Agenda Packet 5-13-19 Joint Work Session

Home Browse Search

B. Expand Diversion and Rapid Exit Services Homelessness diversion and rapid exit (collectively called diversion in this context) strategies are an emerging practice whereby individuals or families seeking emergency services are immediately engaged in an exploratory conversation to determine if there are alternative options, even if temporary, that would help them avoid or quickly exit literal homelessness. Diversion strategies rely on personnel trained in conflict resolution and mediation who have the skills and mindset to engage in difficult conversations with clients at the time of crisis. Homelessness diversion aims to help reconnect people with their family, friends, other social networks, or communities of origin. These practices identify who may be willing to provide space for a household to live, identify connections for people back to their community of origin, and mitigate illegal or confusing landlord practices (such as when someone thinks they must leave their unit but still have a legal right to that housing). Unlike homelessness prevention, which often occurs days or weeks before someone faces literal homelessness, diversion and rapid exit services should be positioned directly at the “front door” of a shelter, both existing and new, or in an outreach setting. This intervention focuses on alternative safe options for people who are presenting for crisis services and believe they have no other safe housing option or place to stay that night or for those who entered a shelter or homelessness in the last few days. Diversion relies heavily on making quick, appropriate connections to a client’s familial and/or social networks in order to resolve the immediate need for crisis services. Diversion is primarily conducted in shelters or service centers, but outreach teams should also be trained in basic diversion techniques for those cases that must be explored in an unsheltered situation. Of note, diversion efforts should be made with all clients presenting for services or shelter but only a fraction of those will actually be diverted, even temporarily. Diversion refocuses the discussion from “I need a shelter bed tonight” to “I need a safe place to stay tonight,” a subtle but significant paradigm shift in how homeless services respond to people in early crisis. In addition to diversion specialists, TAC recommends that the city/county provide a limited ‘barrier buster’ or flexible fund for diversion assistance with clear protocol for when and how to use such limited funds. Examples of financial assistance might be to pay a family member a time-limited stipend to house someone, gas or food vouchers for host families, transportation costs to reconnect individuals to their community of origin (based on their choice and available support), and other limited payments. While financial assistance is helpful, it is important to note that the true essence of strong diversion practices rely on highly skilled diversion specialists who are able to have sometimes challenging and lengthy exploratory conversations with people who are seeking emergency services. Specific Diversion Recommendations 1. TAC recommends that diversion be implemented system- wide and have six specific diversion specialists and $50,000 in (annual) diversion financial resources. For example, assuming 130 newly homeless individuals per month and a 20 percent diversion rate, this amounts to an average of $200-$300 per successfully diverted household. Within this framework, many households may not need any financial assistance to be diverted (family member allows them to stay without any financial incentive), while others may need $500-$1,000 in assistance (transportation costs to a family member in another state along with a food voucher to assist the host in providing for the household). Financial assistance should be flexible enough to meet emerging needs while also ensuring accountability in how funds are disbursed. 2. Diversion specialists should be positioned at and rotate through various emergency shelter and crisis service centers at key times of the day/week when newly homeless households typically present for services. 3. Financial assistance should be highly targeted through written policies and procedures for payment commitments and distribution (minimum host expectations, limits on amounts, assurance that assistance aids in longer-term housing opportunities). 4. TAC recommends that the CoC provide a system-wide diversion training for direct care practitioners and work to orient diversion and rapid exit services within the front door of all emergency access points. Diversion: Diversion is an intervention designed to assist people in finding immediate alternatives to emergency shelter or prolonged homelessness. Diversion practices rely on: • Skilled staff in mediation and problem solving • Limited, targeted financial assistance to reconnect people with family, friends or other social networks • A change in approach from "How can we get you into shelter " to "How can we find someplace safe for you to stay while you work on your long term housing plans." • A strong coordination across outreach, shelter, housing and other crisis service partners STRATEGIC POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS PAGE 13 May 13, 2019, Joint Work Session – Item 1