NEOCH Board Against Time Limited Shelters

Coalition Board Supports Homeless Congress

The NEOCH Board of Trustees at our February 21, 2008 meeting endorsed the policy statement passed by the Homeless Congress with regard to time limited shelters. That statement as passed by the Congress is:

There is a movement within the City and County to limit the time that a homeless person can stay at the publicly funded shelters in Cleveland. At this point, the two entry shelters, 2100 Lakeside Men’s Shelter and the Community Women’s Shelter, do not have a time limit on the length of stay. Every other shelter in the community has a time limit for length of stay. The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless does not support the expansion of the time limits to include the two entry shelters. This policy statement came from the Homeless Congress who adopted this position at their January 2008 meeting. The Congress takes positions on issues in the community only if every member gathered at the monthly meeting agrees. NEOCH agreed at the February 2008 meeting to endorse the position of the Congress with regard to their opposition to time limits on the length of stay at the shelters. Congress and the Coalition Board members believe that until those who fund the shelters figure out how to pay for housing for people with a sexually based offense, a criminal background, chronic behavioral health conditions, and/or a substantial personal debt then it does not make sense to limit the time a person can stay in the shelters. Congress and NEOCH Board members are concerned that there are so many people who have huge barriers to stable housing that a time limit will only increase the number of people sleeping outside. We recommended that government officials work on increasing the supply of housing available for those re-entering from a corrections facility, those with huge debt problems, and those with an addiction instead of spending time on policies that will harm the homeless community.

NEOCH Board of Trustees
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.