Community Development Policy Forum

Housing Policy and Community Development

Monday, June 7, 2010
4:00-6:00 p.m.

Cleveland State University

Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs

Glickman-Miller Hall

1717 Euclid Ave

Cleveland, OH 44115

Book Talk and Panel Discussion
in partnership with The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland with David J. Erickson, author of The Housing Policy Revolution: Networks and Neighborhoods and director of the Center for Community Development Investments at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. He also edits the Federal Reserve journal Community Development Investment Review.

Erickson's new book traces the shift in U.S. housing policy from the 1960's-era, federally funded programs to today's collaborative networks of community developers, advocates, local governments, bankers, and property developers, supported by federal tax credits and block grants. Through historical analysis and detailed case studies, he reveals a system that adjusted to a changing political climate and innovated in the delivery of affordable housing.

The response panel of local housing and community development professionals will discuss the impact of this policy shift on the availability and affordability of housing for low-income families and individuals in Northeast Ohio.

Response Panel:
Moderator: Kathryn W. Hexter, Director, Center for Community Planning and Development and Levin College Forum
Kate Monter Durban, Assistant Director, Cleveland Housing Network
John O. Anoliefo, Executive Director, Famicos Foundation
W. Dennis Keating, Professor and Distinguished Scholar, Director, Master of Urban Planning, Design & Development Program

Free and open to the public.
Registration requested at Forum or call 216.523.7330

Brian
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Homeless Hate Crimes Bill Re-Introduced in Ohio

After Cincinnati Attacks, Ohio House Introduces Stronger Penalties

With the multiple attacks these last few months in Cincinnati, the State of Ohio has responded by introducing a bill that would allow prosecutors to increase the penalty for an attack or intimidation of people based on their lack of housing should the attacker be convicted. This is similar to the hate crimes laws in Ohio, and we hope will provide some deterrent to future attacks on those resistant to shelter. This is an extremely vulnerable population that lives without a door or a lock or the security that the rest of the population enjoy. And to have skinheads and young people go out hunting for homeless people justifies the state coming down with tough punishments on these individuals.

As Introduced

128th General Assembly Regular Session 2009-2010

H. B. No. 509

Representatives Murray, Foley

Cosponsors: Representatives Sears, Pillich, Hagan, Walter, Harris, Heard, Williams, B., Domenick, Skindell, Winburn, Fende, Gerberry, Harwood

---

A BILL

To enact section 2927.121 of the Revised Code to create the offense of intimidation of a homeless person.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section 1. That section 2927.121 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 2927.121. (A) As used in this section, "homeless person" means either of the following:

(1) An individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence;

(2) An individual who has a primary nighttime residence that meets any of the following criteria:

(a) A supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations;

(b) An institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized;

(c) A public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.

(B) No person shall violate section 2903.04, 2903.041, 2903.05, 2903.11, 2903.12, 2903.13, 2903.14, 2903.21, 2903.211, 2903.22, 2903.31, 2905.01, 2905.02, 2905.03, 2905.11, 2905.12, 2907.01, 2907.03, 2907.05, 2907.06, 2909.01, 2909.02, 2909.03, 2909.05, 2909.06, 2909.07, 2911.02, 2913.01, 2913.02, or 2917.01 of the Revised Code if the offender commits the violation with the intent to cause harm to any victim of the violation because that victim is a homeless person.

(C) Whoever violates this section is guilty of intimidation of a homeless person. Intimidation of a homeless person is an offense of the next higher degree than the offense the commission of which is a necessary element of intimidation of a homeless person.

We need to get other members to support this legislation and hold a hearing in Columbus on this bill. We will keep you informed.

Brian
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Arthur Price Sr Passes

Hard Working Vendor Joins Wife

We have had to put the Grapevine on hold while we fund raise, and get our own house in order. Arthur Price Sr. was a vendor of the Grapevine for years outside of the West Side Market. He saw many in his family die of cancer including his own mother. He wanted to stay busy so he started selling the paper in his 70s. I guess that he saw a number of relatives retire, and then pass on quickly. Arthur was determined to stay active, and sold the Grapevine through his latest illness in 2009. He passed away last week and his memorial service was Saturday.

Arthur was a stern and gruff old guy similar to many men born in the 1920s. He was hard on many people, but he was a good salesman. He loved working for the Grapevine, and he told me every few weeks that the Grapevine saved his life. He said that it forced him to get up and go outside. He had a purpose and that was to sell papers. He loved meeting people at the Market and loved interacting with the other vendors, the customers, and the WSM workers. Behind his rough exterior, the one soft spot was for his wife. Just as Bernadette Janes described in the 2006 article in the Homeless Grapevine newspaper, Arthur loved his wife, Clarabelle. She passed away in January, and this made it difficult for Arthur. He had moved to hospice care, and could not move around for the last four months.

The family asked the Chaplin from the Hospice Care Center to conduct the service. This was unusual since she had only four months of interaction with Arthur to pull together the ceremony. It worked really well in that she was not deeply emotionally attached to Mr. Price, and had sat with him and talked about what he wanted in the service. So she presented the facts that Arthur wanted to pass on to all of us. She talked about the Grapevine, his family and the love for his wife. She thanked the people that Arthur wanted thanked, and she mentioned that there were a few fragile people within the family that Arthur wanted to make sure were taken care of. The Chaplin was clear that Arthur had joined his wife, and was at peace at this point. It was a very nice service that Cathy, one of our other vendors, attended on behalf of the Homeless Grapevine.

Brian
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Support A Reduction in Family Homelessness

Dear Friend of the Coalition:

Honor your Parents for the Holidays

The fastest growing subpopulation of homeless people in America is families, which typically means a Mother and one to two children. Imagine your own mother having to spend time in a homeless shelter. Imagine trying to figure out how to maintain a job, your child’s schooling, and search for housing while staying in the shelter. It is a miracle if a Mom and a Dad can stay together during a period of homelessness in Cleveland, and please realize that it is extremely difficult to find a shelter bed for a Dad with his children.

The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless is working every day to preserve affordable housing opportunities, expand job opportunities and eliminate civil rights barriers that confront homeless people. We make every effort to work with the City and County and the social service community to reduce the time a family spends homeless in Cleveland. In our recently published State of Homelessness Report we found that:

• The school district reported a 17% increase in children experiencing homelessness in the last year.
• First Call for Help reported a 82% increase in requests for food pantry assistance since 2006.
• The Domestic Violence Center reports a 8% increase in families served between 2008 and 2009.

Today, we introduce an effort to honor the mothers and fathers in our community while improving the services to those families that become homeless. We are asking for your support in an effort to create a Family Street Card directed at parents facing either foreclosure or are danger of becoming homeless. In exchange for a $35 donation, we will post a message on our website honoring a mother or father that you feel deserve to be recognized. We need $2,500 to prepare this Family Street Card, print the card and begin to distribute this one page easy to use resource for families struggling in our community. Currently, we print an East Cleveland Street Card, a general Street Card, and a Veteran’s Street Card. With the explosion in family homelessness over the last four years, and the decline in the number of shelter beds for families over the same period, now more than ever we need a resource to distribute to those families struggling with their housing.

For every donation that we receive, we will memorialize on our website the parent or loved one who worked to raise a child and deserves some public recognition. We will also send a thank you note either to that individual or directly to you for your support of social justice and of families who are struggling with housing. Your tax-deductible donation will allow us to create a new resource for families and at the same time honor the parent in your community who influenced you or demonstrated exemplary behavior in teaching the next generation.

To support this project, you can return the enclosed form or go to our website and donate online. Either click on the “Reduce Family Homelessness” button on the front page of our website or go directly to www.neoch.org/honoring_parents.htm in order to donate. Mark your donation with the phrase “Family Homelessness” in the purpose line. We can send a card to you to recognize your donation or we can send the card directly to your parent or the individual that you want honored, and we will also post a message on our website honoring a parent in our community.

Please help us create a new resource for families and support the Homeless Coalition. As you prepare for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, take a minute to acknowledge someone who has had a tremendous impact on your life.

To donate go to www.neoch.org and click on Family Homelessness!

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Homelessness Around the United States

Local Reports April 2010

National Coalition for the Homeless Met in DC this last Week

Minnesota

Significant growth in homelessness within the State. They are working on a Tenant Bill of Rights in Minnesota— it would cap late fees, require receipts provided by landlord, and guidelines for screening tenants. Applications for an apartment would have to be provided an apartment in the order they were received. Denied for a subjective reason, the tenant would get any fee back. The state is facing massive cuts in emergency assistance.

Miami Florida

Sex offenders going into hotels after the encampment under a freeway overpass was fenced off. Miami held as a model city in the Continuum of Care, but there are issues with budget cuts and expanding populations. Florida house passed the homeless hate crimes legislation. Looks good for passage in the Florida Senate.

Ft. Lauderdale

HPRP not doing well, and much is going to moderate incomes. State has cut homeless funding. Broward cut 50% of their services due to the downturn. Several large shelters have closed. Transitional shelters have had to close. Cut beds, services and hours to deal with budget cuts. Proposal to continue to criminalize homelessness in Ft. Lauderdale and Oakland Park will fine people who give food and money to homeless people. Increasing number of homeless and decreasing number of beds. No programs for the long term homeless. Alternatives to incarceration coalition established to try to reduce prison stays and long term punishments and mandatory minimums. Florida has a huge problem with one of the worst rates of incarceration in the United States.

Indiana

Continued budget cuts and HPRP has supplanted local dollars, and so there are more shelters and services closing locally. The state is defunding shelters, and more attempts to make it illegal to be homeless. Poor use of the HPRP funds for smaller groups especially in the rural communities.

Puerto Rico:

They do a poor job in receiving funding from the United States federal government. Worst managed HOME program in the United States, which has opened the door to greater scrutiny. Feeling threatened over HEARTH act, and attempts by local planning groups that could block grant of all those federal dollars. Have not been able to open an affordable housing project because of local bureaucracies, and while the buildings are done they have not been able to move in and now have become targets for vandalism. New protocol on how homeless people are served in the courts. There is a law that gives the rights to people who find themselves homeless, but it is ignored in the local community. Census told the population that they had to have an address to work for the Census.

Atlanta, GA

Shelter facing foreclosure is in court, and proving that you can operate without funding. Residents of the shelter do a lot more to operate the facility. 99.9% of staff are still hanging around without funds. Local grassroots organizations excluded from Neighborhood Stabilization and HPRP. There is some danger of losing the Foreclosure money (Neighborhood stabilization), which would go back to the Federal government. Massive demolition of public housing, 50% cut to public transportation, and privatization of the last public hospital..

DC

Catholic Church not going to close the shelter over the DC gay marriage issue. Big cuts that resulted in decrease in the number of shelter beds. They have closed the winter shelters for the spring/summer/fall. Family homelessness is increasing. Incidents at the shelters have increased including a death where an individual was turned away and died of exposure on a bench outside of the shelter. They have seen an increase in the incidents between shelters and staff because of the budget cuts.

Little Rock, Arkansas

Coalition is still on life support. Talked to the Mayor of Little Rock, because of city being named one of the meanest cities. Paid homeless coordinator in Little Rock to help. Another Little Rock About 1% of the population is homeless in the state of Arkansas. shelter closed because of a lack of funds.

South Carolina

State does not have any state dollars for homelessness—all dollars are pass through from the federal government. State initiative to require homeless veteran’s a preference over all other populations for a shelter bed and first for services. This did not pass. Defeated an initiative to be able to evict tenants within 15 days without going to court. Magistrate could appear without the tenant and get rid of the tenant. Four police officers arrested for Civil Rights violations in Greenville They have pled out after an investigation by the FBI. State HPRP is not being spent. At the local level it is being allocated at a good pace. Homeless awareness is increasing because of the NCH VISTA program educating the community. One City Administrator in Greenville has indicated a willingness to talk about ending homelessness. This is unusual for a public official in South Carolina. over the beating of a homeless person.

Montana

No more Montana Council for the Homeless by the Governor, and they may switch to become a private non-profit. Statewide HPRP going to the usual suspects. It is given out, but difficult to find in some communities. Information has spread and made a run on many of the programs.

Baltimore, MD

Mayoral transition difficult after the Mayor was forced to resign. She was very good for homeless people despite the scandal. The United Way initiative to end homelessness and continue the 10 year plan is still on track. All HPRP went through the United Way to administer the funds. Money is going out in large numbers.

South Dakota

Major issues in trying to distribute HPRP and lots of complaints with state for changing guidelines periodically. No state money going into local homeless services. Safe home program --32 long term homeless units is the cornerstone of the City’s project and they have now walked away from the program. No local dollars in Souix Falls from City. The City has established a zero tolerance for kids in the shelter to try to get them back into housing quickly. Indian reservations are the hardest hit.

Sacramento, California.

Massive deficit and massive proposed cuts. Hate crimes legislation introduced. Massive cuts to human services at the local level, and huge Continuum of Care cuts. Advocates want a safe ground to organize themselves with temporary structures while they search for housing. They won the lawsuit—got $250,000 to buy back tents and stuff after the police came in and destroyed their camps. Advocates have also registered hundreds of people and did a candidate forum focused on housing and homelessness. Training in May over HEARTH planning for the future. State HPRP is not going out very quickly. Better at the local level and trying to link the employment programs. Religious community organizations are trying to match HPRP funds in Sacramento. Director of Hunger and Homeless Program now including re-entry stuff into their work.

Denver

Sustained a huge budget cut for Health Care for the Homeless fund in order to fill gaps in the state budget. Cut the general assistance funds to single adults. After protests state government had to reverse the GA cuts and they never went into effect. Also advocates convinced them to reinstate the $2 million of the $3 million cuts to Health care for the Homeless. HPRP is given to the state Coalition and there is a match from TANF families. Some agencies are getting the funds out, but others are struggling. No ability to do training. Started construction on a 98 units of affordable housing that will include a work component in which they get homeless people to do the labor on the project then get first preference. Took over the HMIS system, and assure that privacy protections are in place. Colorado Springs has the homeless computer system is contracted to the local sheriff to manage. The State Coalition has told them to stop this or they will no longer have access to the management system or the funds that goes with it. Down the road the health care reform bill that just passed Congress will help our constituents including the leveraging of Medicare resources.

Taken from notes at the National Coalition for the Homeless Board meeting this past weekend April 2010 by Brian Davis

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Tough Year for the Shelters and Homeless Individuals

The Northeast Ohio Coalition for Homeless sent the following letter to Mayor Jackson asking for help with regard to the trauma that the homeless population has gone through over the last year. Our concern is that a great deal has happened, and we have not gathered as a community to address some of these big issues.

Dear Mayor Jackson:

Over the last year, a number of high-profile incidents have deeply traumatized the homeless population of Cleveland. Although there was a great deal of attention in the media on these issues, we have had neither a proper recognition of the seriousness of these incidents, nor a discussion of how to prevent these issues in the future. We were witness to the murder of a shelter director after which there was no investigation, no community-wide discussion, and no after-incident report issued to avoid future violence within the shelters. Questions such as, “How could the discharge procedure or grievance procedure or safety plan be improved to assure that this never happens again?” have yet to be addressed.

Some of the more horrific incidents over the last year include:

1. Nearly a dozen women were killed on Imperial Ave. A few had spent some time in the shelters, while most were homeless and never sought help for their addiction or their lack of housing from the social service providers. Why did these women with addiction issues avoid staying in the shelters in exchange for abuse by a sexually-based offender?
2. The young child who was scalded in an East Side motel had only recently left the shelters. Was she discharged properly and was there anyone within the system representing the best interest of the child? Again, there was no discussion locally about this tragedy; what could we do to avoid this in the future?
3. There were a number of other issues that we have seen including a suicide within the shelter, the loss of limbs because of MRSA or a serious staph infection, improper discharges into the night, and shelter staff defying their own grievance procedures. What can we learn from these incidents to keep residents of the shelter safe in the future?

Although these terrifying issues significantly impacted the shelters and the local residents using them, no government entity has convened any discussion to provide a roadmap for a safer future. It must be said here that most of the shelters are wonderful places and are healthy places for individuals and families experiencing homelessness. There are a few that are not up to the standards of the others. For example, the veteran’s facility on East 152nd St. is a great shelter that is respectful to the veterans population, but has no standard for intake or discharges. Cuyahoga County looked into the death of the toddler in the hotel, and the City looked into the Imperial Ave. murders, but no one has convened a discussion about these incidents and their impact on the shelter system in Cuyahoga County/City of Cleveland. As a homeless advocate, in our opinion, these incidents point to a systemic lack of oversight of the shelters.

We believe that it is time for the City of Cleveland to pass legislation to regulate the shelters. In the City Council elections, 13 elected council members said that they would support a shelter standards bill if it were proposed. We just need one office within the City to oversee these regulations. NEOCH is requesting that the city take the lead in discussing these issues and look at examining these regulations for the shelters. To compare, the residents of the City of Cleveland have a place to go if they need to complain about predatory mortgage brokers, landlords or nursing homes, but on the other hand a resident of the shelter has no where to go to complain. We spend over $30 million dollars per year on shelters and permanent supportive housing programs directed toward homeless people, but we do not have regulations to move these shelters up to a safe level in which we can all be proud. We believe that the shelter standards regulations are the appropriate response to these tragedies within the homeless community.

The shelter standards would address the follow issues:

1. In response to the Imperial Ave. murders, the need for a “wet” shelter in the community to serve those who are actively using and need help with their addictions.
2. In response to the MRSA or staph infections, an infectious disease protocol for shelters.
3. In response to the death of the shelter director, the shelters should have a plan for keeping residents and staff safe that is approved by an outside agency.
4. In response to the East side motel scalding, the shelters should have specific rules for housing children in an effort to keep them safe.
5. To address all of these issues, the City should employ someone to resolve grievances and there should be a client advocate system constructed within the shelters.

All these points and more would be addressed by the passage of the shelter standards bill. Please help us move this legislation forward.

Sincerely,
Brian Davis
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Time to Support the National Housing Trust

Sign on to National Letter Asking Congress to

Fund the National Housing Trust Fund NOW!

Within the span of a week, organizations from every state, DC and Puerto Rico have signed on to the letter - Thank you for your action!

Now, the goal is to get as many signatories as possible, including organizations from all 435 Congressional Districts, in order to urge every Member of Congress to support funding for the National Housing Trust Fund.

Please JOIN the national sign-on letter today. Please make sure every organization in your network or coalition signs on.

Let your Members of Congress know that your organization supports the NHTF and that their support of the NHTF will help your state build and preserve housing for people with the lowest incomes, and create needed jobs.

Please SIGN the letter in this link

Brian

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Rough Year Annual Report

NEOCH Annual Report now Available on our website

What can only be described as the downsizing year, the NEOCH annual report is posted on our website. In the spirit of a downsized year our annual report is only 8 pages long this year. It gives a snapshot of 2009 including finances and programming. We present our two award winners for 2009:

Mike Piepsny of the Cleveland Tenants Organization as the 2009 Advocate of the Year
Michelle Russell as the David Westcott Volunteer of the Year.

The report also details our donors for 2009. Feel free to check it out and tell us what you think.

Brian
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Explaining Housing Programs

Housing 101 by Cleveland Tenants Organization/BTG

For social service, counseling and housing professionals working with the Homeless Prevention Rapid Rehousing Program in Cuyahoga County.

Housing 101: The HPRP Program, a guide for practitioners. Sponsored by the Homeless Service Agency Network, Bridging the Gap, and Cleveland Tenants Organization.

Friday, April 30^th 2010 from 9 am to 12:30 pm. (registration begins 8:30 am).

at Stella Maris auditorium. 1320 Washington Ave Cleveland, OH 44113.

Over the past year Housing 101 has held a series of well received and attended seminars and classes on a wide range of housing issues. This fourth class will concentrate on the new Homeless Prevention and Rapid Rehousing Program, which is one of the largest housing programs aimed at the homeless populations that we have seen in years. We will hear from local experts who are working day to day with the program on the goals of the program, how it operates and how agencies can help their clients benefit from it.

Class Fee: $15

Continuing Education Credits: 3 hours for counselors and social workers.

To register contact: Randy Cunningham at

Bridging the Gap/Cleveland Tenants Organization.

3631 Perkins Ave, Suite 3-A 4

Cleveland, Ohio 44114

216-431-0616 or e-mail btg (at) clevelandtenants dot org

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Portraits of Homeless Residents will be in City Hall next week

Staff at 2100 Lakeside will display the portraits show at the City Hall Rotunda next week. The presentation of the show will be Monday April 19 from 5-7 p.m. with a short overview and talk by staff and residents of the shelter.

I went to the show when it was hung at CSU Levin College, and I urge everyone to go see it. The interesting part of this show that separates from other shows is there is a narrative that Lydia Bailey prepared with each of the images. You get the opportunity to read the story behind the image, and get to know the subjects. Catch the opening and stick around for the City Council meeting at 7 p.m. What a great night--poverty, art, and democracy for free.

Brian
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Legal Assistance Schedule Posted

Where to go for a Street Lawyer?

NEOCH has struggled over the last three years having had to layoff nearly all of our employees and relying more on volunteers and national service members, but one thing that we are proudest is that the community of homeless people have not suffered because of our financial issues. We were able to transfer all of our programs to other social service providers and maintain those services in the community. Our housing program and voice mail system are under the direction of other agencies and are still providing services in the community. We are working on finding funding for the Homeless Grapevine newspaper.

One program staff that we were forced to eliminate in 2009 was the director of Cleveland Homeless Legal Assistance, but with the help of the Metropolitan Bar Association and volunteers from a bunch of local law firms and the Cuyahoga County Law Library we have kept the program in operation. We still have volunteer attorneys going to the shelters and drop in centers and offering legal help. We will also have an intern this summer working on strengthening the program.

The schedule for the Legal Program is on our website now here. If you are homeless and need to discuss non-criminal matters with an attorney, you can go to the Wednesday clinic at the May Dugan Center. If you are staying in the 8 shelters that have a monthly clinic, you can talk to the attorney about a security deposit that you may not have gotten back or a check from an employer that was held. In addition, the Bar still maintains a monthly divorce clinic to teach people how to file for divorce on their own. The lawyer can answer questions about visitation of a child in custody of the County or a child support order. They can help with an expungements or landlord tenant issues for those who are currently homeless or in imminent danger of becoming homeless. This is a wonderful service that serves over 300 people per year.

Brian
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Census Count in Cleveland

Counting Homeless People as Part of the Census

It is an overwhelming task to try to enumerate the population, and it is especially daunting to count the transient populations. NEOCH did a ton of work over the last month to get as many homeless people as possible counted. We met with Census officials on a regular basis, and distributed Census gear to every homeless person who we met. The Census was at all three Stand Downs, and we gave out thousands of fliers.

Overall, I think that they got everyone at the shelters, but the other counts are unlikely to yield any good numbers. The Census officials counted shelters on Monday then soup kitchens on Tuesday and then the outdoor sites on Wednesday. The Census made the last minute decision to categorize transitional shelters as group quarters instead of shelters and so were planning not to count any of those facilities this week. We appealed this to the regional office to ask that they reconsider this decision, since transitional shelters are shelters and were counted in the 2000 Census. By skipping the transitional shelters, we would have a significant under count. They changed their minds about noon on Monday, but officials were not able to get to the transitional shelters until Tuesday or even some on Wednesday. NEOCH called every single shelter three times to make sure that a Census worker had visited their site. We found that four facilities were skipped, and we informed the census employees.

There seemed to be a lack of staff assigned to the homeless count and certainly a lack of clerical staff preparing for the count. It seems that were a lot of people advertising the importance of the Census, but not as many doing the actual count. We did not hear back from anyone else who said that they were missed, so we believe that every shelter was counted. We do not have much information on the second day of the count, when they were doing hot meals and mobile canteens, except that five or six of the homeless drop in/meal programs have Census staff on site for 15 to 20 hours a week to answer questions and encourage people to complete the application.

The last day was very bad and highly questionable as to accuracy. We gave the Census staff a list of all the outdoor sites that we were aware of locally. But it is nearly impossible to find these individuals in one 24 hour period. Basically, the outdoor count was a waste of time. Census staff really wanted to do the count at night, which every one of the professional staff said was a bad idea. We suggested early morning (6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 5 to 8:30 p.m.), but they could not be convinced and went later into the night on Tuesday night. No matter if they have an army of counters, it is just impossible to count homeless people who live outside in 24 hours. So, they drove by a bunch of sites that we had given them, and tried as hard as they could in the dark to count, but this was not a good use of resources or time.

In 2000, only the shelter numbers were released and I am pretty sure that we did a good job in Cleveland with that count. It was a great deal of work trying to get the Census count correct, and most cities don't have an advocacy homeless Coalition to coordinate these activities.

Brian

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State of Homelessness 2009

Worst Economy in Over 50 Years; Only Slight Increase in Homelessness

NEOCH Publishes Report on the 2009 State of Homelessness in Cleveland

In 2009, local unemployment rose to its highest point in a quarter century, hunger increased, and the housing market continued to deteriorate, during that time homelessness rose only by a small amount. The Cleveland Metropolitan School District reported a 17% increase in homeless children as compared to 2008. Foreclosures have remained steady while homelessness in the suburbs increased, which put additional economic pressures on the shelters. There was an increase in calls to the domestic violence hotline, but a decrease in the number of men using the shelter system.

This is just a small sample of the information available in the report recently published by the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless: State of Homelessness 2009. The report includes: statistics on Ohio poverty and homelessness, the demographics of Cleveland shelter residents (72% African American), homeless children within the Cleveland school district (17% increase), the level of shelter funding (a 5% decline), and the calls requesting shelter help to 211 (6% increase). We include usage information for HousingCleveland.org and local eviction numbers (remains steady in 2009); data on single men in Cuyahoga County (a slight decrease) and the resulting impact on area homelessness. The report looks at two new projects in Cuyahoga County: the Central Intake project and the new Homeless Prevention program, which both provide a wealth of data. The report shows in detail the short period of time that most people spend homeless (23% spend a day or less and 75% are homeless for less than a month). We feature, for the first time, data on the population of homeless people who are “doubled up” from MSASS report. The State of Homelessness Report 2009 provides a narrative on the positive trends that improved the state of homelessness in 2009.

The City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County have put in place a rich network of prevention services and emergency services that kept the homeless population at a reasonable level despite this horrible economy. One big improvement that assisted the community last year was the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding that went to rental assistance in 2009. Locally, the Council of Economic Opportunities of Greater Cleveland began distributing rental assistance funds in August, and have since helped nearly 700 households prevent evictions. The community saves thousands per household by keeping people out of shelter and instead providing them services while still housed.

The report discusses the “lost women” in our community who were targeted by a serial killer in 2009, and the need to improve services to those struggling with addictions. Also detailed are a number of “dangerous trends” affecting homelessness in our area that need to be addressed by community leaders. Finally, the report concludes with a list of proposed solutions to reduce homelessness in 2010 and beyond. The report is illustrated with photographs taken by graduates of NEOCH’s photo project, a two-month photography training internship for homeless persons with physical or mental disabilities.

This is the third year that NEOCH has published its State of Homelessness report. NEOCH, an advocacy organization, presents this information as the basis for discussion of the problems facing our community. The report was funded by the St. Luke’s Foundation and the City of Cleveland. The complete report can be found at NEOCH’s website.

Brian

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Annual Awards from NEOCH

NEOCH Recognizes Those Who Forwarded Our Mission




New Board President, Marcia Bufford gives out awards to Michelle Russell as the David Westcott Volunteer of the Year and Michael Piepsny as the NEOCH Advocate of the Year.
The NEOCH Annual Meeting was last night and we had a very nice discussion about the Coalition and our plans for the next year. There was a nice potluck dinner, and we published our 2009 Annual Report as well as our State of Homelessness Report for 2009. We elected a new group of officers, and reviewed the work of the Coalition over the last year. Michelle has volunteered every week for the past year for the Coalition doing development and community organizing work. Mike Piepsny has always worked closely with the Coalition including taking up the Bridging the Gap program, assisting with the Housing Trust Fund committee, and working on an employment program right now. We are sorry that you missed it.

Brian

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Time for the Thank Yous

First Step to Universal Health Care

The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless has always advocated for Universal access to quality health care as one of the solutions to homelessness. We could significantly reduce the homeless population if there was a better health care system including prevention, drug treatment, mental health and management of long term chronic health conditions for those who are poor. The United States took the first step toward this objective on Sunday with the passage of the health care reform bill. This is not what many advocates wanted, but it is a step forward. It is not public health care, but it is certainly better than we have now.

It is time to reach out to your elected officials and thank them for their vote on Sunday. The staff at the local district offices of your Congressional member need to hear some positive words. I have heard that Congressman's Kucinich's staff have had to endure some of the most horrible hate from the callers and visitors over the last week. For those who support health care reform, you should reach out to Congressman Ryan, Fudge, Boccieri, Kaptur, Sutton, and Kucinich to thank them for their courageous vote this weekend. Too often the supporters stay quiet because they are happy with the results or do not have the time, but to provide some balance it is time to thank those who voted for this historic piece of legislation.

Brian
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NEOCH Annual Meeting

2009 NEOCH Annual meeting. Pictured are board members and former staff Josh Kanary.

Release of State of Homelessness and Annual Report

This Thursday at 5:30 p.m. the Board of Trustees of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless invite you to our annual meeting. The meeting is at NEOCH 3631 Perkins Ave. on the third floor. Just press Call 32 to get into the building. All members are invited to attend. We will release our State of Homelessness report for 2009 that features statistics and trends within the community. We also will release our annual report. NEOCH gives out our awards to our volunteer of the year and advocate of the year. We hope that you can attend.

Brian
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Children Who Become Homeless

This image is from the Homeless Grapevine photo class, and shows the image of a Mom caring for her child. The subject of the photo is not related at all to the incident discussed.


Who Do We Represent?

The Plain Dealer announced today a panel that would investigate the death of a homeless toddler earlier this year. Alexandria Hamilton died after being scalded in a motel. Her mother had a number of complaints of neglect and her children had been assigned to foster care in the past. Only a few weeks before the child's death the family stayed in one of the Cleveland shelters. I have no idea about the specifics of this case, but I know that some of the homeless social service providers are concerned that we did not do all we could to protect this child or the Mom. The bottom line is that a homeless child died, and just as the Department of Children and Family Services is conducting a review, the homeless system should conduct a similar review.

It raises bigger issues that we should address to avoid any future problems. It is unlikely that without extraordinary and unusual intervention by a homeless social service could we have changed the outcome in the Hamilton case. But a review of the homeless social service system and its interaction with children may prevent a future death. Government which funds all these services should request a review and make the participation of the homeless services mandatory.

The first confusion that needs to be addressed locally is who does the case worker at the shelter represent--the Mom or the homeless child? For licensed social workers this is clear and they have rules for their interaction with both mother and child, but unfortunately not all the homeless social service providers are social workers. We need to have every shelter clearly define their role when a Mom comes to the shelter, and those guidelines should be posted. At what point will they call the Department of Children and Family Services? See, many Moms avoid the shelter because they think that they will be reported just for taking their child to a shelter. There is also the Catch 22 that we have set up some facilities as absolutely not appropriate for children, but what do we do when every other shelter bed in the community is full? This was a much bigger problem six years ago in Cleveland compared to today, but it is still a problem. If a Mom takes her child to a shelter that is really not appropriate for children, but she has no other choice do we call the child abuse hotline? Is she better risking her child's well being in a car or in a shelter that is overcrowded and has a sizable population of women actively using? From the Mom's perspective since it is unclear at what point a shelter staff member will call the child abuse/neglect hotline, they often risk spending the nights in the car over the unknown of the shelter.

I have personally seen cases in which the mere fact that a Mom cannot provide adequate housing as the basis of a case being opened at Children and Family Services. Once a case is opened there are hearings and monitoring and oversight that takes place to protect the child. These are critical and a vital oversight role for the government to protect innocent victims, but often times poverty, foreclosure, loss of job or a chronic health condition disrupts the housing of a family. The agency has to balance the well being of a child with the economic struggles of a family, and there is no margin for error. This is one of the few instances in which a mistaken unification order or the closing of neglect case that results in the death of an toddler can be easily traced back to the decision of a single government employee. It is hard to hide behind a bureaucracy or rely on a private entity/charity to make these decisions in child abuse/neglect cases. Heads usually roll when a child dies after charges of neglect were overturned. My concern is that it is safer and the easier decision to take the homeless child away from the mother and put them in the custody of the County.

Finally, how do we improve our internal communication system within the shelters to keep in contact with women who leave the shelters with their children? How do we maintain contact with the homeless family after they leave the shelter to make sure that they are not living in a worse environment? Is there a way to assign a child advocate to every family that enters the shelters that will remain in regular contact with those children as they move through the system so that they are constantly moving closer to a stable home? This could prevent any loss of school time, assist with the smooth transition between shelters, or assist with determination of neglect. We have privacy and massive government bureaucracy's to contend with, but if it saves one child's life and reduces the time a kid remains homeless, it will be worth it.

Brian
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Homeless Female Veterans

Interesting Story on ABC News

In case you missed it over the weekend, ABC News did a feature on female veterans who become homeless. The Department of Veterans Affairs and the American Journal of Public Health looked at the extent of homelessness among female veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. They found that women are four times as likely to find themselves homeless as their male counterparts. ABC News interviewed a number of women veterans returning to the states and struggling with childcare, housing and trying to find jobs.

In Cleveland, we have a few outreach workers and Department of Veterans Affairs staff dedicated to serving the needs of female veterans. We also have a few shelter beds in the community purchased by the VA to house women returning from oversees. We have a few family facilities in the community that can offer help. One of the best resources that were developed over the last few years are the Veteran's Housing Vouchers. These are invaluable services to the families of veterans struggling with their housing. We are only limited by the resources to help those veterans who are homeless. The VA has the other pieces in place of job assistance, treatment, outreach, shelter and health care. The missing piece is we do not have enough affordable housing available to these veterans.

Brian
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Don, a Stand Down volunteer who also does speaking engagements for NEOCH is pictured above. The bottom photo shows the crowd toward the beginning of the March 5 at the Cleveland Convention Center. All the red shirted people are volunteers. The Homeless Stand Down could not take place without the hundreds of volunteers. We owe all the volunteers a huge thank you.

Stand Down Details Friday March 5, 2010
Here are some more statistics from the last day of the Stand Down.

Day 3: Friday March 5, 2010 Health Fair

360 guests came through the front doors
409 guests checked in at the front desk.
260 volunteers were present on day three.
36 volunteers who receive services

270 guests enjoyed breakfast

279 guests enjoyed lunch

35 massages were provided

10 Reiki

57 podiatry exams were provided

298 hygiene kits were distributed

5 groups performed live entertainment

7 people were registered to vote

71 social service agencies were available for information

More details soon.

Brian
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Mike Tribble

Another Death Within the Homeless Community

Our good friend from the 2100 Lakeside, Mike Tribble died on Monday while battling cancer. He was fiercely independent, and tried as hard as he could to start a shelter for homeless people on the West Side. It did not work, but he was passionate about homelessness. His memorial is 2 pm. at Boyds on March 13, 2010. He worked for many years at the largest shelter in Ohio. He would do anything to help those struggling with homelessness or addictions. He was always willing to offer a ride or a place or an ear to a guy in need of help.

We had a friend of Mike's submit a reflection. It is called "Farewell Mike"

Once in awhile you come across a person who is the perfect definition of volunteer. We are talking about a person who has no time for the BS, or for people trying to take advantage of the less fortunate. A person who would give his last dollar if he saw that someone else really needed it.

Mike Tribble was such a person.

He used his own money to purchase anything that was needed to complete whatever project he set in his mind. He was a person who, if he saw someone needing to get to the doctor, would provide them with bus fare, or even take them himself, without any question of reimbursement.

Mike never asked anything of anyone except to just ”keep it real” when you came to him for help; he never said a lot but was always watching and seeing who was doing what. He didn’t see white, black, Hispanic; he saw those people that he would be willing to help, and those he would not waste his time on. He could look at any situation and if he could not help you, he would tell you, upfront, that was out of his area. He would take individuals under his arm and try to help them to get their bearings, or if nothing else, just provide someone to talk to. To Mike it didn’t matter what brought you here, it mattered whether you were trying to get yourself out and what he could do to assist you in that goal.

If this world had more people like Mike Tribble it would be a more caring world.

To me this is the day that 2100 Lakeside lost a very big asset, and Independence community lost a very positive role model. You will be missed very much Mike!! But you will live on in those lives that you touched, and were able to help. We will celebrate your time with us!!

Gone but never forgotten!!

Written By David Harmon II with the help of LMM Staff

The Lakeside shelter is divided into six communities and one is the Independence Community in which Tribble worked.

Brian
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