financial assistance, job training, financial education, legal services, mediation, household repairs, and accessing work support benefits. The model is successful due to a combination of experienced community-based providers, a flexible service model, and comprehensive data analysis. From September 2004 through April 2009, over 14,000 households were served by. Over 90 percent of these households did not enter shelter within one year of service. has also provided diversion services to over 1,000 families. The model is constantly evolving to meet current demands and trends in shelter entry, such as the current foreclosure crisis. 2

2 II. Project Description overview: Objectives and strategies New York City s Department of Homeless Services (DHS) initiated its new homelessness prevention program,, in September was developed as the City set out to create and new and better option for families seeking shelter services. Families at risk of homelessness are enrolled in and assigned a case manager, who acts quickly to help the family preserve their housing, and develops a long-term plan for housing stability. The service plan is unique to each household s circumstances and is made in conjunction with active participation from the family itself. Services include short-term financial assistance, job training, financial education, legal services, mediation, household repairs, and accessing work support benefits. first stabilizes the immediate housing crisis, and then addresses the underlying factors. Families at risk of homelessness assigned a case manager, who helps the family preserve their housing, and develops a longterm plan for housing stability. employs multiple innovative tools. First, the program utilizes flexible funding, distributed at the discretion of the providers. When there are no other means of public assistance, providers can offer short-term, flexible financial assistance. DHS encourages providers to address the problems as they see them rather than according to a predefined solution. Second, DHS collects and shares an unparalleled amount of data to assist targeting efforts and to evaluate the program. DHS has developed new uses of technology to track homelessness, and the agency s investment in geo-coding technology is a key part of s targeting approach. Information is collected daily and regularly distributed to providers on people from their communities applying for shelter, including the blocks and apartment buildings in which they last lived. This data can be used by the providers to reach out to counsel these families on their alternatives to shelter and target services to similarly situated households. In addition, offices receive a list of the families who exit shelter and now reside in their communities so they can reach out and offer services. 3

3 DHS also has developed early warning systems with sister agencies, receiving direct referrals from the housing courts and other social service agencies. Investment in geo-coding technology is a key part of s targeting approach. Third, looks beyond traditional solutions by establishing extensive linkages with mainstream social services organizations, private and public, that serve many of the same families. Close collaboration with our sister TANF agency allows families to access a combination of financial assistance and services. Also, is one of the only programs in NYC to receive access to priority Section 8 vouchers through the local public housing authority. Funding is allocated based on demand in the service areas, and designed to provide the appropriate level of services to the communities that need them the most. DHS has expanded the program budget from $12 million to $17 million in fiscal year 2008, $20 million in fiscal year 2009, and $22 million by fiscal year Project Implementation reflects growing local and national trends away from merely managing homelessness. In 2004, DHS commissioned a year-long study by the Vera Institute of Justice to investigate the population entering shelter and the underlying causes. Study results informed the sophisticated targeting methods used by the program. Input was sought from community-based organizations, landlords and shelter providers and clients who all participated in planning sessions, sharing their experiences and ideas. providers themselves helped shape the program by traveling with DHS to other jurisdictions to examine best practices and applied lessons learned to their own communities. 4

4 Careful planning, data analysis and stakeholder involvement led to the pilot of six programs in community districts with the highest homelessness rates. With the help of Dennis Culhane of the University of Pennsylvania, the agency set up an evaluation control group of six community districts with similar economic characteristics. The high needs communities determined by the Vera Institute of Justice became the basis for the six pilot programs established in From its inception in 2004 until 2007, DHS found that the communities showed a lower rate of increase in shelter entry than the control communities. Comparing the rate of increase in shelter to the control group, we would have expected shelter entry to increase by 37 percent. Instead, it increased 27 percent a substantial 10 percent difference. Based on these early results, DHS added four new programs and expanded the coverage citywide in Knowing that many households at risk of becoming homeless are not service seekers, the targeting of public awareness efforts is especially important. In July 2008, DHS launched a foundation-funded public awareness campaign to emphasize the advantages of prevention over shelter. Timed to coincide with peak shelter demand season and citywide expansion of, advertisements were placed in strategic locations in low-income communities such as neighborhood billboards, bus shelters and check-cashing establishments. Callers are directed to the citywide customer service phone center, 311, who routes calls to the appropriate office. DHS launched a foundation-funded public awareness campaign to emphasize the advantages of community prevention. 5

5 Successful Partnerships New York, NY completes and complements the comprehensive continuum of homelessness prevention services in New York City and part of the City s overall strategy to provide wraparound services to prevent homelessness. This strategy begins with providing access to benefits and services to preserve tenancy for all vulnerable households, such as legal representation in eviction proceedings and emergency grants to pay rent arrears. It continues at the front door of shelter where applicants are counseled and offered customized solutions as an alternative to shelter. The continuum of services also extends to families as they exit the shelter system to permanent housing to ensure a successful transition. offers all of the services along this continuum, but it does not do it alone. Like any effective human service program, partnerships with other public and private resources are essential. For example, the partnership with the Human Resource Administration/Department of Social Services (HRA/DSS), the City s TANF agency, provides ready access to funds for rent arrears and short term subsidies. Combined with flexible funding, this is often the solution to preventing homelessness. The agencies are integrated at critical points of service, including the DHS intake center, housing court, and at HRA/DSS job centers in communities across the city. HRA/DSS, DHS, and staff work collaboratively to make referrals and facilitate critical cases by sharing pertinent information, allowing for efficient coordination of government and private service providers. Beginning in 2006, DHS partnered with the local housing authority to offer priority Section 8 applications for working families in the community, giving over 4,000 families the opportunity access to long-term affordable housing. DHS collaborates with the housing authority to ensure that applicants qualify for and maintain stable housing. also recently partnered with the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs Office of Financial Empowerment (OFE) a Financial Empowerment Center (FEC), a citywide initiative to bring free one-on-one financial counseling on budgeting, money management, and credit and debt issues to low income New Yorkers. Center staff provides direct assistance to people in crisis, helps families stabilize their finances and plan for their future, and provides strategic referrals to other public and private resources. Co-locating the FEC and will allow for interagency cooperation to seamlessly deliver vital prevention services and financial counseling to New Yorkers who need them most. also fosters a growing number of connections with private service organizations, providing referrals based on client-specific needs for money management and household budgeting; credit repair; emergency food supplies; job placement; child care services; and referrals for domestic violence, mental health and substance abuse. The level of interagency cooperation with these and other agencies is highly innovative and allows for seamless delivery of prevention services, enabling New Yorkers to better utilize the resources at their disposal. It also allows for the City to maximize its resources and cast a wider net of support around New York s most vulnerable populations. 6

6 Measuring Success New York, NY Like all prevention programs, DHS continually faces the challenge of measuring the impact of its homelessness prevention services. This issue became especially acute when the program expanded citywide in 2008, making comparison across treatment and control communities impossible. However, evaluation of program outcomes is necessary to ensure the effective management of municipal resources, and DHS uses extensive data analysis to inform and adapt the program model in a timely and meaningful manner. DHS measures three primary outcomes: Client demand The primary goal of is to be utilized in the community, offering services to households that were previously only available at the shelter door. Thus, one of the most important measures is the number of clients seeking services. In July 2007 DHS launched a public awareness campaign that directed callers to 311, the city-wide call center, for referrals to. In August, the number of inquiries for services increased 39 percent from July and 144 percent compared to June When compared to the same time in the previous year, 311 experienced a growth of 360 percent in phone calls about services. More and more at-risk families are learning that shelter is not their only option. Program outcomes Evaluation of the program is structured to ensure that the measurement process itself promotes continual programmatic improvements. Providers are held accountable for both producing positive outcomes for their clients (i.e. the portion of those served who avoid a shelter stay) and the community they serve. From September 2004 through April 2009, 14,357 households were served by. Over 90 percent of these households did not enter shelter within one year of service. Similarly, programs are measured by recidivism rates the number of families who return to shelter within one year. By the end of 2008, only 1 percent of families who had been out of shelter a full year had returned, an unprecedented low rate. Cost effectiveness Because the city is accountable to its taxpayers, another important measure is cost effectiveness. By comparing the expected demand in each community district to the actual demand experienced, DHS can calculate the shelter costs saved due to the efforts of each program. The 1,036 households that have been diverted from shelter since July 2007 have translated to shelter savings of over $30,000 per family. These savings, augmented by sharper targeting efforts each year, allow for increased investment to prevention services that reach a wider range of families in the community. Lessons learned 7

7 DHS has learned many lessons since its implementation, and the organizations have continuously tailored their approach to align with the realities of their communities. Our target population is households in New York City who would enter shelter but for homelessness prevention services. To this end, has continually calibrated services to target and engage those who are at the highest risk. At its inception, was solely a community prevention program. Providers focused heavily primary prevention through door-to-door outreach to find the right clients, based on the profiles of typical shelter entrants. To improve targeting, the program expanded to include prevention activities at a range of intervention points, including diversion services at the shelter door for families who have already applied, and as well as prevention and aftercare for those who have left shelter and are at-risk of reentry. A shelter applicant, diverted by, enjoys her new apartment after working with to develop to a plan for long term stability. It is the hope of DHS that the model can inform prevention strategies in other jurisdictions. What makes the model particularly replicable is the process of developing a model for homeless prevention based on local data and local institutional knowledge. The key is a flexible approach, implemented through collaborative efforts and informed by data and accountability. The program is responsive to localized needs, easily scalable and does not require intensive administrative effort. The innovations of, including using real time data to inform policy and targeting efforts, government/cbo partnership, and a flexible communityspecific approach, offer a blueprint for other jurisdictions to adopt homelessness prevention model unique to their environment. was recognized as a potential model to replicate by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, which named as a national best practice in DHS has presented on at a number of national conferences over the past four years, in such varied 8

8 locations as Oakland, Washington D.C., Chicago, Boston and Tacoma. Internationally, DHS has been visited by officials from the United Kingdom, Australia, Korea and Japan. Representatives from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation visited DHS and the program to inform its investment strategy to address the needs of family homelessness. The foundation is exploring many new prevention possibilities for the state of Washington that have already been implemented in New York City, including coordinated access to services, rapid rehousing, individually tailored services and improved data collection. was also selected as a best practice for an upcoming Department of Housing and Urban Development regional Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing training. Currently there is little evidence in the literature of effective homelessness prevention programs, as such programs have not yet been empirically evaluated. DHS believes a rigorous independent evaluation of New York's program will yield valuable insight, and this year commissioned a new study of the program by the top researchers in the field. It is the hope of the agency that results from the study will contribute to national discussions about how to best address homelessness. 9