The Leadership to End Homelessness Audio Conference Seriesis a monthly series of national conference calls focusing on the leading strategies that states, local jurisdictions, and nonprofit organizations have employed to end homelessness. The series is sponsored by the Council of State Community Development Agencies, the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the National Council of State Housing Agencies, the National League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Implications of the Family Homelessness Study in New York City

The December call focused on implications of research findings from a study of family homelessness in New York City. A new study on family homelessness in New York City was recently completed by the Vera Institute for Justice under contract with New York City's Department of Homeless Service (DHS) that provides a picture of the pathways families take before entering shelter. The study highlights the characteristics of families that are most vulnerable to entering shelter and those most likely to have subsequent episodes of homelessness. The presenters were Mary Ann Schretzman, Deputy Commissioner for Policy and Planning and Jay Bainbridge, Assistant Commissioner for Research and Planning, both of the New York City Department of Homeless Services (DHS). They provided an overview of provocative findings, lessons learned about opportunities to intervene to prevent family homelessness and New York City's plans to put research into practice.

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Responding to Substance Abuse in Homeless Families

The November call highlighted how two programs in San Francisco respond to substance abuse issues in homeless families in their programs, using harm reduction strategies. Providers actively seek to maintain families in housing, minimize the effects of substance abuse on parents, children and their communities and help promote parents’ efforts to recover from addiction. Nella Goncalves of Catholic Charities CYO and Beth Stokes of Hamilton Family Center provided an overview of how their programs are responding to families with substance abuse disorders while also promoting stable housing outcomes.

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Using HMIS for Planning

Good data is essential for communities to plan to end homelessness, to evaluate programs and to allocate resources efficiently. A Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) is an indispensable tool for communities seeking to end homelessness. This audio conference featured Rob Hess, Director of Adult Services in the city of Philadelphia, who discussed how Philadelphia uses HMIS for planning and monitoring the success of the city’s homeless services.

Audio Files

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Q & A  
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A Full Continuum of Housing Options for Homeless Youth

The September Leadership to End Homelessness audio conference focused on the unique set of housing challenges facing homeless youth. Stable housing for youth who are homeless should be designed to prepare youth to succeed in future independent housing. The audio conference identified ten essential program elements and described a full continuum of housing options to prevent and end youth homelessness. A new publication, Ten Essential Program Elements for Ending Youth Homelessness, developed by the National Partnership to End Youth Homelessness, was introduced

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Q & A  
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Critical Role of Collaboration: Connecting Law Enforcement With the Homeless Community

The audio conference highlighted the Cities of Boston and Philadelphia and their recent and past successes connecting law enforcement with the homeless community. Jim Greene is the Director of the Emergency Shelter Commission for the City of Boston. For more than a decade high ranking Boston Police officers from the city’s downtown area have met monthly with homeless advocates and service providers, as the Area A1 Homeless Task Force, to discuss productive and effective ways that law enforcement can work with the homeless community. Rob Hess, Deputy Managing Director for Special Needs Housing for the City of Philadelphia will speak about the city’s efforts to de-criminalize law enforcement interventions and how the city is building stronger provisions for police to work with homeless outreach teams.

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"How Tos" of Base Closure

The July call was held jointly with the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty’s Legal Strategies to End Homelessness Audio Training Series and focused on the “how tos” of Base Closure and acquiring surplus property for services to people who are homeless.  The audio conference focused on what to anticipate as Congress finalizes the base closure decisions and how to participate in the base closure process to maximize the benefit to homeless Americans. Rebecca Troth, Legal Director at the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, introduced participants to the 1994 Base Closure Act and a homeless service provider who uses base closure property discussed how the organization participated in and used property awarded through the base closure process.

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Housing for People with AIDS

The June call in the series featured Peter’s Retreat, an AIDS housing program in Hartford, Connecticut. Peter's Retreat is a 26-bed group home that opened in 1994 as a shared residence and support program for adults living with an HIV/AIDS diagnosis who would otherwise be homeless. Clients come to Peter's Retreat in various stages of physical illness. In addition to a safe place to call home and 24-hour a day staff supervision, services include nutritional meals, AIDS education and medication management, individual counseling, family counseling and case management, support groups, transportation and recreation. The goal of Peter's Retreat is to support the efforts of each resident in leading a healthier life.

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Q & A  
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Rapid Rehousing In Rural Areas

Patrice O'Leary and Nancy Hirschenberger of Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, Crow Wing, Morrison & Todd County gave an overview of how their agency is providing Housing First services in rural communities. Because the area they serve has no emergency shelter system, the agency has long focused on helping the "hidden homeless" re-access housing as rapidly as possible. Kay Moshier McDivitt of Tabor Community Services in Lancaster, Pennsylvania discussed her agency's unique partnership with a faith-based organization, Homes of Hope, to provide Housing First services. Homes of Hope provides scattered site housing that functions as a emergency shelter system for rural families and Tabor provides intensive case management services and housing search assistance to help families quickly re-access and then sustain housing.

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Child Welfare Strategies to End Homelessness

This April Leadership to End Homelessness Audio Conference Series focused on an innovative housing program in Connecticut that serves families involved with the child welfare system. Betsy Cronin of The Connection Inc. and Stacey Gerber of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families will speak about the Supportive Housing for Families Program, which provides permanent affordable housing with supportive services to families in order to prevent and end family separation and homelessness. In addition, Shay Bilchik, President and CEO of the Child Welfare League of America, presented a national picture of how child welfare agencies can stabilize families by addressing their housing needs.

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Q & A
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Substance Abuse and Housing

The March audio conference focused on substance abuse and housing. Specifically, the call highlighted the innovative work of Central City Concern (CCC) in Portland, Oregon. CCC works in three broad areas: health and recovery services, housing and residential services and employment. It uses the “no wrong door” approach. CCC owns or operates 1,300 units of housing, which mostly serve people recovering from addiction. Richard Harris, the group's Executive Director, discussed the housing and substance abuse programs that have made CCC a national leader in ending homelessness for people with addictions.

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Ending Homelessness Through Employment

The February audio conference focused on ending homelessness through employment. The featured speaker was Gillian Jesty, Director of Employment Services at the Friends of the Shattuck Shelter in Boston, Massachusetts, who described the innovative work and partnerships of IMPACT Employment Services – a nonprofit “best practice” that provides comprehensive employment services and other intensive support to people experiencing homelessness and people leaving prison who are at risk of becoming homeless.

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Massachusetts’ Response to Family Homelessness

The January Leadership to End Homelessness Audio Conference featured the Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA), John Wagner, who described how his department shifted its response to family homelessness from heavy reliance on motels to an approach that centers on moving families back into housing more rapidly. Determining that putting families in motels when shelters were full was unsustainable, DTA implemented a series of changes and, within one year, ended its reliance on motels. With the substantial cost savings, DTA has invested in new initiatives to foster progress in ending family homelessness, which are described during the call. More information about Massachusetts’s efforts can be viewed online at: www.endhomelessness.org/audio/2005/MADTA.pdf

Audio Files

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Q & A  
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The Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH) program is pleased to provide access to this program about services to persons who experience homelessness, many of whom have serious mental illnesses.  However, the views, opinions and content of these presentations, its host organization, or sponsors do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or policies of CMHS, SAMHSA, or DHHS.