Denise Collins, Executive Director and Jaime Parker, Case Manager MASH New London County Coordinated Access for Homeless Families.

Denise Collins, Executive Director and Jaime Parker, Case

Manager MASH

New London CountyCoordinated Access for

Homeless Families

Overview

NL County Coordinated Access SystemWorking together for two yearsEnhanced cooperationCulture changeShared goals

Overview

FocusDiversionRapid Rehousing

OutcomeBetter for FamiliesBetter for Providers

Where We Were…

Four Family Shelters

Shelter Staff Spent Considerable Time Problem Solving With Families

No Shared Knowledge

Difficult For Families To Access Shelter

How it works...

Four Family Shelters + One State Agencyo Mystic Area Shelter & Hospitality (MASH)o Covenant Shelter of New Londono Thames Valley Council for Community Action (TVCCA)

Sheltero Safe Futureso Southeastern Mental Health Authority (SMHA) (intake only)

Single Front Door for Families Facing Homelessnesso Phone call to 2-1-1 = initial screeningo Intake appointment with case manager = Diversion or

shelter

FamilyNeeds Shelter

2-1-1

MASH

TVCCA

Covenant Shelter

New London County Coordinated Access for Families

Calls 211

Shelter intake

Safe FuturesDuty

Services Coordinator

DV

Alternatives

2013 Family Calls To 211

Alternatives 54%

Appointments46%

948 Calls for Shelter

511 callers given alternatives (includes referral to DV provider)

437 Intake appointments scheduled

NL County Coordinated Access

Maximum 4 intake appointments scheduled per day

Participate in daily DSC Team conference call to review waitlist status and current shelter availability. Also a chance to discuss best course of action for each client scheduled

Focus heavily on Shelter Diversion. Our goal

is to use shelter as a LAST option rather than to fill an open shelter bed

Intake Appointments 2013

437 Scheduled Intake appointments

306 attended intake appointment with Duty Services Coordinator (DSC)

131 were no shows (30%)

Shelter Diversion

Why is diversion important?Negative impact of homelessness on childrenFinancial cost of sheltering and re-housing

a family

How does it work?Alternatives to shelterConsider immediate housing options

Intake Questions

Do you have any family/friends local to stay with? Temporarily? A week? A day?

Do you have any family/friends in any other part of the US/World to stay with?

Would your family/friends let you stay if you had anything to offer them?

The last thing we want you to do is to enter shelter. There is a strong indication that people who enter shelter as children are much more likely to enter shelter as adults. Therefore, we try to keep you and your children out of shelter. Is there anyone else that you can stay with?

New London County Coordinated Access for Families

2013 Diversion

ShelterDi-ver-sion

Diversion = 60%

Shelter: 125 fami-lies

Diversion: 163 fami-lies

New London County Coordinated Access for Families

2013 Shelter

Financial As-sistance 26%

W/out Financial Assistance 74%

DiversionFinancial vs. Non-Financial

Diversion with Fi-nancial Assistance 43 FamiliesDiversion w/out Financial Assis-tance 120 Families

2013 Diversion

74% of families diverted without financial assistance None of these families entered shelter in NL

County No HMIS/ECM number therefore unable to track

recidivism outside NL County

26% received financial assistance Average Cost approximately $1,700 1 Family has subsequently entered shelter in NL

County

Positive Impact

Reduced shelter stock 50% shelter bed/unit reduction since start

Limited periods of waiting lists

Best outcome for families

Shelter

Duty Services Coordinator processes shelter application (using DSS/HMIS form)

Client enters shelter same day if available Make the expectations clear for timelines

NL County Shelter Statistics 149 Families sheltered in 2011 207 Families sheltered in 2012 125 Families sheltered in 2013

Coordinated Exit: Rapid Re-Housing

Rapid Re-Housing For Families in Shelter Critical to stabilize families Exit plan at intake

Length of Stay Goal: exit within 30 days

Case Managers Follow up work with families to overcome

obstacles to staying housed

Rapid Re-Housing 2013

NL County Shelter System

44 Families Rapidly Rehoused

Average Length of Stay was 45.5 days

Coordinated Access for Families

Elements For Success:

Communication to consumers

Collaboration between providers

Diversion from shelter

Rapid Re-Housing out of shelter

Challenges & Next Steps…

System Management

Include Transitional & Supportive Housing

Include other Services

New London County Coordinated Access

Questions/Comments?