Partners for HOME’s Post

Addressing and combating homelessness in California is vitally important. And so is the need to track, monitor, and evaluate those efforts. #homelessness #unsheltered #spendingonhomelessprograms #combatinghomelessness #dataandstatisticsonhomeslessness #oversightandauditingofstatespending

Housing is the answer to homelessness. But in the interim, trauma informed housing focused case management is the standard for working with people experiencing homelessness.

Interesting 🕵♂️ HOMELESSNESS IN DELAWARE: NEW IDEAS AND DIRECTIONS UD partnership aims to develop a more coordinated and deliberate approach to ending homelessness in Delaware The Center for Community Research and Service (CCRS) and the Institute for Public Administration (IPA) in the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Delaware are taking the next step in their already-established partnership to develop the Biden School Housing Initiative. The initiative seeks to provide a hub for activities related to housing and homelessness in Delaware. The work comes from an assessment of homelessness in Delaware conducted by Stephen Metraux, CCRS director, and Steven Peuquet, associate professor emeritus and Metraux’s predecessor. The resulting article, which appeared in the June 2023 issue of the Delaware Journal of Public Health (DJPH), called for a “coordinated, statewide response” as a “critical first step toward addressing what are, based on the data presented here, unprecedented levels of homelessness for Delaware.” https://lnkd.in/eQRgnYgf #UDPartnership #EndHomelessness #HousingInitiative #DelawareHousing #BidenSchool #CCRS #IPA #HomelessnessSolutions #CoordinatedApproach #PublicPolicy #CommunityResearch #StephenMetraux #StevenPeuquet #HousingCrisis #DelawareHomelessness#HousingForAll#StatewideResponse #PublicHealth #DJPH #SocialImpact Ontdek de stad met andere ogen! #vagebondgidsen #dakloosheid #stadswandeling #verhalen www.vagenbond.nl

Last week, Gov Newsom threatened to cut city & county funding if they don't clear homeless encampments, whether or not there are homes for people to move in to. This will provide all the excuse cities & counties need to stop building housing & return to arresting their way out of homelessness. This will stop a lot of the progress that cities & counties have been making over the past few years to build permanent supportive housing for our homeless residents. Instead, jails will once again become the shelter of last resort. This failed strategy will be much more costly & worse for everyone. A great thing we're starting to see on our current path of building permanent supportive housing is iteration & improvement on existing homelessness prevention programs. If we continue down this path, our programs will continue to improve & get more efficient. Returning to our old ways will hamstring any ability to make future programs better. While California has provided billions of dollars to help build these homes, more than another hundred billion is needed to complete the job. On top of that, we need to build more housing across the board to ensure people don't continue to fall into homelessness.

The National Coalition on Housing Justice (NCHJ) has issued a statement on the USICH Encampment Guidance. Overall, the statement both acknowledges the affirming strategies outlined by USICH (US Interagency Council on Homelessness) to address encampments as well as those that can be interpreted by localities to continue and pursue harm and criminalization against an already-marginalized community (including youth). We are deeply saddened by the latter, but understand that this means that we simply have a great deal of worthwhile work ahead of us as those who work to end and prevent homelessness. To read the entire statement by either NCHJ or USICH visit the links below or check our bio for links. NCHJ Statement:  https://lnkd.in/e7N_84JR USICH Guidance: https://lnkd.in/enyvSu_m #endyouthhomelessness #sotm #homeless #homelessyouth #housingisahumanright Funders Together to End Homelessness

California Democrats Propose Sweeping Measures to Tackle Homelessness Crisis via Ivy Larrarte Alarcón In a bid to address the persistent homelessness crisis plaguing #California, Democratic lawmakers have unveiled ambitious proposals aimed at providing comprehensive support to individuals living on the streets. Against the backdrop of escalating #housing insecurity and economic disparities, these initiatives mark a significant shift in the state’s approach to combating homelessness. The proposals, outlined by California #Democrats in a recent press conference, encompass a range of measures intended to provide immediate relief and long-term solutions for the homeless population. Among the key highlights is a substantial increase in funding for affordable housing projects and rental assistance programs. Lawmakers have pledged to allocate significant resources to expedite the construction of affordable housing units and bolster support services for #homeless individuals seeking shelter. https://lnkd.in/eVVpZRmZ

Raiding homeless encampments without ensuring residents have housing is cruel, costly, and only leads to more encampments being created elsewhere. Recent guidelines issued by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) dismisses this crucial fact by including two strategies that cause harm to people experiencing homelessness: encampment closures without requiring that housing be available to all residents, and the use of police in an encampment response. Shame on communities who use guidance like this to justify forcefully and violently removing people from their living situations, doing nothing to solve homelessness. The USICH guidance concerningly enables cities to redirect resources away from proven solutions to homelessness and toward policies that make homelessness worse. The solution to homelessness must include the removal of all police from homelessness response. Read the full statement from the Law Center and our partners at the National Coalition for Housing Justice: https://loom.ly/4ePekjE

"In Miami, which was under a federal ruling for more than two decades prohibiting the use of jail cells and fines as a response to homelessness, the county funded housing and services. It reduced homelessness by 90 percent. Milwaukee County implemented a housing-first program nearly a decade ago, which resulted in a 92 percent decrease in its homeless population. And Houston, the fourth-most populous city in the nation, provided more than 25,000 homeless people with apartments and houses between 2011 and 2022, reducing homelessness by 64 percent. We cannot simply continue to turn to the justice system to solve social services problems. Doing so is not only relying on the wrong tool for the job, but it violates one of our most fundamental rights as Americans. The solution to homelessness is safe, decent, and affordable housing for everybody and we must ensure that all our neighbors have the housing they need to thrive." Read more: https://lnkd.in/gVymXV7F

#HousingNews we're reading this week: "The Johnson v. Grants Pass case before the Supreme Court represents a watershed moment for how cities across the U.S. address homelessness. It seeks to overturn a precedent set by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2020 that prevents cities from punitively punishing people experiencing homelessness when no shelter options are available. This is happening at a time when more than 653,000 people experience homelessness in the U.S. on a given night, a more than 12% increase from 2023. Meanwhile, the rising cost of owning and renting a home is forcing more low-income earning households to experience housing instability than ever before, thereby increasing their risk of becoming homeless." https://lnkd.in/enNssvtD

Looking for some good news when it comes to the challenges of homelessness? The National Alliance to End Homelessness points out...  "we are seeing signs of local progress in those places where there have been targeted investments, deep collaboration, and a commitment to best practices." And that progress is happening in many California counties! For example, based on 2024 Point-in-Time Count data: - "Alameda County (California) reported a 3% decrease in homelessness, and an 11% decrease in unsheltered homelessness. - Napa County (California) reported an 18% decrease in homelessness, and a 42% decrease in unsheltered homelessness." Let's celebrate these incredible successes -- and continue to build on them in the work ahead! #housing #homelessness #california https://lnkd.in/eXJtztJV