Build the Infrastructure

Homeless individuals – and families – all have unique needs and will each have a unique path to secure housing. As our working groups met, they identified services that can assist in either preventing homelessness or in shortening the amount of time spent in emergency housing.

STRATEGY 1:

Improve/Develop Transportation Options for Low-Income Individuals.

One barrier to securing and maintaining employment or building the personal infrastructure individuals need is a lack of reliable transportation. The Task Force to End

Homelessness believes that the establishment of a transportation system that delivers at-risk or homeless clients to jobs, treatment, and specialized services in a timely manner will help close a door to homelessness.

Individuals who are seeking employment often do not have the bus fare they need for the application and interview process. Once they secure a job, cash flow is often limited in the first weeks and months of employment. Consequently, we recommend the development of funding to provide bus transportation to individuals during their job search and the first 90 days of employment.

The Veteran Homeless Network Group identified the lack of affordable and accessible transportation as a major barrier to employment. In response to this identified need, this group has already established a successful bicycle-recycling program that makes used bikes available to homeless veterans who need transportation. Similar programs that would provide bikes for low-income individuals and those who have left the prison system could help ensure that they have at least one means of transportation.

The Special Needs and Disabilities Work Group also identified the lack of adequate transportation available to deliver clients to treatment, special services, jobs and other necessary life opportunities and needs in a timely manner. Use of the current mass transit system creates increased struggles for those with disabilities.

The need for improved transportation options for the low-income and disabled of our community has been identified by various groups within the community. This plan supports these activities and advocates for the coordination of these efforts to improve existing services and develop innovative options to fill the gaps.

STRATEGY 2:

Increase Existing Individual Development Account (IDA) Program.

An Individual Development Account program matches an individual’s deposit to a savings account for down payment assistance, business ventures, or educational purposes. Locally, this program is administered by the Community Action Program of Evansville (CAPE). This program is extremely valuable, and we propose collaboration with CAPE to seek ways to increase funding and accommodate more individuals in the program. This will enable individuals and families to build assets, increase worth, and move into home ownership.

STRATEGY 3:

Develop a Jail Diversion Program to Provide Monitored Emergency Accommodations for Intoxicated Persons.

Currently, law enforcement officials have little choice but to arrest homeless individuals who are intoxicated. This adds to the problem of overcrowding in our jail and complicates efforts to secure housing for the individual.

We propose the creation of a specialized facility for individuals in this situation and would begin by first identifying a shelter willing to incorporate this service into existing accommodations. In addition to a location, we propose to identify substance abuse professionals interested in assisting with this service.

Staff in the facility would receive specialized training to recognize medical complications during the detoxification process. Clients who require medical assistance would be referred to local hospitals that work in partnership with the facility. Clients who want to seek additional treatment following detoxification would be referred to local providers for on-going treatment.

STRATEGY 4:

Develop improved access to information about sources of assistance.

The Task Force to End Homelessness supports local participation in the "Indiana 211 Partnership Initiative" through United Way of Southwestern Indiana. This system will enable service providers and individuals to have 24-hour access to information on homeless and housing services.

We further recommend that outreach services to homeless individuals and families publicize information on their emphases and efforts more widely. As area residents, churches, and service organizations become better informed about available services, they can help link those requiring assistance to the appropriate provider. Spanish translation of information regarding sources of assistance should be considered a vital component of this effort.

STRATEGY 5:

Improve Access and Coordination of Services for Specialized Populations.

Many specialized services already exist that serve specific populations.

Homeless youth are a special concern. The Task Force proposes to investigate homeless youth issues by convening a meeting of all community stakeholders to increase awareness of existing services and develop ways to improve coordination of service. We also propose to assist in developing/monitoring youth programs included within this plan.

We propose, as well, to publicize the National Run-Away Switchboard by acquiring information stickers about the service and working to place them in public pay phones, public transportation, youth serving agencies, and other community bulletin board settings.

While veterans have many services available to them, homeless vets face a number of barriers in accessing them. Increased coordination of services for homeless veterans will greatly assist these men and women.

As a result of the planning process for this report, The Veteran Homeless Network Group began meeting quarterly in November 2003. Their meeting locations rotate among the group members’ agencies, and the group is already improving service coordination as they become better acquainted with the services each agency offers. The group is also seeking to encourage all community agencies to recognize veterans as a unique group and requesting that they collect data that will enable them to better identify service gaps that are specific to homeless veterans.

The Special Needs and Disabilities Work Group also recommended increased efforts to better coordinate existing services with client needs. Of particular concern was the need to accommodate for the basic needs of persons with physical disabilities and to connect those with mental disabilities to appropriate treatment sites quickly. This group advocated for the use of an information system to track clients and referrals, increased case management services to adequately attend to the special needs of these persons and increased awareness of disability issues among service providers.

In order to more effectively address the unique risks for homelessness faced by individuals with special needs, programs that build community acceptance and understanding of persons with special needs will also be encouraged.

STRATEGY 6:

Strengthen Domestic Violence Prevention Services.

Many homeless women and children have lost their housing due to domestic violence (DV).We will encourage our existing DV agencies to work more closely with services to the homeless to ensure that victims, children, abusers and staff are better educated on domestic violence issues. We further recommend that specialized advocates be made available to assist domestic violence victims whether they are in shelters, public housing or transitional housing.

We recognize the expertise of domestic violence service providers and will work with them to offer support groups for clients’ domestic violence issues, whether they are victims, children, or abusers. We support anger management and DV education for shelter residents and housing programs to increase clients’ awareness of the issues that make them vulnerable to abusive relationships. Because substance abuse often plays a role in domestic violence, we also recommend that substance abuse education and services be included in this educational effort. The outcome of this training will be reduced episodes of homelessness as a result of domestic violence.

STRATEGY 7:

Provide Training for Community Service Providers.

The Task Force has identified several areas of training that can better equip the staff members of community service providers to work toward ending homelessness.

As earlier discussed, full use of the Hoosier Management Information System (HMIS) will improve the delivery of service to our clients and our own ability to assess gaps in the services we provide. We propose to assist in training the staff of participating agencies to use HMIS.

The Task Force proposes the establishment of a certification program for shelter staff. A curriculum for staff that work with homeless persons and a training cycle in which the program can be offered to shelters and transitional housing providers will be developed. A certificate will then be developed that recognizes completion of the training as a preference for employment within the homeless-serving community.

We recognize the importance of all types of diversity and cross-cultural training for service providers, and propose to facilitate on-going training of all shelter staff regarding how to work with individuals with disabilities and special needs. In order to better serve our rapidly-growing Hispanic population, we further recognize that Spanish-language and Hispanic culture training are increasingly necessary for staff in area shelters and programs.

We recommend, as well, the promotion of training on the experience of poverty as an additional diversity classification to all entities serving individuals of lower economic status.  Consequently, we will pursue making The Bridges Out of Poverty program available to the entire community.

Because the Task Force to End Homelessness supports a strength-based approach to work with homeless clients, we will promote this model of service delivery and will offer tools to agencies that wish to familiarize themselves with this approach. A Strength-Based model builds on clients’ strengths rather than attempting to "fix" their perceived deficits.