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Historical Highlights of the Institute's Work
- Since 1990, the Institute has conducted over 200 workshops and presentations
- Trainings and presentations have reached 75 communities, 30 states, and Puerto Rico
- Workshops and presentations have had significant local and national impact
- For example, in 2000, the National Alliance to End Homelessness released its pioneering "Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness," and within that plan adopted Beyond Shelter's Housing First approach for homeless
families as the basic premise for ending family homelessness
- Many agencies and localities have adopted the Housing First approach after receiving training and technical assistance from Beyond Shelter
- Examples of two such organizations are Lutheran Social Services in St. Paul, Minnesota and the YWCA of Columbus, Ohio
- Both programs are featured on the website of the National Alliance to End Homelessness as best practice case examples of Housing First
- Since 2000, Beyond Shelter has worked closely with the National Alliance to End Homelessness to develop a nationwide Housing First Network, designed to raise
awareness and promote dissemination of the Housing First methodology in communities throughout the country
- As part of this Network, Institute staff have helped to develop policy papers on Housing First.
2010 Institute Highlights
- In March, Beyond Shelter, the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY), and the National Policy and Advocacy Council on Homelessness (NPACH), released "A Sensible & Cost-Effective Solution," a policy brief that discusses rising shelter demand from homeless families nationally and proposes the use of master-leased, scattered-site rental units as a cost-effective, family-friendly alternative to traditional emergency shelter models. The brief can be downloaded here.
- On May 18, 2010, Tanya Tull presented a response paper at a research symposium on homeless children convened in Washington, DC, by the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Tanya was one of seven respondents from across the country selected by ASPE, and the only practitioner to respond to the background paper prepared by leading researchers. Her response paper can be downloaded here, and the background paper can be downloaded here.
- On May 26-27, 2010 in Los Angeles, Beyond Shelter partnered with Hamilton Family Center in San Francisco, CA, and the National Center for Housing & Child Welfare, University Park, MD, to convene a two-day, national capacity building institute for homelessness prevention and rapid rehousing providers and funders, including many sub-grantees and grantees of the federal HPRP Program.
- 105 participants from 20 states, Washington, DC, and British Columbia participated in the interactive, skills-based training, with dozens others turned away due to venue capacity constraints.
- In July 2010, Beyond Shelter's Institute completed the final evaluation report for the three-year Skid Row Families Demonstration Project. The project was a unique public-private collaboration led by Beyond Shelter in partnership with several LA County Departments and the Housing Authorities of the City of Los Angeles. The Skid Row Project was one of the first large-scale national efforts to rehouse chronically and/or high-risk homeless families using a model other than permanent supportive housing. All evaluation reports from the project can be accessed from this webpage.
- In December, Beyond Shelter and its partner HomeStart, a Boston-based homeless services provider, released a report, "Rapid Rehousing for Homeless Populations," on successful strategies to overcome common barriers to rental housing, including poor credit, eviction histories, and criminal records. The tools, techniques, and policies highlighted in the report are intended to help individual service providers and communities to respond to new rapid re-housing priorities and funding from the federal HEARTH Act - Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing. The report can be downloaded here.
- During 2010, Institute staff provided 13 trainings and/or presentations in 4 communities across the country.
- These trainings and/or presentations included several workshops at the National Alliance to End Homelessness' (NAEH) two annual conferences, a half-day training for L.A. County shelter providers on landlord recruitment strategies commissioned by the NAEH and the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, and a keynote address at a community forum on homelessness in Baltimore, MD, organized by the Homeless Persons Representation Project.
2009 Institute Highlights
- Institute staff provided 14 trainings and/or presentations in 5 communities across the country
- An example of one of these trainings: the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) asked Beyond Shelter to present on its Housing First Program for Homeless Families during one of HUD’s Regional Forums announcing the new HPRP Program [Homelessness Prevention & Rapid Rehousing], in response to the economic recession
- To prepare local agencies for HPRP, three all-day HPRP program design and implementation trainings were offered to more than sixty agencies in Southern California, hailing from L.A. County, Orange County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, and Kern County
- The HPRP trainings provided agencies that previously had little or no experience with homelessness prevention and rapid rehousing with practical guidance in planning, developing, and operating programs for homeless and at-risk homeless populations
- Staff provided consulting services to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation’s Strengthening At Risk and Homeless Young Mothers and Children Initiative -- a national initiative to promote services integration among systems serving the housing and child development needs of homeless families -- including training local grantees and partner agencies on accessing affordable housing resources for homeless families
- Staff prepared and submitted for publication in academic journals two policy papers, one focused on housing and service models to end family homelessness and the other on responding to surging family homelessness through the use of scattered-site rental units as emergency shelter, as an alternative to traditional shelter options, including motels and shelter facilities
2008 Institute Highlights
- Institute staff provided 17 trainings and/or presentations in 11 communities across the country
- Communities reached included Columbia, SC, Austin, TX, San Bernardino County, CA, Seattle,
WA, Westchester County, NY, Santa Ana, CA, Los Angeles, CA, Sacramento, CA, Pomona, CA, and Washington, DC
- Examples of two of these trainings are: 1) a half-day training on the Housing First approach for public and
private agencies in Westchester County, New York, at the invitation of the Westchester County Department of Social Services; 2) a full-day training on case management in Housing First
for agencies participating in a new Housing First collaborative in Austin, Texas
- Staff provided technical assistance via email and phone to an estimated 75-100 public
and private agencies, academics, student researchers and journalists
- Developed a policy brief focused on alternatives to traditional emergency shelter options that
examines the human and economic costs of emergency shelters and budget motels
and argues for the use of master-leased apartments as a family-centered and
cost-effective alternative
- ABC World News Tonight interviewed Tanya Tull for a story - which was televised on
October 26, 2008 - on the adverse impact the economic recession is having on
homelessness and in particular, on the ability and capacity of homeless service
providers nationally to respond to the rapidly escalating crisis needs of
low-income and homeless families
- Conducted a workshop at the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) Annual Conference
in Washington, DC, on the agency's innovative use of scattered-site apartments
master leased as emergency shelter for families who cannot access existing
facility-based programs due to the lack of availability, presenting problems, or family configuration
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