Item A: Workshop on Homelessness

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ATTACHMENT A Other Lane County Indicators The following numbers are estimates from different sources. They may overlap, so they should not be added together to get a total. Eugene is directly impacted by a high percentage of these individuals regardless of their most recent permanent addresses. ? Families with children (includes families fleeing domestic violence) Magnitude: 1,300 households assisted or turned away from emergency shelter annually Womenspace Inc. receives 5,000 domestic violence calls annually ? Youth and children, who are not with their families, or are part of a homeless family Magnitude: 2,158 homeless students in Lane County schools, including 1,019 in Eugene 4J and Bethel Districts. Unaccompanied minors totaled 232 for the 2004-05 school year. Looking Glass counted 1,100 homeless youth in 2005. ? Adults without children living with them. Magnitude: 356 provided with shelter motel assistance annually. 254 individuals either received help or were turned away on the day of the January 2005 one-night count. Womenspace sheltered 60 women without children during 2005. ? Single, chronically homeless, including persons with physical disabilities, chronic mental illness and multiple diagnoses. Magnitude: 280 identified for services annually ? Veterans. Magnitude: VA estimates 4,600 in Lane County Descriptions of Some Homeless Populations Situational vs. Chronic - There is a significant difference between a situational homeless episode where someone becomes homeless due to a new or emerging set of circumstances, and chronic homelessness, which is defined by the federal government as four episodes of homelessness in the last three years, or being homelessness for a year or more. Sometimes situational homelessness can be prevented and substantial anguish and public money saved with early intervention. An isolated financial crisis, such as temporary loss of work due to seasonal lay-offs or extended illness, may prevent a household from being able to afford a rent payment. A one-time assistance payment might avoid eviction and a cascade of long-term problems: a tainted credit report resulting in difficulty locating future housing; children in the household eventually becoming homeless; and subsequently multi-generational homelessness. This scenario, which is all too common, destroys households, and indirectly costs the public many times more than the prevention opportunity. People with situational homelessness often become chronically homeless if their initial crisis isn’t addressed, or if they are unable to remedy the situations that placed them at risk. Multiple diagnosis: With adults and youth an increasingly common challenge is people with multiple diagnoses including psychiatric disabilities such as bi-polar disorders or schizophrenia, developmental disabilities, addictions, and other physical disabilities. Many in this group are chronically homeless, and are incapable of earning enough money to afford local housing.