Fiscal Year 2004 Proposed Budget

DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES
HOMELESS SERVICES

PROGRAM MISSION: To shelter individuals and families who are homeless in a safe environment and to provide a range of support services to help them achieve increased income and permanent housing.

• Emergency shelter for single adults is provided at the County-owned Residential Program Center (RPC), which contains 44 beds, currently operated through a contract with Volunteers of America (VOA).  The 30-day program is designed to assist individuals to begin addressing personal problems through required participation in case management, to locate permanent housing, and to find jobs through assistance of the Arlington Employment Center.  Persons with disabilities (who may stay more than 30 days) are assisted to achieve income and housing through existing mainstream resources.

• Emergency shelter for battered and homeless women and their families is provided through an agreement with The Arlington Community Temporary Shelter, Inc. (TACTS), which owns and operates two facilities containing a total of 27 beds.  The 30-day shelter and case management programs are designed to protect women and their children from abusive living situations and to assist homeless women and families by helping them develop plans leading to safe, self-sufficient living.

• Transitional shelter is provided through an agreement with the Arlington-Alexandria Coalition for the Homeless, Inc. (AACH), which operates a 50-bed facility in a County-owned building.  The 60-day program provides shelter and case management services to homeless families leading to employment, permanent housing, and achieving self-sufficiency.

• Transitional housing is provided through an agreement with the Arlington-Alexandria Coalition for the Homeless, Inc. (AACH) which operates the Adopt-A-Family Transitional Housing program in scattered site, private apartments for 21 families a year.  The program provides rental subsidy and intensive case management services (funded by a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant) to homeless families with children leading to skills and employment which will result in self-sufficiency. 

• The Emergency Winter Shelter (EWS) is a 40-bed, seasonal winter shelter (November 1 through April 15) in a County-owned building which protects homeless persons who sleep on the street from the effects of life-threatening cold weather.  The shelter is operated through an agreement with the Arlington Street People's Assistance Network. Shelter clients, many of whom have mental illness or substance abuse, are encouraged, but not required, to participate in other County and community services designed to assist them.

SIGNIFICANT BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS:

• Nonprofits increase due to personnel increases for contract staff ($20,951)

• Revenue increases ($14,123) due to Supportive Housing grant and Emergency Shelter grant allocation amounts for FY 2003.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES:

• Current income data is not available.  It is anticipated that a shared data management system will be initiated in FY 2004, and income and other outcome data will be increasingly accessible.

• Percent of persons moving to transitional or permanent housing numbers tends to be higher for shelters serving families because there are more transitional housing slots and other subsidized housing supports for families, although there is increasing competition for available affordable housing.

RPC, TACTS, AACH Objective:  To provide shelter and supportive services to single persons and families leading to transitional or permanent housing and self-sufficiency.

• Utilization rate refers to the average number of beds occupied per night. Utilization rate varies between shelters depending on configuration of bedrooms.  Families are kept together and generally do not share bedrooms with unrelated persons.  This results in unused beds and lower utilization rates in family shelters. Total number served for AACH was lower in FY 2002 because families were served for a longer period of time due to severity of problems and difficulty in finding permanent housing.

• Percent of requests for shelter that are filled is a duplicated count, i.e. the same person calling back will be counted twice, and persons are instructed to call every day until there is an opening.

• Target numbers are based on internal program performance and experience.

Emergency Winter Shelter Objective:  To protect individuals living on the street from life-threatening weather by providing shelter on very cold nights.

• The shelter is designed to draw street persons who may be unwilling to engage in services; therefore, very limited data is collected.

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