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Study Session

Study Session. In recent years, Long Beach has taken significant steps to gather information about its homeless community. Two recent accomplishments have been: The 2003 Homeless Count; The 2003 Homeless Survey. 2003 Homeless Count. Conducted on March 12, 2003;

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Study Session

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  1. Study Session In recent years, Long Beach has taken significant steps to gather information about its homeless community. Two recent accomplishments have been: • The 2003 Homeless Count; • The 2003 Homeless Survey.

  2. 2003 Homeless Count • Conducted on March 12, 2003; • Used a methodology that included the use of an identifier that prevented duplication of homeless persons during the enumeration process; • Included a street-based and service-based one-day point-in-time count.

  3. Street-based Count • Homeless encampments; • Vacant lots; • Parks; • Abandoned buildings; • Other locations that are not homeless encampments; • Streets and sidewalks.

  4. Service-based Count • Shelters; • Transitional housing programs; • Motels/hotels; • Permanent supportive housing programs; • Non-residential homeless programs such as food and clothing programs.

  5. 6,000 Homeless Persons in Long Beach • Significant findings from the count include: • Approximately 6,000 (5,845) adults and children are homeless in Long Beach on a given day. • Comparative findings: • Approximately 80,000 people are homeless in Los Angeles County on a given day; • Approximately 800,000 people are homeless in the United States on a given day.

  6. Long Beach Compared to County of Los Angeles and United States • Significant findings from the count • 24,000 homeless adults and children will be homeless in Long Beach over the course of a year. • Comparative findings: • 254,000 adults and children will be homeless in the County of Los Angeles over the course of a year; • 2.5 and 3.5 million people will be homeless in the United States over the course of a year.

  7. Long Beach Compared toCounty of Los Angeles and United States • Significant findings from the count: • Families represent 44.5% of the homeless population in Long Beach over the course of a year. • Comparative findings: • Families represent up to 43% of the homeless population in the County of Los Angeles over the course of a year; • Families represent approximately 50% of the homeless population in the United States over the course of a year.

  8. Homeless Children • Significant findings from the count: • Children represent 35.4% of the homeless population in Long Beach over the course of a year. • Comparative findings: • Children represent about 30% of the homeless population in the County of Los Angeles over the course of a year; • Children represent about 38% of the homeless population in the United States over the course of a year.

  9. 2003 Homeless Survey • Was conducted during April through July of 2003; • Was designed to collect demographic information as well as assess service needs.

  10. Homeless Survey Questions • Focused on many areas including: • Domestic Violence • Education • Familial Status • Foster Care • Income • Health Care • Length of Time Homeless • Mental Health History • Residency • Substance Abuse History • Veteran Status

  11. Homeless Survey Methods • There were three (3) primary methods of contact: • Interviews with homeless street dwellers; • Interviews with homeless shelter/transitional housing residents; • Homeless persons using non-residential homeless services.

  12. Homeless Survey • The survey instrument was administered by trained interviewers—the survey was not self-administered by homeless persons; • Training interviewers increased the accuracy of answers and interviewers were able to provide useful evaluation information.

  13. Key Findings: Mental Illness • 278 adults representing 27.3% of survey respondents who reported symptoms of mental illness; • 197 adults representing 19.4% of survey respondents have a dual diagnosis—mental illness and current substance abuse.

  14. Key Findings: Substance Abuse • 617 (60.6%) of all survey respondents stated that they were currently using alcohol and/or other drugs.

  15. Nearly 40% (38.3%) of female survey respondents acknowledged that they had experienced domestic violence; More than three-quarters (78.5%) of victims of domestic violence have children compared to 49.7% of the city’s general homeless population. Key Findings: Domestic Violence

  16. 40% had a monthly income of up to $224 or less which is equivalent to less than $3,000 a year; 80% had a monthly income of up to $619 or less which is equivalent to less than $8,000 a year; 90% had a monthly income of up to $809 or less which is equivalent to less than $10,000 a year. Key Findings: Lack of Income

  17. Key Findings: Primary Occupation

  18. Nearly one-third (30.4%) of survey respondents had “persistent” health care needs; Without access to appropriate health care, persistent health care problems go untreated which often impedes a homeless person’s ability to become self-sufficient and maintain independent living. Key Findings: Health Care

  19. 50% (43.3%) of survey respondents were chronically homeless meaning that they were homeless one year or more, and/or several times during the past few years (at least four times in the past three years), and had a disability; 12.2% homeless individuals/families are chronically homeless in Long Beach over the course of a year. Key Findings: Chronic Homelessness

  20. Nearly one out of ten (9.1%) of survey respondents stated that they had been in the foster care system; Nearly one in four (23.7%) survey respondents in foster care became homeless after leaving foster care; 1,198 foster youth in Long Beach exit the foster care system each year and 58% exit into homelessness and, as a result, there may be more homeless youth than what the count and survey data indicate. Key Findings: Foster Care

  21. 3.1% of all survey respondents stated that they were HIV+; Nearly half (43.8%) of the survey respondents who stated that they were HIV+ were living on the streets. Key Findings: HIV/AIDS

  22. Nearly 60% (58.7%) of survey respondents were residents of Long Beach; A survey respondent was considered a resident based upon the following criteria: Respondents had to answer “yes” to the following questions: Are you a resident of Long Beach? Did you first become homeless while living in Long Beach? Key Findings: Residency

  23. Key Findings: Residency • Respondents also had to answer “yes” to one or more of the following questions: • Do you have family who live in Long Beach? • Have you ever worked in Long Beach? • Have you ever attended school in Long Beach?

  24. How Do We Use the Information? • Homeless count and homeless survey findings will serve as a foundation for a “City of Long Beach 10-Year Strategy to End Homelessness”; • The data will provide the City with a baseline of needs and gaps in services for homeless persons and at-risk-to-homelessness persons living in poverty.

  25. What Is A 10-Year Strategy to End Homelessness? • Coordinates a community-based planning process that identifies needs and builds a system of care to address those needs; • Understands that homelessness is not caused merely by a lack of shelter, but involves a variety of underlying, unmet needs—physical, economic, and social;

  26. What Is A 10-Year Strategy to End Homelessness? (con’t) • Supports a community-wide public and private strategy that seeks to implement three (3) major community-coordinated actions: • Building infrastructure; • Strengthening an existing continuum of care system; • Planning for sustainable outcomes.

  27. Who Is Completing A 10-Year Strategy to End Homelessness? • More than 100 cities are currently completing “A 10-Year Strategy to End Homelessness,” according to the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH); • The U. S. Conference of Mayors has recently extended the Bush Administration’s challenge to the 100 largest cities to complete 10-Year Strategies to End Homelessness.

  28. Why Is A 10-Year Strategyto End Homelessness Important? • Several cities that have already completed and are implementing 10-year strategic plans have recognized that their past efforts focused on “managing” homelessness rather than ending it; • These cities have moved into strategic goals and objectives that are both preventing homelessness and ending it.

  29. Why Is A 10-Year Strategyto End Homelessness Important? (con’t) • Preventing homelessness for persons living in poverty (particularly among those who are already clients of other social service systems and public institutions such as hospitals, jails, and foster care); • Developing permanent housing options that improve cost-efficiency and ensure long-term stability; • Improving the availability of affordable housing, creating a livable wage, and necessary support services for people at the lowest end of the economic spectrum;

  30. Why Is A 10-Year Strategyto End Homelessness Important? (con’t) • Collecting accurate data in order to improve system-wide effectiveness in preventing and ending homelessness; • Analyzing data and evaluating outcomes in order to identify the most effective strategies for each subgroup of the homeless population; • Better tracking of outcomes and resource allocation;

  31. Why Is A 10-Year Strategyto End Homelessness Important? (con’t) • Affordable housing retention of 80% or greater; • Cleaner, safer streets within residential, business, and recreational areas; • Significant savings from reduced usage of publicly-funded services (e.g., jails and emergency room services).

  32. How Is This Planning Strategy Different From Past Planning Strategies? It will develop and implement “New Strategy Concepts” • based upon a new federally-supported approach to ending homelessness that is described as “Closing the Front Door” and “Opening the Back Door” to homelessness.

  33. Closing the Front Door • Closing the Front Door to homelessness means preventing individuals/families from becoming homeless; • Current nonprofit service providers successfully help homeless individuals/families obtain and maintain housing; • However, newly housed homeless persons are replaced daily by other individuals/families becoming homeless as part of an often unseen daily cycle of housing displacement.

  34. Residents Living Below the Poverty Threshold • 150,000 residents of Long Beach (one of every three residents) were members of a household whose income was $25,000 a year or less; • 20,000 households, consisting of more than 50,000 residents, had a household income of less than $10,000; • Household income of less than $10,000 is at poverty-level for one-person households and well below poverty-level for two or more person households.

  35. 20,000 Households Are Severely Rent-Burdened • Households with an annual income of $10,000 are severely rent-burdened—the generally accepted standard for housing affordability is that households should not spend more than 30% of their incomes on rent and utilities; • The City of Long Beach Fair Market Rates increased by 10 percent from 2004 to 2005; • In order for a household with an annual income of $10,000 to afford a monthly fair market rent of $1,124 for a modest two-bedroom unit, the household needs to earn at least $40,000 per year or $19.23 per hour.

  36. Fixed Incomes Make Housing “Out Of Reach” For Elderly and Disabled Persons • Persons on fixed incomes, such as elderly and/or disabled persons, often receive an annual amount of $12,000 or less and, as a result, do not have a monthly income adequate to meet the city’s rising housing costs; • In order for a person on a fixed income to afford a monthly fair market rent of $900 for a modest one-bedroom unit, the person needs to receive at least $32,000 per year which is the equivalent of $15.38 per hour.

  37. Opening the Back Door • Opening the Back Door to homelessness means rehousing homeless people/households as quickly as possible by placing them in affordable permanent housing with on-site and/or off-site social services; • People should not spend months and years living on the streets and/or in shelters, due to the lack of affordable housing.

  38. Housing Challenges • Many low income families reside in weekly motels, often considered defacto homeless shelters, which are more expensive on a monthly basis than apartments; • Families are forced to live this way as a result of low wages, poor credit histories, and/or the inability to save enough for move-in expenses; • Many families reside in motels until their money runs out and then reside in shelters as part of a monthly cycle of homelessness.

  39. Chronically Homeless • This population is considered chronically homeless, which is defined as individuals/families that are homeless one year or more and/or several times during a three year period and have a disability; • Most chronically homeless persons are unlikely to generate enough earnings through wages to pay for their housing and non-housing expenses.

  40. Income and Services • They may have some income from wages and/or public benefits (e.g., Social Security - Disability Income which is approximately $700 per month), but require long-term housing subsidization because their disabilities are barriers to full-time employment at a livable wage; • Affordable long-term housing needs to be linked to on-site and/or off-site social services to assist residents with the tools to maintain self-sufficiency.

  41. Plan for Sustainable Outcomes • The 10-Year Strategy to End Homelessness will also be different from past planning strategies because it will plan for sustainable outcomes that will be based on information not available previously: • “The City of Long Beach 2004 Homeless Assessment” which includes data from the 2003 homeless count and survey.

  42. Information Systems • The City has also received funding to implement a Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) which will begin in October of 2004; • The system will enablelocalhomeless service providers to collectively perform a number of activities that have never been done extensively within the City's continuum of care system.

  43. Sustainable Outcome Activities • decreasing duplicative intakes and assessments; • streamlining referrals; • coordinating case management services; • tracking client outcomes; • preparing financial and programmatic reports for funders.

  44. Fiscal and Programmatic Outcomes • This link between fiscal and programmatic accountability will streamline and target funding decisions within the Long Beach Continuum of Care for future years, based on performance objectives and outcomes; • The local Continuum will also set milestones as a city-wide effort to effectively coordinate service provisions and funding allocation to assist homeless clients with rapidly moving from the streets to permanent housing solutions.

  45. Steering Committee • The 10-Year Strategy to End Homelessness will establish a community-wide infrastructure that will include: • a Steering Committee (20 members) • That will be co-chaired by the Mayor and a private sector leader who are committed to ending homelessness in Long Beach; • That will be made-up of a cross-section of other public and private stakeholders committed to ending local homelessness.

  46. Working Group • a Working Group (35 members) • Made-up of many community representatives from government agencies, non-profit agencies, faith-based organizations, neighborhood associations, business associations, community service organizations, homeless and formerly homeless persons, public and private institutions of care, public assistance providers, private foundations, banks and other lending institutions, affordable housing developers and providers, and educational institutions.

  47. Focus Groups • Focus groups (open meetings) • Which will be group interviews conducted by a moderator(s) who will guide several small groups (e.g., health care providers, business operators, faith-community representatives, etc.) into discussing issues related to local homelessness; • Which will share findings and recommendations with the Working Group and Steering Committee and incorporated into the 10-Year strategy.

  48. When Will the 10-Year Strategy to End Homelessness Begin? • The 10-Year Strategy to End Homelessness should begin as soon as possible. • First Steering Committee meeting in January, 2005; • First Working Group meeting in February, 2005; • First Focus Group in February, 2005; • Final Report Presentation to Mayor and City Council in February, 2006.

  49. The following documents can be obtained through the following web site: www.homeless-research.com • The City of Long Beach 2004 Homeless Assessment; • The City of Long Beach 10-Year Strategy to End Homelessness: Summary; • Study Session (Power Point Presentation): The City of Long Beach 10-Year Strategy to End Homelessness.

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