Quarterly Case Manager Newsletter

… Homelessness 201 June 20, 2024 The 2024 editions of the Case Manager Newsletter will be geared towards learning more about homelessness. For this newsletter, let’s dive into homeless outreach and engagement. Homeless Outreach Coordinated street outreach that identifies and engages people living in unsheltered locations, such as in cars, parks, abandoned buildings, encampments, and on the streets, plays critical roles within systems for ending homelessness. Effective street outreach reaches people who might not otherwise seek assistance or come to the attention of the homelessness service system and ensures that people’s basic needs are met while supporting them along pathways toward housing stability. The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) created a list of core elements of effective street outreach for communities to assess their current outreach efforts, at both the program- and system-level, and to identify opportunities to build upon and strengthen those efforts within their systemic approaches to ending homelessness, particularly unsheltered homelessness. Click here to read the full article on the "Core Elements of Effective Street Outreach to People Experiencing Homelessness". Homeless Engagement The National Health Care for the Homeless Council shared the following guidance and strategies for building client engagement. Once outreach workers have made initial contact with potential clients, they must build engagement so these individuals are comfortable and well-equipped to access services and resources. Key experts defined client engagement by a few key concepts: a client’s willingness to speak with the outreach worker on an ongoing basis, the client successfully showing up to appointments, and establishing a collaborative relationship in which the outreach worker and client both contribute to mutual goals. Key experts offered several strategies to build client engagement. Relationship-building was said to be key, particularly through building trust, getting to know the personal narrative of individuals, demonstrating empathy and understanding, and establishing an equal, collaborative relationship between clients and outreach workers. Key experts built these relationships by creating a consistent presence at various sites on a regular schedule and always following up and following through with promises. Having a common background, such as a history of addiction or homelessness, was also beneficial to forging these relationships. In terms of an action plan, key experts said to let the client lead. Encouraging the client to set goals, both short- and long-term, was an effective means of increasing engagement. Setting small steps and achieving them built a sense of accomplishment and further inspired client involvement. Key experts emphasized that engagement should be built at the pace and desires of the client, pursuing his or her goals, as opposed to those of the outreach worker. Click here for additional tips from the National Coalition for the Homeless on how to engage with a person experiencing homelessness. Local Street Outreach Efforts One Roof’s Coordinated Entry Street Outreach Team’s mission is to identify, engage, and assist the most vulnerable unsheltered clients in gaining stable, safe, and affordable housing; collaborate with partner agencies to build Continuum of Care capacity; and advocate for just economic, social, and health policies that affect our clients’ ability to thrive and live within dignity.  The Street Outreach Team is a group comprised of three Street Outreach Specialists and a Street Outreach Coordinator. Each Street Outreach Specialist will identify and build rapport with homeless individuals and families living on the streets or in locations not meant for human habitation (e.g. street, car, park, abandoned building, under bridge, bus station, airport, or campground). Outreach performs targeted street outreach to specific populations including youth, families, Veterans, and chronically homeless. The end goal of interacting with people experiencing unsheltered homelessness is to connect them as quickly as possible to partner agencies and resources that lead to permanent housing with the necessary supports needed to transition out of homelessness and remain stably housed. Housing-focused outreach fulfills the goals of traditional outreach through the provision of support for basic health and safety needs, but with a greater emphasis on the need to work with people experiencing unsheltered homelessness to develop and implement a housing plan.  The Street Outreach Team hosts regular collaboration meetings for outreach agencies to come together to form a stronger relationship between agencies working towards ending homelessness, share and explain new and existing resources with each other, and case conference street clients to better serve them and the community. The Outreach Collaboration Meeting meets monthly on every 3rd Thursday. For more information about the Collaboration Meeting or about One Roof's Street Outreach Team, please contact the Street Outreach Coordinator, Daniel Garrett at daniel@oneroofonline.org. National Engagement Strategies   USICH launched community spotlight series on encampments to highlight how communities are implementing promising approaches to humanely and effectively help people move off streets and into homes. Check out the following communities and articles to read the first spotlights in this ongoing series. San Diego County, California:  Integrating Health Care Las Cruces, New Mexico:  Engaging Neighbors and Businesses Hennepin County, Minnesota:  Housing-Focused Outreach Denver, Colorado:  Engaging Encampment Residents in Solutions Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funding and guidance assists in the implementation of coordinated approaches, grounded in Housing-First and public health principles, to reduce the prevalence of unsheltered homelessness and improve services, health outcomes, and housing stability among highly vulnerable individuals and families experiencing unsheltered homelessness. Click here to view unsheltered homelessness resources from HUD which are intended for local government leaders, Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) staff, service providers, people experiencing homelessness, and anyone interested in learning more about unsheltered homelessness and how to best meet the needs of those who are unsheltered.   Additionally, HUD hosted a webinar series that provided an overview of the basics of housing-focused street outreach, highlights communities that are effectively addressing unsheltered homelessness using housing-focused street outreach models and provides clear guidance for shifting the focus of outreach to housing both on the ground and at the system level. Click here to view the Housing-Focused Street Outreach Webinar Series. Let's Learn More Outreach & Enrollment Quick Guide: Promising Strategies for Engaging the Homeless Population -- National Health Care for the Homeless Council The Role of Outreach in an Effective Homeless Response -- National Alliance to End Homelessness Click here to watch the webinar on Effective Street Outreach Materials and information in this newsletter sourced from USICH, NHCHC, and HUD. Submit any newsletter topics or ideas that would be most beneficial to receive to info@oneroofonline.org.

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