Homelessness Santa Barbara County

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3/24/19

•  What is homelessness? •  Who is homeless in Santa Barbara County? •  What are the key factors that lead to

homelessness? •  What is the current state of homelessness in

Santa Barbara County? •  How can homelessness be solved? •  How you can get involved?

What is homelessness? •  Risk of Homelessness •  Imminent Risk of Homelessness •  Literally Homeless •  Homeless Under Other Federal Statute •  Fleeing/Attempting to Flee Domestic

Violence •  Chronically Homeless

What is homelessness? – Risk of Homelessness

•  Annual income below 30% of median family income for the area and does not have sufficient resources or support networks immediacy available to prevent them from becoming literally homeless. And there are other characteristics associated with instability and an increased risk of homelessness.

What is homelessness? –  Imminent Risk of Homelessness

•  Will imminently lose their primary night time residence, provided that residence will be lost within 14 days; no subsequent residence has been identified; and lacks resources or support networks needed to obtain other permanent supportive housing.

What is homelessness? – Literally Homeless

•  Lacks a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence.

What is homelessness? – Literally Homeless

•  Has a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not meant for human habitation;

•  Is living in a publicly or privately operated shelter designated to provide temporary living arrangements (including congregate shelters, transitional housing, and hotels and motels paid for by charitable organizations or by federal, state and local government programs); or

•  Is exiting an institution where (s)he has resided for 90 days or less and who resided in an emergency shelter or place not meant for human habitation immediately before entering that institution.

What is homelessness? – Homeless Under Other Federal Statute

•  Example: Unaccompanied youth and homeless families with children and youth defined as homeless under other Federal statutes who have experienced a long-term period without living independently in permanent housing, have experienced persistent instability as measured by frequent moves over such period, and can be expected to continue in such status for an extended period of time because of chronic disabilities, chronic physical health or mental health conditions, substance addiction, histories of domestic violence or childhood abuse, the presence of a child or youth with a disability, or multiple barriers to employment.

What is homelessness? – Fleeing/Attempting to Flee Domestic Violence

•  Any individual or family who is fleeing, or is attempting to flee, domestic voice, has no other residence; and lacks the resources or support networks to obtain other permanent housing.

What is homelessness? – Youth Fleeing Domestic Violence

What is homelessness? – Chronically Homeless

•  Homeless individual with a disability who lives in a place not meant for human habitation, a safe haven, or in an emergency shelter; and has been homeless continuously for at least 12 months or on at least 4 separate occasions in the last 3 years where the combined occasions must total at least 12 months.

What is homelessness? •  Continuum of Care (CoC)

–  The CoC Program is designed to promote communitywide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness.

–  According to HUD regs, the CoC is designed to: •  Promote community-wide planning and strategic use of

resources and programs targeted to people experiencing homelessness;

•  Improve data collection and performance measurement; •  Allow each community to tailor its program to the particular

strengths and challenges within that community. .

What is homelessness? •  Continuum of Care (CoC)

–  The CoC should provide centralized and collaborative leadership of homeless services that: •  Increases regional participation; •  Coordinates services and programmatic efficiencies; and •  Enhances accountability of program delivery, supporting a

community-wide commitment to end and prevent homelessness in all parts of the region.

•  The geography of the CoC encompasses the area within Santa Barbara County, including eight incorporated cities, and all unincorporated areas.

•  General Membership should represent the public and private homeless service sectors, including homeless client/consumer interests.

•  An up-to-date calendar can be found at:http://countyofsb.org/housing/continuum.sbc

.

What is homelessness? •  Point-In-Time Count

–  The Point-in-Time (PIT) count is a count of sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons on a single night in January.

–  HUD requires that Continuums of Care (CoCs) conduct an annual count of homeless persons who are sheltered in emergency shelter, transitional housing, and Safe Havens on a single night.

–  CoCs also must conduct a count of unsheltered homeless persons every other year (odd numbered years).

–  Each count is planned, coordinated, and carried out locally.

Trend Analysis

868 978 890 893 1,133

830 904

839 967 670

2011 2013 2015 2017 2019

Unsheltered Sheltered

1,698 1,882

1,729 1,860 1,803

Trend Analysis

893 1133

967 670

2017 2019

Unsheltered Sheltered

People experiencing unsheltered homelessness increased by 27%.

General Street Count & Survey •  The Point-in-Time (PIT) Count occurred primarily via a PIT

mobile census app on Thursday, January 24, 2019 from 5:00 - 8:30am

•  Outreach teams canvas each assigned route throughout the County

•  Peer guides with lived experience given gift certificate for participation

•  Respondents given a gift card for answering mobile app survey questions

•  Vehicle count conducted in Safe Parking programs and during street count.

Point-in-Time Count Summary

•  Full County Coverage – 89 census tract map routes

•  449 community & agency volunteers and 32 homeless guides participated

•  12 volunteer/guide trainings conducted throughout County

•  Special Youth counts conducted in afternoon in north and south county locations

•  7 Logistics Centers organized to send teams into the field

•  Participant evaluation scores were over 4.0 on a 5.0 rating scale

Location Seen 2019 2017 Est. Santa Barbara 887 987 Santa Maria 464 422 Lompoc 249 274 Goleta 119 124 Isla Vista 33 32 Carpinteria 21 20 Summerland 8 Not reported Orcutt 7 Not reported Montecito 6 Not reported Buellton/Solvang/Santa Ynez Valley 5 1 Guadalupe 4 Not reported

PIT Count by Area

Location Seen 36%

37%

27%

Streets Shelter Vehicles

Sleeping Location Sheltered versus Unsheltered

37%

63%

Sheltered Unsheltered

Vehicle Residency by City (Top 6 Responses)

1% 2% 6%

16% 22%

52%

Carpinteria Isla Vista Lompoc Goleta Santa Maria Santa Barbara

n=398

Localism: Where were you living when you first became homeless?

0% 2% 3% 9% 9%

76%

Kern County San Luis Obispo County

Ventura County

Other California

Out of State Santa Barbara County

Localism: Where was your most recent permanent address?

0% 2% 3% 8% 9%

77%

Kern County San Luis Obispo County

Ventura County

Out of State Other California

Santa Barbara County

MostrespondentsfirstbecamehomelessinSantaBarbaraandwerepreviouslyhousedinSantaBarbara

Localism: How long have you lived in Santa Barbara County?

4% 4% 5% 16%

11%

60%

1-30 Days 1-6 Months 6 Months- 1 Year

1-5 Years 5-10 Years 11 or More Years

Subpopulations

•  118 veterans were experiencing homelessness.

•  423 persons were experiencing chronic homelessness.

•  93 unaccompanied youth and young adults were experiencing homelessness.

•  115 families were experiencing homelessness. (115 families; 368 individuals)

Questions?

Thank you!

•  Who is homeless in Santa Barbara County? Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) HMIS is a local information technology system used to collect client-level data and data on the provision of housing and services to homeless individuals and families and persons at risk of homelessness. Each Continuum of Care is responsible for selecting an HMIS software solution that complies with HUD's data collection, management, and reporting standards.

•  Who is homeless in Santa Barbara County?

Homeless Management Information System (HMIS)

Dashboard coming soon!

•  What are the key factors that lead to homelessness? – “Homelessness In America: The Big Picture”

•  Throughout our country’s history, war, natural disaster, and poverty have been the root causes of homelessness. (Center For Social Innovation)

•  What are the key factors that lead to homelessness? – National Law Center On Homelessness and

Poverty Identifies These Top Causes: •  Lack of affordable housing •  Unemployment •  Poverty •  Mental health needs and the lack of needed services •  Substance use disorder and the lack of needed services

•  What are the key factors that lead to homelessness? – SPARC Report Addresses Race and

Homelessness •  “People of color are dramatically more likely than

White people to experience homelessness in the United States. This is no accident; it is the result of centuries of structural racism that have excluded historically oppressed people—particularly Black and Native Americans—from equal access to housing, community supports, and opportunities for economic mobility. “

•  What are the key factors that lead to homelessness? – Why do young people become homeless?

(Homeless HUB) •  Physical, Sexual and Emotional Abuse •   Involvement with the child welfare system  •  Discrimination •  Homophobia •  Poverty 

•  What are the key factors that lead to homelessness? – Trauma's Impact on Homelessness

•  Trauma – Prevalent – A predictor of long-term

residential instability Important!

•  What are the key factors that lead to homelessness? – Trauma Examples

– Domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking are leading cause of homelessness. (Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Highlights Trauma’s Impact on Homelessness) – Homeless Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are

more likely to be haunted by PTSD than homeless vets of previous eras. (American Psychological Association)

•  What is the current state of homelessness in Santa Barbara County? – Coordinated Entry System

Home For Good Santa Barbara County supports a Coordinated Entry System, a no-wrong door,

countywide system that engages and connects individuals and families experiencing homelessness to the optimal resources for their needs. We believe that everyone deserves a safe place to call home for good.

www.HomeForGoodSBC.org

Pre-Screening Prevention

Emergency Services Diversion

Assessment Referral

Coordinated Entry Happens At •  Regional Entry Points & Coordinated Outreach

Coordinated Entry System Data Year One • 22+Partnersarehelpingpeoplemovebackhomeandcreatestablelives.• 2061Peoplehavebeeninterviewedbyoutreachteamsthatconnectindividualstohousingandsuppor?veservices.• 1497havebeenrecommendedforahousinginterven?on:• 758IndividualsandFamiliesrecommendedforPermanentSuppor?veHousing• 739IndividualsandFamiliesrecommendedforRapidRe-Housing

In 2019 We Will

Expand AmeriCorps & Add Clinical Staff Document Ready For Housing Approve Supportive Housing

•  How can homelessness be solved? – Housing First 

•  Orientation: An approach to quickly and successfully connect individuals and families experiencing homelessness to permanent housing without preconditions and barriers to entry, such as sobriety, treatment or service participation requirements. (HUD)

•  Specific Intervention: An Evidence Based Intervention that requires an Intensive Case Management Model (ACT or CTI) to serve those with the most complex, co-occurring needs in accessing and maintaining housing. (OrgCode)

•  How can homelessness be solved? – Prevention – Diversion – Outreach – Emergency Shelter – Transitional Housing – Rapid Re-Housing – Permanent Supportive Housing  – Flexible Housing Subsidy Pool

•  How can homelessness be solved? –  Prevention

•  The practice of providing short to medium-term supportive services and rent assistance to households at-risk or at imminent risk of homelessness. Prevention connects people with the care and support needed to maintain their housing and achieve a better quality of life. All prevention programs will provide targeted prevention, an approach where households are strategically prioritized to receive homeless prevention assistance based on a standardized, evidence-based assessment that identifies households who are at highest risk of becoming homeless. Successful targeted prevention reduces the number of households who actually become homeless. The length of assistance 4-6 months on average, but can extend to 24 months.

•  How can homelessness be solved? – Diversion

•  Is a strategy that prevents homelessness for people seeking shelter by helping them identify immediate alternate housing arrangements and, if necessary, connecting them with services and financial assistance to help them return to permanent housing.

•  How can homelessness be solved? – Outreach

•  Essential Services related to reaching out to unsheltered homeless individuals and families, connecting them with emergency shelter, housing, or critical services, and providing them with urgent, non-facility-based care. Eligible costs include engagement, case management, emergency health and mental health services, transportation, and services for special populations. 

•  How can homelessness be solved? – Emergency Shelter

•  Any facility, the primary purpose of which is to provide temporary or transitional shelter for the homeless in general or for specific populations of the homeless.

•  How can homelessness be solved? – Transitional Housing

•  Designed to provide homeless individuals and families with the interim stability and support to successfully move to and maintain permanent housing. Transitional housing may be used to cover the costs of up to 24 months of housing with accompanying supportive services. Program participants must have a lease (or sublease) or occupancy agreement in place when residing in transitional housing.

•  How can homelessness be solved? – Rapid Re-Housing

•  Help those who are experiencing homelessness to be quickly re-housed and stabilized. Rapid re-housing is an intervention designed to help individuals and families that don't need intensive and ongoing supports to quickly exit homelessness and return to permanent.

•  How can homelessness be solved? – Permanent Supportive Housing

•  Permanent housing with indefinite leasing or rental assistance paired with supportive services to assist homeless persons with a disability or families with an adult or child member with a disability achieve housing stability.

•  How can homelessness be solved? – Flexible Housing Subsidy Pool (FHSP)

•  Individuals experiencing homelessness are often among the highest utilizers of expensive health care services. The Flexible Housing Subsidy Pool provides a rental housing subsidy that is paired with support services for Santa Barbara County’s most vulnerable homeless populations. A wide body of research shows that this combination is the best, most cost-effective solution to chronic homelessness and dollars saved from “band-aid” solution costs such as hospital stays can be used as rental subsidies that provide people a stable home.

•  How can homelessness be solved?

–  Home For Good Santa Barbara County Funders Collaborative •  Provide a common table for the leading

policymakers and funders in Santa Barbara County to navigate and develop strategies, test ideas, and coordinate efforts.

•  The Collaborative can be a line of sight to emerging opportunities in private and public funding, where private philanthropic and public resources are discussed and aligned toward permanent solutions to homelessness.

How can homelessness be solved? – Conclusion:

•  Units + Subsidy + Services •  Collaboration: Government funding dedicated to

homelessness is necessary but not sufficient to achieve permanent solutions to homelessness.

•  How you can get involved?

•  GIVE.

•  GIVE.

– When you give to United Way, your contribution helps foster both individual and collective success.

•  Flexible Housing Subsidy Pool (FHSP) –  Launched in March 2019 by the United Way of Northern

Santa Barbara County, with funds from the Homeless Emergency Aid Program, the FHSP is financed through a combination of public and private funding.

Move-in funds Emergency bridge housing A housing first fidelity program

– Organize a Fundraiser or Sock & Supply Drive •  Sock will be used for outreach during Coordinated

Outreach & Point-in-Time Counts! •  New socks are essential, especially in the winter

months. •  They are one of the least donated, but most

needed items.

•  ADVOCATE.

•  ADVOCATE. – Homelessness is not an isolated issue.

Everyone across Santa Barbara County must pitch in to help. We need you to talk to your neighbors, encourage lawmakers to keep their promise to build supportive housing, and help people move off the streets. •  Sign up for Action Alerts

– www.HomeForGoodSBC.org

•  Speak Out – Contact your representative about long term

solutions to homelessness.

•  Be Informed – Learn how Santa Barbara County ranks in

building supportive housing and moving people off off the streets.

•  Engage With Your Community – Host a community conversation with your

friends, coworkers or neighbors. Talk about how we can work together move people home permanently, prevent people from becoming homeless and approve supportive and affordable housing.

•  Raise Awareness – Use social media tools to educate your friends

and networks about long term solutions to homelessness.

•  VOLUNTEER.

•  VOLUNTEER. – Volunteering your valuable time is one of the

most impactful ways you can get involved and make a true difference for our community.

VOLUNTEER. – Many non-profits with volunteer needs – Home For Good Santa Barbara County

AmeriCorps Partnership and Common Ground Santa Barbara County Volunteer Programs

VOLUNTEER. – Santa Barbara County AmeriCorps

Partnership • FOCUS AREAS – Street Outreach – Housing Placement – Housing Support – Volunteer

•  VOLUNTEER. – Santa Barbara County AmeriCorps Partnership • BENEFITS OF SERVICE

– Full-Time members receive a Living Allowance of $1,425/mo and an Education Award of $10,000.

– Part-time members receive a Living Allowance and Education Award relative to their term of service.

– Health insurance for Full-Time members (if eligible). – Childcare for Full-Time members (if eligible). – Loan Forbearance. – Transferability of Education Award (for members 55+). – Training opportunities for professional/person growth,

field experiencing in social services, and networking opportunities.

•  VOLUNTEER. – Santa Barbara County AmeriCorps Partnership • WHO

– Applicants must be 17 years or older, obtain a high school diploma or GED.

– Show proof of citizenship or lawful permanent residence. 

– Pass a criminal background check.  – Ability to serve individuals with diverse economic,

social, racial and cultural backgrounds. – Have reliable transportation to service site.

•  VOLUNTEER. – Year Round Teams & Point-In-Time Count

•  Thank you! – Join our campaign to ensure longterm

solutions to homelessness. www.LiveUnitedSBC.org

www.HomeForGoodSBC.org Emily Allen: emily@liveunitedsbc.org