10 Year Plan
Executive Summary
Background
On January 17, 2007 a meeting of what was termed the “Central Florida Homeless Visioning Group” was held to discuss the formation of a Central Florida Regional Commission on Homelessness. Facilitated by Robert Stuart – an Orlando City Commissioner as well as Executive Director of the Christian Service Center, a provider of homeless services – the group had representation from Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties as well as the City of Orlando.
The genesis of this gathering could be found in the 2002 Orlando Mayor’s Working Committee on Homelessness – of which Commissioner Stuart was the co-chair with Terry Delahunty – as well as various preceding studies on regional homelessness. These include the June 1999 report Homelessness as a Regional Problem in Central Florida: Analysis and Recommendations conducted by the Florida Institute of Government, College of Health and Public Affairs, University of Central Florida; the September 2005 Homeless Services Mapping Project conducted by the Center for Community Partnerships, College of Health & Human Services, University of Central Florida; and the June 2006 Annual Report on Homelessness Conditions in Florida 2006, by the Florida Department of Children and Families Office on Homelessness.
The Visioning Group continued to have monthly meetings through April 2007 when it finalized plans to form a regional commission on homelessness and set a date for its launch. The structure of the commission would be as follows: a chair, and six members appointed by each of the four jurisdictions. The commission members would be composed of a diverse cross-section of the community, with the majority of the members not necessarily having any material history or experience with homelessness in Central Florida. The commission would be equally funded by Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties and the City of Orlando, and would sunset when it comes back with its recommendations no later than February 2008.
At its launch at the Salvation Army’s downtown Orlando headquarters on June 11, 2007, the commission had as its special guest Philip Mangano, Executive Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. Orange County Mayor Richard Crotty and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer formally launched and charged the Central Florida Regional Commission on Homelessness (the “Commission). The Commission immediately began its work.
The Commission established and focused its work around five main goals
1. Housing - Provide a range of housing opportunities for those who are homeless or at risk of being so.
2. Prevention - Identify critical steps to systemically prevent homelessness.
3. Supportive Systems - Create and strengthen supportive structures, services and systems to meet the needs of the homeless in Central Florida.
4. Healthcare - Strengthen and expand healthcare services available to homeless persons and those at risk of becoming homeless.
5. Implementation - Establish a permanent commission to systemically deal with the issue of homelessness on a regional basis and implement the 10-Year-Plan.
Four committees were formed to address actions necessary to achieve the above goals. The committees accessed local and national experts as necessary and leveraged findings from previous local and national studies; including benchmarking with cities that are ahead of our community in their timeline in developing and implementing their 10-year plans to end homelessness.
Throughout its work, the Commission has certainly seen firsthand with gratitude that Central Florida and its homeless population are blessed to have numerous public and private providers of services to the homeless. These organizations are staffed with individuals who passionately and selflessly dedicate themselves to serving the homeless, many for their entire careers. The Commission’s recommendations are intended to support the gallant efforts of these organizations and individuals and are in no way intended to cast any critical shadow on their invaluable efforts.
The Recommendations of the Commission
As a result of its work, the Commission recognized the necessity of creating a permanent commission and, through its committees, recommends the following twenty-five (25) action steps as the building blocks to systemically address the issue of homelessness in Central Florida. These recommendations should be viewed as a roadmap to jump-start the permanent commission recommended to implement this plan. Further, the Commission recognizes that these recommended action steps will have to be tailored and adapted based upon the further work of the permanent commission and upon the input and cooperation of the communities that will be so essential in their implementation. Details and specific tasks related to these recommended action steps can be found on pages 28 – 54.
Housing
Action Step H-1: Establish a local Homeless Housing Trust to facilitate the generation of housing and housing options for the homeless and the precariously housed.
This Housing Trust would have a board appointed by and be accountable to the permanent commission and would include responsibility for developing a financing and fund raising plan to implement the recommended housing solutions.
Action Step H-2: Implement rapid re-housing of homeless persons within their communities by offering sufficient housing capacity to serve those in need and move them as quickly as possible to independence.
This includes bringing on-line 800 new emergency shelter beds, 1,425 new transitional housing beds and 700 new permanent supportive housing beds to meet current shortfalls.
Action Step H-3: Spearhead the development and availability of affordable housing for the homeless and low income residents of Central Florida.
Action Step H-4: Reduce that prevent the homeless from obtaining housing.
Healthcare
Action Step HC-1: Establish a formal regional homeless health services network to oversee the planning and delivery of health care to the homeless.
Action Step HC-2: Establish and manage a coordinated, cost effective traceable system of health care delivery to the homeless community.
This includes creating full service homeless health care centers in Osceola and Seminole counties (in addition to the existing center in Orange County), including mobile vans and outreach, and the establishment of after hours urgent care services.
Action Step HC-3: Establish and manage a centralized pharmaceutical supply and distribution system for providers of health care services to the homeless.
This includes the establishment of a central repository and building an inventory of low cost and donated pharmaceuticals overseen by volunteer pharmacists.
Action Step HC-4: Broaden mental health and substance abuse services to the homeless to improve availability and reduce recidivism.
Action Step HC-5: Create a system to ensure that each homeless individual has access to a “medical home” for primary care, disease prevention, education and patient accountability.
Action Step HC-6: Increase specialty housing for recent homeless discharges from hospitals and mental health and substance abuse facilities.
This includes doubling the number of detoxification beds and the number beds available for those discharged from treatment facilities and hospitals.
Supportive Systems
Action Step SS-1: Institute a No Wrong Door Homeless Referral Process.
This includes the establishment of a team of highly trained assessment specialists to whom 211 operators can transfer calls related to homelessness or homeless prevention.
Action Step SS-2: Implement Service Point (Homeless Management Information System) as the system-wide tool to facilitate coordination of services to homeless individual and families.
Action Step SS-3: Create a network of a minimum of four 24/7 drop-in centers located in each of the four participating jurisdictions to provide assessment, referral and direct delivery of urgent need services for the homeless.
Services anticipated to be provided include but are not limited to assessment, counseling and case management for substance abuse and mental health, legal services, employment services and personal needs.
Action Step SS-4: Develop transportation resources to assist homeless persons and those at risk of homelessness to return to self-sufficiency.
Action Step SS-5: Develop a comprehensive regional outreach program to unsheltered homeless individuals.
This includes the formation of four multi-disciplinary teams to deliver services to homeless camps and other unsheltered homeless individuals.
Action Step SS-6: Enhance and expand support service programs that produce monitored results.
Action Step SS-7: Develop sufficient supportive services to support implementation of the Housing First model in order to maintain client housing stability and leverage federal funding.
This includes additional case managers to effectively develop solutions, achieve accountability and return homeless individuals at emergency shelters and transitional sites to independence or permanent solutions as quickly as appropriate.
Action Step SS-8: Remove barriers to community reintegration of homeless individuals and families.
This includes the implementation of a Regional Homeless Court to facilitate the disposition of minor criminal charges in a manner consistent with the goal of returning homeless individuals to independence as a part of a case management solution.
Prevention/Self-Sufficiency
Action Step P-1: Enhance educational, job training and employment-related options for at-risk and homeless individuals and families and develop employment opportunities for self-sufficiency.
This includes the establishment of a Homeless Employment Collaborative to develop one-stop employment and career centers for the homeless to be located at the proposed 24/7 homeless assessment and drop-in centers.
Action Step P-2: Ensure that all at-risk individuals for homelessness have a housing plan upon release from jails or correctional facilities.
This includes development of a Veterans Reintegration Program that will ensure that all veterans are receiving appropriate benefits and programs and assisting veterans in attaining such.
Action Step P-3: Ensure that all children in foster care programs have a housing and employment plan upon reaching the age of majority.
Action Step P-4: Ensure that all individuals at-risk for homelessness have a housing plan upon release from substance abuse and mental health acute care settings.
Action Step P-5: Ensure that all individuals at-risk for homelessness have a housing plan upon release from hospitals.
Action Step P-6: Create a Family Homeless Prevention Assistance Program to reduce the move into homelessness of at-risk individuals who are subject to eviction or foreclosure proceedings.
This includes establishing a significant homeless prevention fund for limited and temporary rental and utility assistance for individuals who are facing eviction due to unexpected and temporary conditions, preventing these individuals from entering the homeless system.
Action Step P-7: Provide homeless individuals with opportunities for reunification with existing family members.
