October 2006

A Vision to End Homelessness

in Manistee County

Manistee County Vision to End Homelessness October 2006 Summary and Overview On any given day, right here in Manistee County there are over 100 identifiable residents of our own community who are homeless. These individuals and families are found sleeping in abandoned buildings, tents, cars, in the parks, or in temporary emergency shelter. Half of these folks are children…in Manistee County….Homeless. Over 100 additional persons were identified as being at high risk of becoming homeless in the immediate future – doubled up/overcrowded conditions, pending evictions or utility shut off, or living in unsafe or substandard housing. Again – more than half are children. Many seek out various supportive services to try and address their homelessness. Limited support services exist to help prevent homelessness. For example, some assistance is available through such support services as the Salvation Army, Department of Human Services, and FiveCap. Oftentimes these support systems are simply tapped out of funding during the most critical months in Northern Michigan. Without the assistance to prevent utilities from being shut off or facing eviction for rent arrearages, many of these families land in emergency shelter, uprooting their children and their lives, and then facing an unrealistic expectation of “starting over” again and again. Families with children (primarily single women heads of household with children) by far make up the majority of those who are homeless or at high risk for homelessness in Manistee County. County wide, single women heads of household with children have the highest rate of poverty.

Youth without consistent positive connection to a caring adult or strong family network are particularly vulnerable as well. Those who become parents, drop out of high school, age out of foster care, are kicked out of a parents home, or get placed into the custody of the juvenile justice system face the most barriers in accessing stable housing. Single adults face a variety of unique issues in Manistee County. Faced with a current support system that is focused on families, access to services is extremely limited. Approximately 22% of the single adult homeless population suffers from some form of severe and persistent mental illness. An estimated 60-70% of people with mental illness also have substance abuse problems. Addiction increases the risk of homelessness as well, and homeless individuals often face insurmountable barriers to obtaining health care, including addictive disorder treatment services and recovery supports. Lack of income (in many cases $0 income), combined with system issues such as barriers to obtaining benefits such as SSI, employment, treatment services, and education lead to exclusion from most housing options. Rural homelessness often results from poverty and lack of affordable housing, and occurs most frequently in agricultural regions and areas where there is an economic downturn where a handful of businesses may represent the major employers. Other factors impacting rural homelessness include the distance between low-cost housing and jobs, and lack of transportation. In Manistee County, the value of housing has exceeded the rate of income growth in the last ten years. In 2000, it was estimated that over 28% of the county’s renters and 21% of the county’s homeowners were paying more that 30% of their income for housing. Individuals or families paying over 30% of their income for housing often run into financial problems because housing is eating up a disproportionate share of their earnings. An increasingly high number of renters and homeowners are paying well over 50% of their income for housing putting them into a much higher risk category. We have a crisis of homelessness in our midst – right here in Manistee County, and it demands our urgent attention. The Vision to End Homelessness is our community’s response to homelessness in Manistee County. Our vision will be brought to fulfillment through an implementation plan to end homelessness in Manistee County by the end of 2016. Our Vision believes

• Homelessness is unacceptable in our community. • Our community has the will to end homelessness • Ending homelessness requires that we identify and provide more affordable units of permanent housing, in an array of

configurations, with supports as needed; tailored to meet the needs of the individual or family being served; with housing stability as the desired outcome; and in a fiscally responsible way.

• Housing is the solution to homelessness, yet this is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Some people will need housing with extensive supports if they are to succeed. Others will succeed with no or few extra supports. We will offer a spectrum of housing options, providing what is needed for housing stability, but not mandating more than what is needed. We will seek out the best alternatives to resolve each housing crisis that has led or could lead to homelessness. We will focus on the provision of safe, affordable permanent housing for people who are homeless or in a housing crisis.

Among our key areas of focus will be:

• Prevention of homelessness, with more resources directed to this strategy. • Increased coordination of systems and services • Housing First as a local strategy for permanent housing,

Vision implementation, local education and coordinated planning efforts Close the Front Door Into Homelessness Our efforts to address homelessness in Manistee County will proceed from our conviction that crisis can and must be addressed before homelessness occurs. Resources and services will be re-directed upstream – to prevention activities – before an episode of homelessness occurs. Open the Back Door Out of Homelessness Our philosophy of housing first – rapid placement in or successful retention of permanent housing upon the occurrence of a housing crisis will drive our approach to the resolution of housing crisis. The back door will open to an array of safe, affordable, permanent housing options sufficient in quantity and quality to meet the needs of people in our community and allow them to remain successfully housed. Links to supportive services will be made available where and as needed. Our New Vision As we work on our vision to end homelessness in Manistee County, the Manistee County Continuum of Care (MCCOC) has been meeting to study our local reality and national best practices, consult with people who have experienced homelessness as well as people experienced in providing existing homelessness services. We are working to adopt a vision that would lead us to end homelessness by changing assumptions, services systems, and funding streams. As the vision process progresses, it has become clear that we cannot end homelessness unless we transform the way we view homelessness, its causes and solutions. Change will include the refocusing of our MCCOC with the goal of ending homelessness as our primary work.

Manistee County Vision to End Homelessness 10 Year Plan Initiative August 2006 General Regular point-in-time counts of our temporary housing and homeless service agencies tell us that on a given night in Manistee County, over 100 of our neighbors will sleep in emergency shelters and other places not meant for human habitation such as cars, under bridges, camps and undeveloped park-like settings throughout the County. Perhaps 8-10% of the homeless individuals in our community experience chronic homelessness. This is only a snapshot of the reality today in Manistee County. Over the course of a twelve-month period, hundreds of children, women, and men will experience homelessness directly or be brought to the brink of homelessness, living doubled and tripled up in units meant for one individual or one family, or facing immediate eviction or utility shut-off.

What Is Homelessness?

Federal law defines a homeless person as one who "lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence ... and has a primary night residency that is: (a) a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations... (b) an institution that provides temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized, or (c) a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings." Also included are persons being discharged from institutions that do not have an identified residence to go to within a week, and persons fleeing domestic violence. The definition excludes those who are in the corrections system or detained pursuant to law.

This definition works well in large urban communities, where thousands of persons are literally homeless, on the streets, or in shelters. It has proven problematic in assessing the status of homeless persons in rural areas, such as Manistee County, where there are few shelters. In rural areas, homeless persons are more likely to live with relatives or friends in overcrowded or substandard housing, or in less-than-habitable outbuildings. Frequently these stays are sequential, that is, floating from one home to another until a permanent situation is found, these are the "Hidden Homeless."

It is neither accurate nor appropriate to think about the homeless as being all the same. We currently have a general way of categorizing the homeless which provides a framework for considering how best to address and prevent homelessness.

• Transitionally homeless persons are those who generally move quickly through the homeless assistance system, once they are able to access it. Their principal need is for housing, plain and simple. Income supports, including employment that pays a living wage is critical to keeping these families housed. The "transitionally homeless" include people that work in entry-level jobs as well as those living on fixed incomes (the elderly, for example, or persons with disabilities that are living on SSI), who earn barely enough to pay for their housing costs and other necessities (such as food, health care, and day care). These individuals and families often live paycheck-to-paycheck or month-to-month, and may be one paycheck away from not making their mortgage or rent payment. Thus, a single short-term emergency, such as an increase in their rent or the loss of a job because of layoff, illness, or injury may result in homelessness.

• Chronically homeless persons often experience long-term homelessness, frequently rotating through and among a community's various shelter facilities and the streets. They typically have health or substance abuse problems in addition to extreme poverty. This population is best served by permanent supportive housing, which combines housing with intensive rehabilitation, treatment, and other social services.

Who Is Homeless?

High housing costs and precarious, low-wage employment leave many American families today only a paycheck, illness, or car breakdown away from homelessness. Families with children are one of the fastest growing segments of the homeless population. A 2000 survey of 25 cities conducted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that 36 percent of the homeless population was composed of families with children. This observation is corroborated by other research, which likewise indicates that approximately 34-38% of the homeless are families with children. In rural areas, families, single mothers, and children are the largest group of people who are homeless. Homeless children demonstrate serious developmental and learning delays, and are more likely to miss school than children with stable living situations. Poor educational experience can have lifelong impacts.

About two-thirds of the households (50% of the people — including children) who experience homelessness over the course of a year are single adults. Most of these people are homeless for a very short time, and leave the homeless assistance system quickly. Others are perpetually homeless, cycling in and out of a variety of shelters, detention facilities, and the health care system.

Single homeless adults are most often men between the ages of 31 and 50. Approximately 20-25% of this population experiences serious, ongoing mental illness. Approximately half of the single adult homeless have a past or present substance use disorder.

Runaway and "throwaway" youth are another element of the homeless population, and may include not only youth on the street or in shelters, but also students and children living in doubled-up housing, motels, and substandard housing, or "couch surfing" — the practice of ongoing but temporary stays with unrelated families or friends. This segment has proven difficult to quantify and is

often not included in official counts of homeless people. One study that interviewed homeless youth found that approximately 1.6 million individual youths nationwide were homeless at least one night over the course of a year.

Why Are People Homeless?

Homelessness results from a complex set of circumstances in which people are forced to choose between food, shelter, and other basic needs, such as medicine and preventive health care. Principal reasons for homelessness include:

• Poverty: Eroding work opportunities and declining income for lower-level workers (such as janitors, restaurant workers, retail clerks and stockers, manual laborers), coupled with decreasing welfare benefits and rental assistance funding.

• Unemployment and Underemployment: Many people become homeless due to unemployment and underemployment. Even when people are employed, their salaries may not be adequate to afford decent housing or to allow accumulation of savings, living paycheck to paycheck. Many people that seek emergency and transitional housing are employed.

• Lack of Affordable Housing: Low-rent units are disappearing from the market — abandoned, demolished, or converted into more expensive housing. Costs of new construction continue to escalate, while deep subsidies that provide direct rental assistance to the poor are declining. Waiting lists for housing assistance average 33 months in the nation's larger cities. Despite recent moves to increase the minimum wage, in no state does a full-time minimum wage job enable most families to pay for a moderately priced two-bedroom apartment.

• Other Factors:

o Domestic Violence — Women with no means of support other than their abusive spouses are faced with a Hobson's choice: battering or homelessness. 46% of the cities surveyed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors reported domestic violence as a primary cause of homelessness.

o Lack of Affordable Health Care — Serious illness or disability can begin a descent into homelessness, beginning with loss of employment income and savings, which lead to eviction. The rise in cost of health care and prescription costs has a high impact on those living on fixed income such as our Senior population.

o Mental Illness and Substance Abuse — Homeless people often face considerable barriers in obtaining treatment due to the lack of adequate resources, including mental health, substance abuse, outreach, and supportive services. Treatment failures occur when homeless people fall out of systems that do not aggressively maintain contact with them or when clients fail to comply with potentially effective medication/treatment regimens. With appropriate treatment and supportive services, the majority of people with mental illness and/or substance abuse issues can

succeed in permanent housing. In turn, permanent housing can contribute to improved mental health and abstinence from alcohol or drugs.

What Is Being Done to Help the Homeless?

The homeless assistance system is principally made up of local public and private nonprofit organizations that deliver a wide range of shelter and supportive services to people who become homeless. These services are generally funded through a patchwork of federal, state, and local public funds, coupled with charitable giving funneled through United Way and faith-based institutions. The aim of the homeless assistance system is to address the immediate needs of the homeless person and get them off the streets and into housing. Once housed, they may or may not receive additional direct services, depending on community resources and individual need.

On the policy front, the federal government is encouraging collaborative planning at all levels. Local service providers must engage in broad-based comprehensive planning for the homeless as a prerequisite for receiving federal homeless funding. The Interagency Council on Homelessness has brought federal agencies together to better coordinate the various programs that offer funding and services for the homeless. Several states have established similar interagency councils.

What Is the Cost of Homelessness?

Because they have no regular place to stay, homeless persons use a variety of public systems in inefficient and costly ways. This tendency masks the true cost of homelessness by cost shifting to law enforcement, corrections, health care, welfare, education, and other systems. A recent study of nearly 10,000 homeless adults with severe mental illness in New York City found that they used an average of $40,500 in health, shelter, and correctional services each year. For families, the annual cost of emergency shelter alone can be approximately $30,000, and in some cities is as high as $45,000 annually (New York). Homelessness as we know it today is a relatively recent problem. In the 1980’s, drastic cuts in federal housing subsidy funds, along with continued deinstitutionalization of people who were diagnosed as mentally ill or developmentally disabled, caused widespread homelessness. Other factors have spurred the growth of homelessness over the last three decades, including

• the scarcity of housing that is affordable by people with low incomes • insufficient household income that has not kept pace with rising costs

• The lack of affordable supportive services that aid family and personal stability, these include health insurance, public transportation, childcare, case management and other services

• Changing social circumstances that have made at-risk families and individuals even more vulnerable. These include high rates of incarceration and substance addiction and more people with inadequate family support resources.

Many people in Manistee County think of homelessness as something that happens to people in other communities. We envision a picture of urban homelessness as seen on television with predominately indigent single men making up the vast majority of people who are homeless.

However, today, in our county, women and children comprise well over 75% of those who are sheltered and homeless. Children are the single largest group of people who are homeless (more than 50%). And many of the homeless adults work in paid employment.

Our Manistee County Continuum of Care is a network of outstanding not-for-profit, public agencies, and dedicated individuals that provide high quality shelters and well run programs. Local governments and faith-based communities are involved as well. We have a system of homeless services, but the problem of homelessness hasn’t gone away. As one family or individual is helped to pay a utility bill, catch up on past-due rent, or secure permanent housing, another individual or family in needs falls into temporary emergency shelter or onto the streets. And sometimes those who have escaped one crisis return to the system, homeless again. Absent a new vision, we know that tomorrow’s snapshot will look much the same as today’s, as the lack of affordable housing, unemployment or underemployment with inadequate wages, persistent poverty and lack of access to financial resources, inadequate access to support for overcoming or coping with substance addictions and mental illness, and domestic violence will continue to displace our neighbors from their homes and onto the streets or into shelters. This is unacceptable. We are committed to a new vision that puts an end to homelessness in Manistee County. Our New Vision As we work on our vision to end homelessness in Manistee County, the Manistee County Continuum of Care (MCCOC) has been meeting to study our local reality and national best practices, consult with people who have experienced homelessness as well as people experienced in providing existing homelessness services. We are working to adopt a vision that would lead us to end homelessness by changing assumptions, services systems, and funding streams. As the vision process progresses, it has become clear that we cannot end homelessness unless we transform the way we view homelessness, its causes and solutions. Change will include the refocusing of our MCCOC with the goal of ending homelessness as our primary work. Promising “Best Practice” Strategies will be focused on in Manistee County. These strategies will be focused on the following: Prevention Activities – Closing the front door into homelessness Every day in Manistee County families lose their housing and find themselves homeless and seeking help at shelters or on the steps of friends and family. Even with the most effective strategies for helping people leave homelessness, in Manistee County we will never end homelessness if we do not prevent it from occurring in the first place. Prevention strategies are the cornerstone effort in communities making progress in ending homelessness. Prevention efforts include a wide range of activities. Mediation services that help families negotiate with their landlord, financial assistance to help families pay for back rent or utilities, and emergency assistance in food, clothing, transportation vouchers and other basic necessities are a few examples. Prevention efforts could also involve efforts to help homeless families move directly

from a doubled up situation or finalized eviction into housing on their own, without ever having to subject their children to homelessness. Some programs offer budgeting and credit counseling immediately following a housing crisis with the intention of helping the family stabilize and avoid homelessness in the future. Our community intends to utilize data and historical knowledge to identify families at the greatest risk of entering shelter. By applying what we know, programs would be more able to target outreach and assistance to at-risk families in subsidized housing developments and through community based agencies. Resources and services would be re-directed upstream to prevention resources – before an episode of homelessness occurs.

Housing First Housing First is an approach that centers on providing homeless people with housing quickly and then providing services as needed. What differentiates a Housing First approach from other strategies is that there is an immediate and primary focus on helping individuals and families quickly access and sustain permanent housing. This approach has the benefit of being consistence with what most people experiencing homelessness want and seek help to achieve. Housing First programs share critical elements:

• There is a focus on helping individuals and families access and sustain rental housing as quickly as possible and the housing is not time-limited

• A variety of services are delivered primarily following a housing placement to promote housing stability and individual well being

• Such services are time-limited or long-term depending upon individual need, and

• Housing is not contingent on compliance with services – instead, participants must comply with a standard lease agreement and are provided with the services and supports that are necessary to help them do so successfully.

A Housing First approach rests on the belief that helping people access and sustain permanent, affordable housing should be the central goal of work with people experiencing homelessness. By providing housing assistance, case management and supportive services responsive to individual or family needs (time-limited or long-term) after an individual or family is housed, communities

can significantly reduce the time people experience homelessness and prevent further episodes of homelessness. A central tenet of the Housing First approach is that social services to enhance individual and family well-being can be more effective when people are in their own home. While there are a wide variety of program models, Housing First programs all typically include:

• Assessment based targeting of Housing First services • Assistance locating rental housing, relationship development with private market landlords, and lease negotiation • Housing assistance – ranging from security deposit and one month’s rent to provision of a long-term housing subsidy • A housing placement that is not time-limited • Case management to coordinate services (time-limited or long-term) that follow a housing placement

Housing First is an approach used for both homeless families and individuals and for people who are chronically homeless. Helping Families Pay for Housing Often homeless families in Manistee County need help paying for housing, particularly in Housing First programs. Some families can move out of the homeless shelter with minimal financial assistance for example, a security deposit and first month’s rent. Others need slightly more assistance – perhaps a short-term subsidy that helps families pay for housing for several months or a shallow subsidy of $100 to $300 lat lasts for a year or more. Short-term assistance is often coupled with intensive services designed to help the family increase their income so they will be able to continue to pay for housing after the subsidy ends. Many other families experiencing homelessness will simply be unable to transition out of shelter without on-going assistance to pay for housing. In Manistee County, various federal, state, and local funding streams help homeless families pay for housing. Federal housing assistance, including housing vouchers that can be used to subsidize the cost of private rental housing and subsidized or public housing, allows low-income families to pay 30 percent of their income for rent and the subsidy is typically not time-limited. In most cases, the majority of homeless families who are offered a federal housing subsidy will exit homelessness and not reenter shelter. Unfortunately, federal housing assistance is in critically short supply and waiting lists extend as long as over a year. Targeting Services Families and individuals experiencing homelessness need and benefit from services. Services can help families access and maintain stable housing as well as increase economic self-sufficiency and improve family and child well-being. Because families

who experience homelessness have different needs, there is no cookie cutter service delivery model that works for all families. While some families are able to transition out of homelessness with minimal supportive services, others require more intensive supportive services to exit the homeless assistance system and remain stably housed. Once back in housing, links to mainstream services – for example, mental health counseling, child development services, or employment training – are important for building strong families that are no longer at risk of homelessness. With these considerations in mind, communities and programs that show promise are targeting services to meet the unique needs of each family. The Cost of Homelessness Homelessness comes at an incredible cost to families and to society. When a family loses their housing, they lose almost everything. Eviction or loss of home may also mean leaving behind furniture, clothing, and belongings that will eventually need replacing. Without having a safe, permanent place to sleep at night everything becomes more complicated. Getting to work is more difficult, particularly if the family relies on public transportation. Moving to a shelter and in a different part of town or county may mean a change in school for children, leaving the child behind in the classroom for years. If space at a family shelter is unavailable, loss of housing can also lead to family separation: mom goes to a women’s shelter with the children, dad to another shelter or to overcrowded/doubled up housing with friends or neighbors. The cost of family homelessness is devastating for families, but the effects go well beyond the families who experience homelessness. The cost of homelessness affects us all. The best illustration of the costs of homelessness to the public is the shelter system. It often seems that placing homeless people in shelters, while not the most desirable course is at least the most inexpensive way of meeting basic needs. This is deceiving. While it is sometimes necessary for short-term crisis, it too often serves as a costly alternative to permanent housing. There are other public costs. Research indicates that there is a large overlap between homeless families and the child welfare system, the state run agency responsible for child well being. Approximately one third of children in foster care have a homeless or unstably housed parent and children placed in foster care are at higher risk of experiencing homelessness suggesting that homelessness and foster care are part of a cycle. In many cases, keeping families together, thus preventing children from entering

foster care requires providing a housing subsidy so that the family remains stably housed. Nation wide, the cost of placing two children from a family experiencing homelessness in foster care is about $34,000 per year. The cost of a housing voucher is around $6,800, significantly lower than the cost of out-of-home placement for children.

The effects of homelessness extend beyond these examples. To put it in the most basic and broadest terms: communities with high rates of homelessness do not work as well. When children who experience homelessness and housing instability fall behind in the classroom, our schools do not work as well, and our hospitals may be clogged with serving homeless people on an emergency basis rather than turning to preventative care.

Planning The Path To Our Future

Homelessness among families and individuals in Manistee County is alarming, more common than most residents of our community realize. It does not have to be this way.

Simply put, the most effective solution to ending homelessness is housing.

Manistee County – Our Strategic Response Beginning in April, 2006 the Manistee County Campaign to End Homelessness Advisory Board began meeting in collaboration with the Manistee County Continuum of Care. It’s mission – to create and implement the Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness Initiative in Manistee County. Key members of the Advisory Board include the Chairperson of the Continuum of Care, the Chairperson of the Manistee County Human Services Collaborative Body, the Director of Manistee Benzie Department of Human Services, and the Director of Manistee Benzie Community Mental Health. As additional members of the Manistee County Continuum of Care and Manistee County Community joined us as advisors, the planning sessions have grown to include representatives encompassing a cross section of our community including consumers, housing development, the public housing authority, education, private sector, human services, homelessness services providers, substance abuse/rehabilitation services, local government, as well as representatives from the Native American tribe. Supporting partnerships have continued involving the United Way of Manistee County and the Manistee County Community Foundation as we collectively saw great success in launching the Homeless Prevention Challenge Grant as a pilot project in our community. Focus Groups were held with direct homelessness services consumers in an effort to hear directly from consumers regarding their preferences for housing, treatment, and services, and a number of presentations were made community wide to promote the awareness and future development of Manistee County’s Ten Year Plan To End Homelessness Initiative. On September 22, 2006 a day of community wide planning was held. Over forty members of our community gathered, representing local human service agencies, – the event included visioning, priority and goal setting activities in order to incorporate broad community awareness, assessment, input, and ownership of the 10 Year Plan process. Representatives of our community attending the planning sessions included concerned citizens, consumers (including currently or formerly homeless), youth services, senior services, criminal justice, mental health and medical services, philanthropic/local funding interests, city and county government, elected officials, Tribal housing services, emergency shelter services, economic development and community development representatives, employment services, Salvation Army and faith based representatives. During this community wide planning event, we discussed and took inventory of our County’s current assets. We discussed the many things that were working and were worth building on. We described some of our successes as well as where there were failures.

Gaps and Challenges Simply put, there are a number of agencies and organizations that provide services for youth, individuals, and families who are homeless or who are at risk of becoming homeless in the Manistee County. Despite the local assets and current level of services, there are still unmet needs in the Manistee County area. These gaps relate to both individual and programmatic challenges and service barriers to ending homelessness. The challenges below were identified by service providers, consumers, concerned citizens, and other stakeholders in our community.

Prevention Key challenges identified include:

• Assistance is too little too late – eviction is imminent and resources are exhausted. • Lack of safety nets and lack of resources = risk of eviction. • There are large numbers of precariously housed with little or no assistance available. • Weak economy. • Identification of families and individuals who are at risk of becoming homeless. • Partnering and coordinating services and case management in order to deliver effective services and avoid duplication.

Outreach and Supportive Assistance Key challenges identified include:

• Developing and implementing a comprehensive case management and referral process. • Providing adequate basic needs such as mental and physical health services, transportation, child care, food assistance. • Lack of service coordination. • Navigating issues such as applying for identification and SSI programs. • Lack of targeted job training, career counseling and education programs. • Providing adequate information on how and where to access services. • Building and maintaining mentoring relationships with individuals, families, and youth to help them transition from

homelessness. • Providing assistance with home-related costs such as utilities, rent, taxes, etc.

Emergency Shelter and Transitional Housing Key issues include the following:

• Lack of emergency shelter for individuals and unaccompanied youth. • The need to continue operation and support of current emergency shelter services. • Lack of transitional housing for prisoner re-entry. • Lack of transitional housing for youth age 17-23. • Lack of transitional housing for people with physical and mental disabilities • Lack of housing for youth aging out of foster care.

Affordable, Supportive, Permanent Housing Key challenges identified include:

• Lack of affordable, supportive, permanent housing. o For individuals with a disability o For individuals, families, and youth o For those who are chronically homeless

• Lack of funding to build/purchase safe, affordable housing stock. • Lack of subsidized housing. • Lack of staff capacity and services to provide support for people in supportive housing. • General lack of family housing that is affordable to low-income households. • Few developers looking to build affordable housing. • Household incomes are not keeping pace with rising housing costs. • Seasonal employment creates income interruptions and gaps. • Lack of stable year-round employment opportunities that provide livable wages and health benefits. • Increase in need for support services, health care, food assistance payments, and overall food assistance programs. • Rising and unstable utility costs.

A Commitment To Ending Homelessness The following goals, objectives, and action steps outline the strategies and activities that will help to end homelessness in Manistee County. These goals represent the top five priorities as determined by our community’s visioning session. Goal 1: Simplify Access to Services and Coordinate Our Efforts Objective: Implement a community wide coordinated service approach. Action Steps:

1. Support the development of a single point of entry (no wrong door) process. 2. Develop a common application and release form that satisfies all agencies’ core intakes related to homelessness. 3. Expand staff capacity to review service plans and interview consumers to ensure that all critical needs are met. 4. Develop a back-up system of case management in the event that an individual ends a relationship with primary agency.

Objective: Educate case managers and other staff about homeless issues and available services. Action Steps.

1. Develop a training and education program that increases awareness about homeless issues and services available in the community.

2. Educate case managers on best practices. Objective: Simplify steps necessary for obtaining identification, SSI, and for accessing other resources. Action Steps:

1. Expand staff capacity to assist with filling out necessary forms and ensuring they are returned/submitted appropriately and timely.

2. Identify and learn from key individuals who are experts or resource people who know about benefits programs. 3. Encourage and support the development of and use of 2-1-1.

Goal 2: Increase supply of safe, affordable, supportive housing. Objective: Increase the supply of permanent supportive housing. Action Steps:

1. Develop supportive, leasing assistance services for homeless individuals, families, and youth. 2. Develop supportive, leasing assistance program for individuals with a disability, mental illness, substance abuse issues,

and other sub-populations such as domestic violence survivors, seniors, and veterans, youths transitioning out of foster care and youths age 16 to 23.

3. Develop supportive, leasing assistance program that targets those who are chronically homeless. 4. Develop a rapid re-housing initiative to provide leasing assistance and funding for housing resource specialists. 5. Develop landlord relationships. 6. Increase availability of housing choice vouchers and project-based vouchers in the Manistee County area. 7. Develop additional units of permanent, supportive, low-income housing.

Objective. Implement a Housing First model for families, individuals, and youth. Action Steps:

1. Develop and initiate Housing First strategies that connects housing first, followed by ongoing case management based on individual needs.

2. Research existing resources and best practice models in order to develop local strategies that result in an increase in the supply of affordable housing that is able to be accessed quickly.

3. Work with all housing agencies and landlords to develop and use a Manistee County housing locator list.

4. Educate case managers about available housing. 5. Access additional financial resources for

Housing First relocation.

6. Promote family stability by ensuring that children are enrolled in school, preschool, and/or child care once their family is housed.

Objective: Ensure people who are leaving foster care, prisons/jails, health care facilities and other institutions are not discharged into homelessness. Action Steps:

1. Research best practices and support the development of institutional release standards that includes permanent housing placement on discharge.

2. Inform institutions such as prisons/jails, health care facilities, foster care agencies, and local units of government about regionally available housing and subsidy programs so that linkages can be made for housing placement.

3. Ensure that youth who are discharged from foster care are able to access and sustain stable housing, including the availability of follow-up services after exiting the foster care system.

Objective: Develop a transitional program targeting youth, unaccompanied individuals, and families that fits Manistee County. Action Steps:

1. Explore successful initiatives in other rural communities.

2. Investigate options to meet Manistee County’s needs regarding housing and host homes.

3. Develop a transitional program that fits Manistee County.

4. Create supportive housing initiatives that allows consumers to transition-in-place to permanent housing.

5. Obtain funding base to guarantee rent to landlords. 6. Develop local voucher based programs that

combine housing with ongoing case management based on individual needs.

Goal 3. Provide Education and Enhance Employment Opportunities Objective: Improve financial literacy and options to enhance life skills. Action Steps:

1. Increase capacity of existing financial literacy programs available from public agencies, private business, and faith-based organizations.

2. Promote awareness of all financial literacy programs available in community. 3. Increase capacity and knowledge of available life skills training (including credit repair and budgeting). 4. Promote early identification and intervention of at-risk youth through collaboration between school, parents, and support

services. Objective: Expand consumers’ awareness of training and educational opportunities. Action Steps:

1. Provide career planning to identify needs and individual goals. 2. Promote the requirement to attend school until age 18 3. Provide support services to keep youth in school. 4. Design and support flexible education programs to meet learning styles and needs of youth including access to mentoring

programs and trade schools. Objective: Expand opportunities for employment, and higher wage employment. Action Steps:

1. Support current initiatives such as enVision Manistee County**. 2. Support the development of new business. 3. Develop (support) aggressive county-wide economic development plan. 4. Support the development of training for employees to increase skills. 5. Support the availability of transportation that brings employees and major employers together.

* *enVision Manistee County is a community effort headed by the Manistee County Community Foundation. I particulare, the Health and Human Services envision Statement is as follows: “In the year 2015, Manistee County is an educated and informed community that values the diversity of individuals and that brings together a variety of resources to meet identified needs for universal access to high quality health and human services.” The Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness fits nicely into to envision focus areas, strategies and priority actions.

Goal 4. Prevent Homelessness Objective: Support and expand existing programs. Action Steps:

1. Support and expand on current Homeless Prevention Programs. 2. Identify key “risk factors” for homelessness among, families, Individuals

and Youth. 3. Identify and respond to variations of need among different sub-populations

(domestic violence, seniors, veterans, those with mental illness, substance abuse issues, other disabling conditions, etc.).

4. Develop more effective and pro-active response to the precariously housed. 5. Promote and expand on the availability of life skill development options for

families, individuals and youth including budgeting, credit counseling/repair, and other general life skills.

6. Develop additional and increase current support and intervention systems that are able to provide services to families, individuals and youth at different levels of need.

a. Housing and Support Services b. Rent c. Food d. Utilities e. Health Care f. Employment g. Education h. Mental Health and Substance abuse treatment

7. Develop policy that focuses on prevention - particularly eviction avoidance services.

8. Investigate a single source entry for emergency services. 9. Be proactive – act before its too late.

Goal 5. Increase Communication within our Community. Objective: A community that understands the issues and shares in the vision. Action Steps:

1. Provide Community Awareness Education regarding the issues facing those who are homeless, including children, youth, individuals and families.

2. Identify target audiences in order to disseminate information. 3. Develop a speaker’s bureau. 4. Establish partnerships between faith-based organizations, seniors, and homeless families. 5. Promote a community that shares in the vision. 6. Ensure that leaders in our community understand the issues and promote local initiatives designed to end homelessness. 7. Ask the county/city council/townships to adopt the 10 year plan by official resolution. 8. Address planning issues at a local level that promote/obstruct development of affordable supportive housing for

homeless youth, individuals and families. 9. Explore the options of collaborative work within our regional community with outcomes that benefit Manistee County.

Measurement of Success The following are some of the benchmarks that will be used to measure our community’s progress as we implement our vision to end homelessness. Our community has plans to further define and monitor timelines, point persons, and funding sources in an effort to monitor and report progress. Not only were consumers involved in the determination of gaps and challenges, consumers will continue to serve on the planning and implementation teams as well. The Manistee County Continuum of Care will play a major role in monitoring and progress reporting, and will serve as the mechanism for on-going communication with the public, particularly as we see successes. It is intended throughout the ten year implementation phase to allow for adjustment to the plan in order to keep our momentum going. Simplify Access to Services and Coordinate Our Efforts

1. A decrease in the amount of time required to assist individuals and families in securing services and benefits. 2. An increase in awareness about homeless issues and services available in the community. 3. An increase in the understanding of best practices. 4. Steps necessary for obtaining identification, SSI, and for accessing other resources are significantly simplified. 5. The development and use of 2-1-1.

Increase Supply of Safe, Affordable, Supportive Housing

1. An increase in the supply of affordable, permanent supportive housing. 2. The development and funding of leasing assistance programs targeting homeless individuals, families, youth, individuals

with a disability, and those who are chronically homeless. 3. The development and funding of housing resource specialists focused on rapid re-housing initiatives. 4. The development and use of a housing locator list. 5. The development and initiation of Housing First strategies that connects housing first, followed by ongoing case

management based on individual needs. 6. A decrease in the number of homeless following institutional discharge.

7. The successful development of transitional housing programs that fit Manistee County. Provide Education and Enhance Employment Opportunities

1. An increase in the availability and access to basic life skills learning opportunities. 2. An increase in the amount and type of job training opportunities for employees and potential employees. 3. The development of new initiatives supported by envision Manistee County. 4. An increase in the availability and access to financial literacy programs. 5. The development of an aggressive county-wide economic development plan.

Prevent Homelessness

1. Expansion of current Homeless Prevention Programs. 2. Development of more effective and pro-active response to the precariously housed. 3. Additional and increased support and intervention systems that are able to act before it’s too late. 4. Increase access to support systems such as food assistance, health care, mental health and substance abuse services,

housing and support services, rent and utility assistance. Increase Communication Within our Community

1. Increase in community awareness regarding the issues facing those who are homeless. 2. Community involvement in implementation of the 10 year plan. 3. Resolution to adopt the 10 year plan approved by county commission, city council and township boards. 4. Community leaders understand the issues and actively promote local initiatives.