Community Shelter Board

2001-2002 Winter Access Plan Evaluation

Prepared by:

Keith McCormish

Consulting Services

May 21, 2002

Table of Contents

1. Overview.................................................................................................. 3

2. Description of the Planning Process........................................................ 4

3. Description of Winter Access Plan.......................................................... 5

4. Data for Winter Access Services............................................................. 8
5. Customer Feedback Summary................................................................. 15
6. Staff Survey Summary............................................................................... 19
7. Costs ........................................................................................................ 21

8. Conclusions and Recommendations........................................................ 22

Appendices

Appendix A: Planning Group Members

Appendix B: Flow Chart for Women’s Services

Appendix C: Flow Chart for Men’s Services

Appendix D: Homeless Women’s Focus Group Complete Results

Appendix E: Homeless Men’s Focus Group Complete Results

Appendix F: Staff Survey Complete Results

Appendix G: 2002 Temperatures, November through March

Appendix H: New Capacity Added to CSB System Since September 2000

1. Overview

This evaluation considers the winter access plan for homeless single men and women in Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio implemented during the winter of 2001-2002. The study was commissioned by the Community Shelter Board (CSB), a non-profit intermediary organization responsible for planning, funding, and evaluating services for homeless persons in the Columbus and Franklin County area. CSB contracts with partner agencies to provide homelessness prevention, shelter, housing, and linkage to community-based resources for homeless persons. The Community Shelter Board allocates $7 million annually to support programs at 15 agencies.

To ensure that shelter was available for single men and women during the high demand period of cold weather in Columbus, CSB, its partner agencies, and mental health and crisis service providers engaged in planning, service development, and service coordination beginning in October of 2001. The winter access plan developed by these groups went into effect on December 1, and continued through March 31, 2002.

This evaluation offers three perspectives on the effectiveness of winter services for homeless persons during 2001-2002:

Data from CSB’s Homeless Management Information System (HMIS);
Satisfaction survey and comments from professionals within the system of care;
Focus group feedback from homeless persons who participated in services.

The survey sent to members of the planning group (excluding CSB staff) also requested feedback on the quality of the planning, communication, and outreach processes coordinated by CSB.

2. Description of the Planning Process

The planning process was initiated by CSB with a survey to agencies in October of 2001, requesting feedback on possible components to meet higher demand in winter. CSB staff met to determine the feasibility of the recommendations, develop a budget for the winter access plan, and generate additional questions regarding operational issues and community relations. CSB scheduled an initial planning meeting with partner agencies November 27^th to discuss the potential components. It was determined that weekly planning meetings of CSB partner agencies providing shelter would be useful to assess needs, report progress, and discuss components. The weekly meetings were scheduled for every Wednesday morning, beginning December 5 and continuing through March.

Partner agencies suggested inviting providers of crisis intervention and mental health services to join in the planning process. The purpose of the meetings was to discuss and trouble-shoot problems with homeless individuals who have mental illness and on-going case management and/or crisis concerns, and help close the gaps in services for these individuals. The “ADAMH” Board (Alcohol, Drug, and Mental Health Board of Franklin County) and several of its provider agencies met with CSB partner agencies in December and January. Methods to improve communication and referrals between shelters and mental health, alcohol and other drug, and crisis intervention service providers were discussed.

A total of 29 persons from 12 agencies participated in the planning process. The agencies involved included:

· ADAMH Board

· Columbus Area Mental Health Center

· Faith Mission

· Friends of the Homeless

· Maryhaven

· Netcare

· North Central Mental Health Services

· Southeast

· Take It To The Streets

· Volunteers of America

· YMCA of Central Ohio

· YWCA of Columbus

3. Description of the Winter Access Plan

CSB and planning meeting participants identified the following components for the winter access plan to meet higher demand and coordinate services for homeless persons:

Components for Existing Shelters

· Overbooking shelters to minimize vacant beds;

· Relaxing admission policies;

· Expanding shelter capacity with “overflow” beds.

· Transportation fund for overflow

New Program Components

· Single agency coordination of overflow from men’s shelters (YMCA);

· Single agency coordination of overflow from women’s shelters (Engagement Center at Maryhaven);

· Additional shelter capacity for men (YMCA rooms, motel space);

· Additional shelter capacity for women (Overflow space at Rebecca’s Place, and the Engagement Center at Maryhaven to accept women who were not intoxicated).

Coordination with ADAMH Board agencies

· Netcare “Reach-Out Worker” program extended transportation to homeless persons who were not intoxicated as needed;

· Improved method of referral to mental health and crisis intervention services (form developed);

· Improved feedback from crisis intervention services regarding outcome and disposition (fax-back process developed);

· Improved communication between shelter supervisors and mental health agency supervisors as needed for additional problem-solving.

Communication and Public Relations

· Community update distributed to over 400 community agencies and service providers outlining plans and including a winter access fact sheet;

· Training and fact sheets provided for Capital Crossroads Downtown Ambassador program;

· Coordination of community support, with press release seeking donations of needed items to shelters involved in winter access plan.

Services for Homeless Men

Planning meeting participants did not feel a temporary winter overflow shelter was needed at the beginning of the planning process. A winter overflow shelter had been used during the previous three winters, and was held as an option if the program components of the winter access plan did not meet demand. Each of the existing men’s shelter providers selected options for increasing capacity to meet demand based upon the ability of their staff and facility to manage more homeless men.

The YMCA of Central Ohio was selected to coordinate services for men’s overflow from shelters for the winter of 2002. The YMCA called all men’s shelters each afternoon to determine the number of beds available. When shelters reached capacity, the YMCA referred men to overflow beds as needed, including seven motel rooms (two men per room), and additional space at the YMCA, including two large rooms with four beds per room. Individual men had a maximum of four nights in either the motels or the YMCA, in order to encourage use of traditional shelters vs. motels. A shuttle service was established to transport men to the Knight’s Inn Motel on Brice Road at night. The shuttle also returned the men to the YMCA in the morning. Some of the men reached their maximum quickly, and the YMCA would call shelters to exchange these men for other shelter users who still had “overflow days” left for motels.

The YMCA case manager would also help homeless men look for permanent housing, jobs, and support services in the community, making referrals as needed. A flow chart describing the overflow process for homeless men is included as Appendix C. Program and service changes adopted for homeless men are indicated on the following chart:

Chart 1: Program and Service Changes—Men’s Winter Access Plan

Men’s Programs	Overbooking procedure	Relaxed admission policy	Overflow beds/ extra capacity	New shelter/motel beds	Additional case management
Faith Mission Downtown shelter	4	4	4
Faith Mission on 8^th Ave. shelter				4
Friends of the Homeless shelter	4	4	4
Maryhaven Engagement Ctr.		4	4
Volunteers of America shelter			4	4
YMCA Overflow	4	4	4	4	4

Services for Homeless Women

Additional emphasis and funding was dedicated to shelter for homeless women during the winter access planning process this year. Existing women’s shelters responded by overbooking, relaxing admission policies, and increasing capacity for overflow. The Engagement Center at Maryhaven agreed to serve as the single agency coordinating overflow for homeless women. The Engagement Center increased women’s shelter beds for overflow and relaxed its admission policy, admitting women who were not intoxicated when needed to meet overflow demand. A flow chart describing the process is included as Appendix D. Program and service changes adopted for homeless women are indicated on the following chart:

Chart 2: Program and Service Changes—Women’s Winter Access Plan

Women’s

Programs

Overbooking procedure

Relaxed admission policy

Overflow beds/ extra capacity

New shelter/motel beds

Additional case management

Faith Mission Nancy’ Place Women’s shelter

Friends of the Homeless Rebecca’s Place shelter