Alternatives to Shelter in Ending Family Homelessness: The Master Leasing of
Apartments as Short-Term Housing in the Skid Row Families Demonstration
Project
Beyond
Shelter is currently conducting a demonstration project focused on ending the
homelessness of 300 families with children in Los Angeles’ Skid Row
neighborhood, a 50 square block area that is home to the largest concentration
of homeless persons in the United States.
In
partnership with the L.A. County Departments of Children and Family Services (DCFS),
Public Social Services (DPSS), Mental Health (DMH), Health Services (DHS),
Public Health (DPH), and the Chief Executive Office (CEO), Beyond Shelter is
relocating homeless families out of the dangerous confines of Skid Row into
short-term housing, primarily motels and apartments the agency is leasing as
emergency shelter, and then into permanent housing with their own lease
agreements.
After a
few weeks in motels, many families are relocated to scattered-site apartments,
which Beyond Shelter fully furnishes and master leases for use as emergency
shelter. Families remain in the units until a permanent housing subsidy has been
processed and a suitable apartment has been located, or the family opts to
remain in the original apartment (“transition-in-place”). During the year-long
lease period, one apartment may serve as temporary housing for multiple
families, with each successive family replacing the previous family who has
moved into permanent housing.
The
Demonstration Project is intended to illustrate the social and economic benefits
of coordinating services and systems in innovative ways to assist high risk
families to exit homelessness. The use of master-leased apartments as short-term
housing/emergency shelter is one such innovation being promoted as a
family-friendly and cost effective alternative to conventional homeless
programs.
Click
here to view the Alternatives to Shelter
Policy Brief. (This brief can also be requested via email at
institute@beyondshelter.org).
Seaver
Institute –
Longitudinal
Study of “Housing First” Program Participants
Funded by the Seaver
Institute
In November 2004,
Beyond Shelter completed the first longitudinal study of the long-term impact
of a “Housing First” Program in the United States. The purpose of this study
was to evaluate the longer-term outcomes for 200 homeless families who
participated in Beyond Shelter’s “Housing First” Program from 1997 to
2001. The study evaluated 63 of the original 97 families who participated in
the Pew Study (evaluating the program’s short-term effectiveness in 2001) and
137 families who participated in the program from 1997 to 1999. A defined set of client outcome indicators
was analyzed, including
residential tenure, family stability, social functioning, income, employment status and health of the household.
After two
years of formal evaluation, study findings have demonstrated that the program
methodology is successful in promoting long-term stabilization for homeless
families, including families with multiple problems. These results, once
disseminated, will help guide the continued development of the “Housing First”
Program methodology nationwide. Furthermore, this study has engendered
interest in developing specialized research, based upon its results, on a
variety of target populations, including: emancipated youths, single parents
ages 18-24, chronically homeless families, families with a history of domestic
violence or substance abuse, and families who have reached their five-year TANF time limits. Research was
conducted through a research team from Beyond Shelter’s Institute for
Research, Training and Technical Assistance and the University of Southern
California’s School of Social Work.
Click
here to view the Seaver Policy Brief.
Neighborhood-Based
Services Coordination
Demonstration Project
Funded by
The California Endowment
In February
2004, Beyond Shelter completed the second and final year of its grant
agreement with The California Endowment – the implementation of the
Neighborhood-Based Services Coordination Pilot Project at Broadway
Village I. A component of the
Broadway
South Neighborhood Revitalization Project,
the purpose of the grant was to pilot a model for providing service
information, referrals and comprehensive case management to residents of the
neighborhood surrounding Broadway Village I.
The project was based on Beyond Shelter's Neighborhood-Based Services
Coordination initiative, in which scarce community resources are maximized
through the building and strengthening of partnerships with local service
providers. Through case management support and the coordination of social
services, the project aimed to help residents improve their health and
well-being, reduce the barriers associated with poverty, increase their
participation in the decision-making process and ultimately enhance the
quality of their lives.
Information gained from the tracking and evaluation components
of this project will help to both enrich and inform the agency’s development
and dissemination of the basic model.
Pew
Partnership Initiative – Wanted:
Solutions for America
Funded by the
Pew
Charitable Trusts
Beyond Shelter’s “Housing
First” Program for Homeless Families was identified by the
Pew Partnership
for Civic Change as one of 19 sites nationwide to participate in a two-year
evaluation initiative, Wanted: Solutions
for America (2000-2001). This was
a national evaluation effort to document and disseminate successful strategies
for building stronger communities. Participation
in this study enabled Beyond Shelter to document the impact of the
“Housing First” program methodology on the lives of 97 high-risk homeless families, six
months after being placed in permanent housing. The research clearly
indicated that homeless families were able to reintegrate back into a
community and develop stable living patterns, when supportive services were
provided for at least six months after the move into permanent housing. Research was
conducted by the University of Southern California, in conjunction with the
Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University.
Click here
to read the Pew Partnership Evaluation about the research.
Welfare-to-Work Demonstration Project
Funded by the Federal
Department of LaborThis $1.2 million, 30-month project
from 1998-2001 provided job placement and retention services to over 200 hard-to-employ,
primarily single
females, who had been long-term recipients of Temporary Aid to Needy Families. The project
focused on stabilizing participants in permanent housing as
an essential supporting factor for their employment. Case managers provided one
year of case management services subsequent to each participant's
employment
to ensure their long-term job retention.
All of the participants in the program faced major
barriers to employment, such as lack of education, poor work
histories or recovery from drug and/or alcohol addictions. Over
90 percent of
participants were minority, single female heads of household. The
program utilized Beyond Shelter's team approach methodology,
which involves a collaboration between a case manager and an
employment counselor. Case managers addressed the needs of the family as a whole,
while employment counselors worked exclusively on employment-related
issues.
At
the project's end, Beyond Shelter had exceeded its goal, serving 265
participants, with 206 successfully completing the program. Of
those, 102 were placed in unsubsidized employment and 86 in
subsidized employment. The research center at the University of Southern California, School of Social
Work served as project evaluator.
For more information, see the
Welfare to Work Demonstration Project Program.
Moving to Opportunity Demonstration Project
Funded by the
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
This five-city (Boston, New York, Chicago, Baltimore and Los
Angeles )
demonstration project was conducted in 1995-1996 in collaboration with the
Housing Authority of Los Angeles and was designed to help
families move from public housing projects to low-poverty census tracks
neighborhoods. It involved the provision of long-term case
management to help families transition to social and economic
self-sufficiency.
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