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Home My WebLink AboutItem 3.2 EveryOne Home CITY CLERK File # D[][3][Dl-~[{l] AGENDA STATEMENT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: July 17, 2007 SUBJECT: EveryOne Home Presentation by the County of Alameda .~ Report Prepared by John Lucero, Housing Specialist 2) ATTACHMENTS: EveryOne Home Summary RECOMMENDATION:, ~) Receive Presentation ~ FINANCIAL STATEMENT: None. PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Linda Gardner, Housing Director for the Alameda County Housing and Community Development Department will offer a presentation on the EveryOne Home Project to end Homelessness in Alameda County. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the City Council receive Presentation. COPY TO: Page 1 of 1 ITEM No.3. 2. K:\Agenda Statements\2007\CC\EveryOne Home.doc ~ }~3 About EveryOne Home Background EveryOne Home is the result of a unique collaboration among community stakeholders, cities and Alameda County government agencies representing three separate care systems - homeless services, HIV/AIDS services and mental health services - that share overlapping client populations and a recognition that stable housing is a critical cornerstone to the health and well-being of homeless and at-risk people, and our communities. Prior to the development of the EveryOne Home Plan, there were separate plans to address homelessness and housing for low-income people living with AIDS/HIV. At the same time, there was an identified need to address housing for low-income people with serious and persistent mental illness. Rather than continue on separate paths toward housing solutions, and recognizing that they serve many people with similar needs and frequently the same individuals, nine agencies came together in 2004 to develop one plan with mutual goals and joint effort for implementation. The collective knowledge, funding and expertise of the collaborative, joined with extensive input and guidance from additional cities and a wide variety of community-based organizations and service consumers, yielded the EveryOne Home Plan, a regional and multifaceted response to address the social and economic issues of homelessness and housing instability that affect communities throughout the county. Goals EveryOne Home envisions a housing and services system that partners with consumers, families and advocates; provides appropriate services in a timely fashion to all who need them; and ensures that individuals and families are safely, supportively and permanently housed. To achieve those objectives, the plan is structured around five major goals that outline multi-faceted solutions for a multi-dimensional problem: 1. Prevent homelessness and other housing crises. The most effective way to end homelessness is to prevent it in the first place by making appropriate services accessible to at the time they are needed. In particular, people leaving institutions such foster care, hospitals, jails and prisons need interventions and planning that will prevent them from exiting into homelessness. 2. Increase housing opportunities for the plan's target populations. Increasing affordable and supportive housing opportunities requires creative use of existing resources, developing new resources and using effective models of housing and services. This plan identifies a need for 15,000 units of housing for people who are homeless or living with HIV/AIDS or mental illness over the next 15 years. 3. Deliver flexible services to support stability and independence. Culturally competent, coordinated support services must accompany housing. Direct service providers in all systems throughout the county must have a degree of knowledge about and access to a range of housing resources and supportive services. -rt&vn#.3.2. 7/11/07 h'\to ATTA(;DMENT ;;~3 4. Measure success and report outcomes. Evaluating outcomes will allow systems and agencies to identify successful programs and target resources toward best practices. 5. Develop long-term leadership and build political will. The goals of EveryOne Home will only be achieved by developing a long-term leadership structure that can sustain systems change activities. Implementation of this plan will also require building and sustaining political and community support for its vision and activities. The Plan EveryOne Home, the Alameda Countywide Homeless and Special Needs Housing Plan, provides a framework to reorient systems of care in order to deliver comprehensive integrated housing and services for three vulnerable and overlapping populations: 1. Homeless people, 2. Low-income people living with HIV/AIDS, and 3. Low-income people with serious or persistent mental illness. EveryOne Home is similar in intent to plans being developed across the country, in which the emphasis is on ending homelessness rather than managing it and on permanent supportive housing as the solution for people who are chronically homeless due to physical and mental disabilities and behavioral dysfunction. It is a model that provides housing stability first and follows-up with necessary supportive services. However, EveryOne Home expands on the national model by engaging the mental health and HIV/AIDS service systems to forge a comprehensive approach to increasing supportive housing. In fact, this is the first time that any county or state has developed an integrated housing and service plan for people who experience homelessness and/or are living with serious and persistent mental illness and/or HIV/AIDS. Alameda County has a history of collaborative efforts, but until now they have been focused primarily at the client or service provider level not the systems level. Alignment at the systems level will require an integration of county health, housing, criminal justice and human service delivery systems to a degree not yet realized. Strategies Prevention · Collaboration in discharge planning with institutions and systems such as hospitals, foster care and criminal justice to ensure that people do not become homeless upon exiting. · Benefits advocacy to help people enroll in benefits programs which can increase the incomes of eligible households and help prevent financial crises that might compromise their ability to maintain their housing. Housinq · Create more than 15,000 units of housing over the next 15 years for individuals and families experiencing homelessness and extremely low income people living with serious mental illness and/or HIV/AIDS. · Create two-thirds (10,000) in units that already exist by providing rental assistance to subsidize them at an affordable level. · Develop one-third through new construction or the acquisition and rehabilitation of existing buildings. · Deliver flexible services to support residents' stability and independence. j~ Services · Establish a "no wrong door" policy for services delivery, making information on all systems available 24 hours a day and making assessment and referral for appropriate housing and services available throughout the county. · Deliver appropriate services in a timely fashion so that individuals and families experiencing crisis are able to obtain the help or information they need to remain in their housing and stabilize their household. Outcomes The creation of an integrated, regional response offers such measurable outcomes as: · Increased efficiency and effectiveness of local and regional housing and supportive service programs through sharing of information, planning, clients, resources and responsibility across the multiple systems that must work together to address common issues. More coordination of government and philanthropic funding. National research has demonstrated that an integrated approach to ending long-term homelessness can significantly reduce overall expenditures. Increased local capacity to attract competitive grants from federal, state and philanthropic sources that can augment existing housing and service systems and support the replication of promising practice models. Increased public interest and support for creative solutions to homelessness, excitement about and involvement in regional efforts, and willingness to support the creation of a new local or regional revenue stream. . . . For additional information on EveryOne Home, and to read the complete Alameda Countywide Homeless and Special Needs Housing Plan, visit www.everyonehome.org. G:\HCD\HOMELESS\MULTIPLAN\Final Plan\Plan and Summaries\About EveryOne Home w logo. doc