A Presentation to the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

www.headinghomeramsey.org

A Presentation to the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners

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OUTLINE

• 1. What does homelessness look like in Ramsey?
• 2. What is Heading Home Ramsey?
• 3. What is Heading Home Ramsey working on?
• 4. How can Ramsey County support HHR?

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www.headinghomeramsey.org

HOMELESSNESS IN RAMSEY COUNTY – Data Overview

The Point in Time Count has traditionally been used to understand

• homelessness. System Performance Measures now provide a better

understanding of who is experiencing homelessness in Ramsey County.

• Total counts of homelessness
• Counts unduplicated persons in emergency shelter
• Length of time
• Average and median lengths of time homeless
• Racial disparities
• How different demographics experience homelessness

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3,10 1 3,297 3,8 49 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 FFY 2015 FFY 2016 FFY 2017

Total Count of Unduplicated Persons

Year

Sheltered Hom eless Persons, Anytim e Over a 12 Month Periods, FFY 20 15-20 17

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44.8 21.0 43.5 20.5 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

• Emerg. Shelter

Average

• Emerg. Shelter

Median

Length of Tim e Hom eless in Em ergency Shelter, Average and Median Days, FFY 20 16 and 20 17

FFY 2017 FFY 2016

Change in Median days: -0 .5 Change in Average days: -1.3 Days

Oct 20 16 – Sep 20 17 Oct 20 16 – Sep 20 17 Oct 20 15 – Sep 20 16 Oct 20 15 – Sep 20 16

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1.0% 15.3% 12.3% 3.5% 67.8% 7.6% 4.7% 3.8% 48.0% 8.7% 31.9% 8.0% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% American Indian Asian/ Pacific Islander Black/ African American Multiracial White Total Latino (any race)

County Population Shelters

County Total Shelters County Total Shelters County Total

Percent of Persons by Race and Ethnicity, Ram sey County 20 17 Total Population and Em ergency Shelter Clients (HMIS), July 20 17-June 20 18

Shelters

WHAT IS HEADING HOME RAMSEY?

• The Heading Home Ramsey Governing Board (HHR) is the Continuum of

Care for Ramsey County.

• The Continuum of Care is a community-wide partnership of organizations

that represent and serve people experiencing homelessness and formerly homeless people.

• It is inclusive of all resources within the homelessness response

continuum.

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WHAT IS HEADING HOME RAMSEY? – Continuum

Generally, the homeless response continuum includes services within the following categories:

• Prevention
• Outreach
• Emergency Shelter
• Coordinated Entry
• Supportive Housing
• Transitional Housing
• Rapid Rehousing
• Permanent Supportive Housing

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736 792 8 4 8 8 38 929 2411 2897 2909 2755 3115 117 34 3 4 24 514 4 74 746 584 525 650 609 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Total Beds Year

Ram sey HIC - Bed Inventory by Project Type: 20 14-20 18

Transitional Housing Rapid Re-housing Permanent Supportive Housing Emergency Shelter

Em ergency Shelter Perm anent Supportive Housing Rapid Re-housing

Transitional Housing

Total Beds: 4,0 10 4,6 16 4,70 6 4 ,757 5,127

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WHAT ARE THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF HHR?

• Operate and plan for the Continuum of Care
• Establish priorities for funding projects and complete applications for

funding through a collaborative process

• Implement and monitor Coordinated Entry/Assessment System
• Evaluate outcomes of funded projects to build a better continuum of

services for people experiencing homelessness

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WHO IS HEADING HOME RAMSEY?

The governing board and community members represent the continuum of shelter, housing and service providers serving people experiencing homelessness in Ramsey County.

• Formerly homeless people
• Housing providers
• Service providers
• Federal, state and local

government

• Advocacy organizations
• Schools
• Hospitals
• Law Enforcement

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Policy Committee

2018 HHR ORGANIZATIONAL CHART

HHR Governing Board

Executive Committee Prevention/ Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program Advisory Committee Executive Committee Prevention Committee Expanding Housing Opportunities Committee Outreach Engagement & Education Committee Ranking Committee Executive Committee Coordinated Entry for Everyone Committee Priority List Manager Committee Placement Committee Coordinated Entry Provider Meetings Assessors and Priority List Manager Team Training Committee Coordinated to Access to Housing and Shelter Coordinated Entry for Youth and Singles Youth Action Team Re-directing Users of Shelter to Housing Committee Provider Meetings 12

HEADING HOME RAMSEY EFFORTS – LANDLORD ENGAGEMENT

• Outreach and education targeting landlords to expand housing options for

people with barriers

• Building confidence with and commitment from landlords by setting

expectations through MOUs and increasing access to support services

• Better engagement of leaders to support efforts at all levels to increase

truly affordable housing CHALLENGES

• Low vacancy rate
• Lack of incentive for landlords to accept tenants with barriers

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HEADING HOME RAMSEY EFFORTS – COORDINATED ENTRY

• Create person-centric systems to triage and assess individuals and

families

• Standardize and improve how the system serves unique needs identified

through assessment

• Create and monitor policies used to operate Coordinated Entry systems

for all populations CHALLENGES

• Funding challenges
• Limited number of assessors
• Supportive housing stock limitations
• Limited prevention and supportive services resources

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HEADING HOME RAMSEY EFFORTS – FAMILIES SHELTER

• Average wait for family shelter is 26 days
• Current waitlist of 87 families in need
• Inadequate resources (30 families at a time) to serve families who are

assessed by the Coordinated Entry system limits overall effectiveness of safety net CHALLENGES

• Limited funding options for creating long term shelter solutions for families
• Expand outreach services for families

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HEADING HOME RAMSEY EFFORTS – DATA & EVALUATION

• Heading Home Ramsey alongside Ramsey County evaluators, innovating

data conversation

• Racial Disparities
• Returns to homelessness

CHALLENGES

• Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) database does not

cover entire continuum

• HMIS reporting capacity constraints
• Action around disparities data
• Count of unsheltered limitations

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12% 12% 20 %

38 %

18 % 18 % 5% 15% 11% 24% 19 % 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Total American Indian Asian or Pac. Islander Black or African American Multiracial White Latino (any race)

Percent Within Race or Ethnic Group by Age Child Under 18 Youth 18 to 24 25 to 34 35 to 54 55 and Older

Percent of Individuals by Age in Em ergency Hom eless Shelters on HMIS, Any Tim e July 20 17 - June 20 18

Youth 18 to 24 55 and Older 25 to 34 Child Under 18 35 to 44 Youth 18 to 24 55 and Older 25 to 34 35 to 44 Child Under 18

Total Persons 3,478 164 133 1,669 304 1,108 279

RAMSEY SUPPORT – AFFORDABLE HOUSING

• 2015 HUD income limit for affordable

housing is 80% of AMI (metro area median income), or $65,800 for a family of 4.

• $15/ hour = $31,200 annually, or 47.4% of

affordability limit.

• Lack of affordable housing stresses

homelessness response continuum

• Coordinated Entry priority lists extremely

long – housing is not guaranteed and there is not enough supportive housing

• Targeting the hardest to serve – many

ineligible for the majority of housing due to common barriers

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Ramsey County Comprehensive Plan and Affordable Housing Units Needed 2021 to 2030 New households earning up to 80% of AMI and paying up to 30% of income

• n housing
• St. Paul = 1,973
• Suburbs = 1,868
• County Total = 3,841

RAMSEY SUPPORT – AFFORDABLE HOUSING

• Needs
• Countywide engagement to make more affordable housing stock

accessible for people with common barriers

• Inclusive discussions on the need and available resources regarding

affordable housing

• Commitment to ongoing involvement in the affordable housing

conversation

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RAMSEY SUPPORT – LANDLORD ENGAGEMENT

• Since 2016, the number of Renter households has begun to outnumber

the number of homeowners

• Supportive Housing Projects require negotiation with private landlords to

house individuals and families

• Vacancy rates have been fluctuating between 2% and 4% since 2012

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RAMSEY SUPPORT – LANDLORD ENGAGEMENT

• Needs
• Incentives for landlords to rent to residents with housing barriers
• Support for landlord networking and workshop opportunities
• Support for landlord education
• Legislative and regulatory reform towards tenant equity
• Support for tenant training

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RAMSEY SUPPORT – SHELTER

• Lack of shelter
• People are regularly forced to sleep in places not meant for human

habitation due to lack of shelter beds

• Lack of safe beds for single female adults
• Families shelter impacts
• Lack of family shelter beds hides family homelessness within data

leading to less resources

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RAMSEY SUPPORT – SHELTER

• Needs
• Expand shelter resources – especially for families
• Expand outreach services to engage the unsheltered population and

move sheltered population into housing

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RAMSEY SUPPORT – LEADERSHIP AND COLLABORATION

• Solutions to homelessness on an individual and system wide level require a

multifaceted approach

• Diverse stakeholders across sectors engage with homelessness and

housing instability in different independent ways

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RAMSEY SUPPORT – LEADERSHIP AND COLLABORATION

• Needs
• Better alignment and coordination of how we define and respond to

homelessness is essential to improve outcomes for those we serve

• Consistent, on-going communication will support how well the

continuum responds to the needs of the community

• Engaged and committed leadership will help unify and define strategies,

values, and initiatives

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www.headinghomeramsey.org

Conclusion:

• County-wide engagement on the efforts to increase affordable and

accessible housing stock to people with common barriers

• Engage and incentivize landlords to rent to people with common housing

barriers

• Expand shelter resources for youth, families, and single women
• Continue to work together to better improve the homeless response

system

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Thanks for your time today. HHR Governing Board

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