Homeless to Homes: Putting an end to homelessness in Cincinnati and Hamilton County

In the fall of 2009, City Council asked for a plan to help us create a new system in which the homeless can move to homes and become productive members of the community. The Homeless to Homes initiative's goal is to insure the highest standards of care for the homeless, while also making sure that new housing facilities for the homeless are good neighbors to the surrounding community.

City Council asked the Cincinnati/Hamilton County Continuum of Care for the Homeless, Inc, (CoC) to take a "blank slate" approach and designing from the ground up a new system that would substantially decrease the number of homeless persons requiring shelter services each night. The CoC delivered the Homeless to Homes Plan to City Council and Mayor Mallory in April, 2009. The CoC came back to City Council with the Homeless to Homes Implementation Report and Update in January 2010.

The new report recommends significant changes aimed at helping homeless people successfully move to appropriate housing, including changes to the emergency shelter system, more transitional and permanent housing options, and new cooperative efforts among funders.

Vice Mayor Qualls discusses her Homeless to Homes Initiative, May 2009

The report recommended:

A higher level of service system-wide to move individuals out of homelessness quickly.
An ambitious increase in transitional and permanent supportive housing, with a workable strategy for its development.
Targeted services, specific to the individual's gender, age, or special needs, with reduced reliance on emergency shelter
Clear accountabilities of and actions for social services agencies, the business community, local government, funders, and homeless people alike for the good of those who are homeless and the whole community

The Homeless to Homes planning process was also the first time in our region that a plan for ending homelessness used the actual data of homeless persons in the community. Participants used real numbers, real ages, and real special needs information early on, and the data became a foundation for the work. Because the plan was created using a “blank slate” problem solving method, it reflects what the steering committee and working subcommittees believe are the best of what could and should happen for homeless single individuals in the community, and incorporated these ideas into specific recommendations.

The plan represents a significant shift in the way our community responds to those who are homeless. The Homeless to Homes Plan responds to the need for a new, comprehensive plan that changes how our community provides homeless housing and services, how homeless individuals are expected to respond, and how public and private funding systems can work cooperatively and with a clear emphasis to support the initiatives of this plan.

From the Homeless to Homes Plan Implementation Report and Update, January 2010

The report was written with the input of all key community stakeholders, including homeless providers, the mental health and substance abuse services providers, the business community, government representatives, funding entities, national and regional experts and others.

City Council accepted the Homeless to Homes Plan and in May 2009 passed an ordinance charging the CoC with establishing a transition team to prioritize the plan’s recommendations and developing an implementation plan. The ordinance also required the CoC to:

Further identify Best Practices and medical services for the homeless, examining the research and looking around the country for agencies and organizations that have service delivery models and programs that achieve notable success so as to ensure the highest standards of care for the homeless in terms of shelter, case management services, medical services, systems coordination, and mental health and recovery services.
Develop Minimum Standards that shelters must then pledge to adhere to receive public funding, with the standards to be developed in a cooperative effort with representatives from existing shelters and surrounding neighborhood representatives.
Develop Minimum Standards for “Good Neighbor Agreements” to which all transitional and permanent supportive housing must adhere to be eligible for public funding.

Read the Implementation Report and Update here.

Read CoC Executive Director Kevin Finn’s May 25, 2010 presentation to Council’s Livable Communities Committee here.

Progress in Homeless to Homes implementation:

In July 2010, the Anna Louise Inn and Cincinnati Union Bethel received $1 million in tax credits from the Ohio Housing Financing Agency for the acquisition and rehabilitation of 85 units of permanent supportive housing for homeless women. Cincinnati Union Bethel and Over-the-Rhine Community Housing will develop the properties.

In June 2010, City Council approved a zoning change that will allow Lighthouse Youth Services to purchase a Corryville building (2522 Highland Avenue) for a 28-bed shelter for homeless youth. Both the Corryville and Mt. Auburn Community Councils support the project, which will allow Lighthouse to better address the needs of the approximately 1,000 homeless youth the agency serves annually.

Also in June 2010, the CoC issued a request for proposals for a new emergency shelter for single women, which is:

Separate from any men’s facility
Has the capacity to house 50-60 women nightly
Accessible through the Central Access Point hotline, but also able to accept emergency walk-ins
Expected to consolidate all women’s emergency shelter beds into one facility, with the exception of the emergency shelter beds for victims of domestic violence beds, and those operated by the Off the Streets program.

A decision and award will be made by August 30, 2010.

The CoC is one of the top-scoring CoC programs in the country. It has a reputation for effective planning, implementation and innovation, with overall outcomes that exceed national expectations. Since 1996, the City and Hamilton County have partnered around the CoC 's efforts to plan and implement a comprehensive, effective service and housing delivery system for the homeless that includes street outreach, individual and family emergency shelters, transitional and permanent housing, and services-only programs.

Download:

Homeless to Homes Motion 10/8/08

Council Ordinance (10/08)

Implementation Ordinance 5/09

Update to Council 5/25/10