The Supportive Housing Continuum: A Model For …

1 FAMILY Housing FUNDThe Supportive Housing Continuum: A Model For HousingHomeless FamiliesA Report Prepared for the Family Housing Fund December 1999By Ellen Hart-ShegosHart-Shegos and Associates, : Anne Ray Table of .. Problem: The Current Transitional Housing System Cannot Meet the Needs of Many homeless Response: Create a Comprehensive System of Supportive Housing for families .. Supportive Housing continuum : Three Models of Supportive Savings Associated with Supportive Housing .. the Supportive Housing continuum .. and Acknowledgements ..271 The Twin Cities is experiencing a growingproblem of family homelessness.

2 The primaryresponse has been the development oftransitional housingto provide a bridge forfamilies between emergency shelters andpermanent Housing . Transitional housingprograms provide families with a Housing unit,usually for a period of six to twenty-fourmonths, along with Supportive report proposes the development of amore comprehensive system of supportivehousingthat combines affordable Housing withservices for homeless families . Whiletransitional Housing is one type of supportivehousing, a comprehensive Supportive housingsystem encompasses a wider range ofprograms, including Housing with veryintensive services to meet the needs ofseverely troubled problem: The current transitionalhousing system cannotmeet the needs of manyhomeless families .

3 Transitional Housing is no longer sufficient tomeet the needs of homeless families because: Family homelessness has increaseddramatically in Minnesota. The current transitional Housing system is under-funded. Many homeless families live incircumstances that render them unable to enter or complete transitional Housing lack of stable Housing for these familiessignificantly increases costly interventions intheir lives by public agencies. The tight Housing market makes it difficultfor families to find affordable Housing upon completion of the transitional Housing program. Under welfare reform, families need more intensive employment services than are currently found in most transitional Housing .

4 The 24-month time limit on transitionalhousing assistance is artificial and mayforce families out of transitional housingprograms before they are response: Create acomprehensive system ofsupportive Housing for families . To provide Housing for homeless families , theTwin Cities should create a comprehensivesystem of Supportive Housing , combiningaffordable Housing and services, based on thefollowing principles: Supportive Housing provides affordablehousing as the environment in whichfamilies receive services. Supportive Housing providers have theflexibility to determine the families lengthof stay in the programs.

5 Supportive Housing assists families inmaking the transition to independent Housing WelfareReformTimeLimitsUnableto Fit1 Executive Summary3 The Supportive Housing system includeshousing for families who have difficultycomplying with the requirements of currenttransitional Housing programs. Supportive Housing builds the capacity of parents to nurture and care for their children. Supportive Housing encourages productiveparticipation in community and society. Supportive Housing includes an array ofmental health, academic, social,recreational, and child care services to meetthe needs of children.

6 Supportive Housing supports Supportive HousingContinuum: Three Models ofSupportive Housing Funders and providers should create acontinuum of Supportive Housing programs inresponse to the needs of three categories offamilies, including: Supportive Housing for chronicallyhomeless families Chronically homeless families survive in acontinuous cycle of extreme poverty,homelessness and emergency shelter use, andvulnerability. The parent has significanteducational deficits and no work experience,and may suffer from substance abuse, mentalillness, or both. Children are at risk for pooroutcomes developmentally, emotionally,physically, and provide the multiple, intensive servicesand strong peer support that chronicallyhomeless families need, Housing should bedesigned as single-site, congregatedevelopments.

7 Services should assistfamilies in addressing personal crises andachieving family stability, meeting welfarereform requirements, and obtaining servicesfor children. Approximately 1,000 families inthe Twin Cities metro area fit this Housing for families withepisodic homelessness These families may have been homelessseveral times, but homelessness is causedprimarily by economic problems rather than disabilities. Their primary need is to become fully employed to prevent further homelessness. Housing models for episodically homelessfamilies might include congregate Housing orscattered-site units.

8 Services such as child care,transportation, and work-place advocacywould help adults become employed at a livingwage. Approximately 1,300 families in themetro area are episodically Supportive services for housedfamilies at risk of homelessness This category includes families who are at riskof homelessness, but whose future homelessnessmay be preventable through services fromsupportive Housing providers. Many areformerly homeless and have completedtransitional Housing programs. Typically, thesefamilies are working but are unable to maintainhousing and child care without financialsupport. Outreach staff would assist families infinding services such as rent subsidies, childcare, transportation, workplace advocacy, jobplacement, counseling, and financial 1,000 families in the metro areafall within this Savings Associated withSupportive HousingThe Housing and intensiveservices associated withsupportive Housing do create , if Supportive Housing isnotput in place, the lack of stablehousing and services for homeless familieswill cost public agencies far more in terms offoster care, medical care, and other emergencyservices for homeless families .

9 This isparticularly true for chronically homelessfamilies, whose constant crises result in theuse of an array of costly emergency analysis of the costs of interventions onbehalf of one chronically homeless familydemonstrates that Supportive Housing canreduce public costs by 52 the SupportiveHousing continuum An implementation group should be formedconsisting of funders, policymakers, andhousing providers to promote the developmentof the Supportive Housing system, linkpractices among Housing and service funders,and build financial resources. Existingtransitional Housing programs should form thenucleus of the new Supportive housingcontinuum.

10 Policies will need to beimplemented to lift externally imposed timelimits on these programs and to provideadditional capital, operating, and implementation group will need to employa number of strategies to develop steadysources of funding for the Supportive housingcontinuum, such as the following: Capital Funding:Convene a technical committee of federal,state, local, and private funders to identifyadditional sources of stabilization assistanceand development capital. Operating Subsidies: Redirect a portion of Section 8 vouchersand certificates to provide rent subsidies fortransitional and Supportive housingdevelopments.