Omaha/Council Bluffs “Homes For All”: 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness Erin Porterfield, LCSW

1. Omaha/Council Bluffs “Homes For All”: 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness Erin Porterfield, LCSW January 26, 2010

2. Omaha Area CoC Beginnings • CoC for Douglas, Sarpy and Pottawattamie Counties) begun by Omaha City Planning Department – David Thomas and Mike Saklar in the mid 90’s • In 2006, city leadership of CoC ended • The community came together in a Decision Accelerator to determine next steps for the CoC • Outcomes • Create a nonprofit to lead the CoC • Goals identified for new CoC lead agency, MACCH

3. Who/what is MACCH? Mission: To lead a collaborative effort to prevent and end homelessness • Board of 20 directors - providers, public officials, people who are formerly homeless, etc. • Two staff • Nonprofit, Membership Organization • 11+ Volunteer Task Forces • Coordinate Continuum of Care for the Homeless Process, HUD NOFA and associated activities through the year $2.3 million (71% more than the previous year) • Coordinate efforts to prevent and end homelessness

4. Mission: Leading a collaborative network to prevent and endhomelessness “Homes For All” Omaha/Council Bluffs 10 -Year Plan to End Homelessness MACCH Board of Directors Decision Makers/Broad Policy decisions Meet monthly 20 Board Members Fiscal Accountability, Strategic Planning Review Compensation Structure for MACCH Select/Review Executive Director Approve articles and bylaws Ex officio nonvoting member (Executive Director) Community Stake Holders People who experience homelessness Homeless and prevention service providers Funders Community advocates City, County, State government Members comprise dues paying organizations and individuals Board Committees Executive Finance Fund Development Marketing and Ten year Plan Oversight Governance Membership Executive Director Program Coordinator Volunteer Task Forces Consumer Advisory Task Force Prevention Task Force Cultural Competency Task Force Youth Task Force Co-occurring Task Force * Coordinator is funded, Community Alliance is the fiscal agent Transitional Housing Task Force HMIS (Homeless Management Information System) Task Force Chronic Home-lessness TaskForce Housing Directors Task Force Medical Task Force Housing Pipeline Task Force Other Task Forces

5. Why create a 10 - Year Plan to End Homelessness in our metro area? Wilder Report – study of homelessness in our region highlighted the need for a plan to reduce or end homelessness. Nationally, communities that have plans to end homelessness find: • Fewer people experience homelessness • Consensus focuses efforts and creates accountability for results

6. 10 - Year Plan to End Homelessness Closing the front door to homelessness (Prevention) and Opening the back door to homelessness (Rapid exit through housing & support)

7. When developing our plan, we considered our regional homeless data • Studies about prevention of homelessness for families and individuals • Affordable housing data • Top reasons people report contributing to their homelessness • Understanding homeless from the people who experience it

8. A family of four, with another child on the way, spent 60 days in homelessness and had the following approximate costs as described in the table below Expenses for Emergency Services Estimated Cost 60 Days in Shelter for Four People $3,009.60 12 Visits to the Emergency Room $25,877.40 3 Days in Jail $425 Total Expense $29,312.00 Expenses for Permanent HousingEstimated Cost Fair Market Rent for a Three-bedroom Apartment for 60 Days Total Rent $2,022* *This cost of Permanent Housing does not include Supportive Services which can be variable depending upon the household composition and needs.

9. An individual experienced homelessness for 119 days and had the following approximate costs as described in the table below Expenses for Emergency Services Estimated Cost 119 Days in Shelter for One Person $1,492.26 Five Visits to the Emergency Room $10,782.25 Total Expense $12,274.51 Expenses for Permanent Housing Estimated Cost Fair Market Rent for an Efficiency Apartment for 90 Days $1,602* *This cost of Permanent Housing does not include Supportive Services which can be variable depending upon the household composition and needs.

10. Affordable Housing Compare: FMR for one bedroom apt. $569 • Homeless median income $100 • Median income for those $575 homeless and employed • Income for homeless $653 receiving SSI

11. Top 5 Reasons for Homelessness

12. Omaha Metro Point in Time Count August 2009 At least 1322 people are homeless in the metro area at any point in time • 20% chronically homeless (long term homeless and disabled) • 8% mentally ill • 10% chronic substance use • 26% people in families

13. The Cost of Homelessness We are already paying to maintain homelessness: • shelter, ER visits, corrections, etc. We should focus our efforts to pay for solutions to homelessness • housing, support when and how people need it It is cheaper and more humane to offer solutions to homelessness.

14. A Lesson from Million Dollar Murrayhttp://www.gladwell.com/pdf/murray.pdf “Why problems like homelessness may be easier to solve than to manage.” • Police officers knew Murray, an ex-marine, who died homeless on the streets of Reno, Nevada • They calculated how much it cost to maintain his homelessness – results $1,000,000 • The cost comparison to fund permanent housing and support would have been far less and more humane.

15. How did we design our 10 - Year Plan to End Homelessness – “Homes For All”? • Viewed other community Ten Year Plans • Get key and varied people to the table • HUD technical assistance facilitated two community forums • AIM Compassion Grant for process and product • Incorporated Nebraska and Iowa Plans • Large group session broke into tables of ten, each with a facilitator • Themes of homelessness solutions led to goals, two year objectives, action steps, who will lead efforts

16. How did we design our 10 - Year Plan to End Homelessness – “Homes For All”? • Draft copy reviewed by many, task forces, board, participants… • Created 10 - Year Plan Launch to tie credit and responsibility • Director Phillip Mongano, USICH • Mayors Fahey and Hanafan, Commissioner Borgeson, Father Schlegel, etc. • Mega Media – TV, radio, paper

17. When did we know our Plan was complete? • We accepted that it may be imperfect but can be changed • We are one year into the plan and will calculate progress and targets for next measurement periods • Of Note: Critique of our plan by Dir. Mangano, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) ** No goal for creating Housing First, the primary best practice model for reductions of homelessness!

18. The Seven Goals of Our 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness

19. The Seven Goals of Our 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness Goal 1 Prevention Goal 2 Easy, immediate and appropriate access to all services Goal 3 Create housing to meet the needs Goal 4 Construct and sustainactions that end homelessness Goal 5 Culturally competent services Goal 6 Housing and service tospecific to the needs of chronically homeless Goal 7 Datato support goals to end homelessness

20. Progress Biggest marker so far: • Permenant Supportive Housing (PSH) planned as of Dec. 2009, (including the 2009 NOFA) would accommodate a total of 383 people, 102 of the beds dedicated to chronically homeless This is up from about 21 beds in 2007. • Currently working with Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) to develop a Housing Pipeline – quantifying the amount of PSH units needed and how to get it done.

21. Progress • Greater coordination for prevention – readiness for HPRP - New prevention programming • Focused collaborative efforts toward accessing services – co-occurring, specifically • SOAR Program • Task Forces focus on actions that end homelessness – always asking the question… “If we take this course of action will it increase system change to end homelessness?”

22. Looking to the future • Central intake and assessment (reduce the ricocheting people between providers) • Coordinated prevention network • Housing options • Shelter diversion • Increase service access and follow up (recovery, medications, follow up service, co-occurring…)

23. Erin Porterfield Metro Area Continuum of Care for the Homeless (MACCH) 115 S. 49 Ave. Omaha, NE 68132 eporterfield@unomaha.edu (402) 561-7597 www.MACCHomeless.org