Continuum of Care Narrative - Overview
Philadelphia’s
Continuum of Care System began to take shape in the early 1990s as a result of
coordinated action by homeless service providers, government officials, formerly
homeless persons, homeless advocates, religious leaders, the business
community, the local United Way and local foundations. The fundamental components of the Continuum
of Care System are:
C Homelessness prevention services
and activities;
C A system of street outreach and
assessment for determining the needs and conditions of an individual or family
who is homeless;
C Emergency shelters with
appropriate supportive services to help ensure that homeless individuals and
families receive adequate emergency shelter and referral to necessary service
or housing providers;
C Transitional housing with
appropriate supportive services to help those homeless individuals and families
who are not yet prepared to make the transition to permanent supportive housing
and/or independent living;
C Permanent housing, and permanent
supportive housing, to meet the long-term needs of homeless individuals and
families; and,
C A comprehensive array of
supportive services.
The Lead
Entity for the Planning Process
Based on needs
identified and outlined in Philadelphia’s Consolidated Plan, the Continuum of
Care Strategy is developed through a City-wide process involving government
officials, homeless housing / services providers, formerly homeless persons,
homeless advocates, religious leaders, the business community, neighborhood
groups, academia, the local United Way and local foundations. As a result of the large number of
participants within Philadelphia’s Continuum of Care, a lead entity is
necessary to organize, structure and oversee the Planning Process. The lead entity for the Philadelphia
Continuum of Care Process in Year 28 was the Office of Housing and Community
Development (OHCD). OHCD has been
responsible for the McKinney Consolidated Application since 1996 when
the option of a consolidated submission was initially offered to localities.
Philadelphia’s
Continuum of Care Planning Structure
The course of
the most recent phase of the Continuum is molded by three factors: the document “Our Way Home: A Blueprint to
End Homelessness in Philadelphia”; the
legislative consequences of the Sidewalk Behavior Ordinance; and, the opportunities arising due to the
new Mayoral administration. These
components shape the Continuum’s priorities, establish goals within reasonable
time frames, and guide the Continuum through its course of actions.
The
responsibilities of implementing these factors and ensuring further
improvement and coordination within the Continuum is shared by entities
involved in the Planning Structure: the
municipal government; the homeless
housing / services and advocacy communities;
and, the coordinated efforts of past and present coalitions formed to
assist the homeless. History has
repeatedly shown that Philadelphia has made the most progress in combating
homelessness when organizations within the Planning Structure work together in
a collaborative manner toward shared goals.
Primary goals of
the Philadelphia Continuum of Care Planning Structure are: to increase the ability of the Philadelphia
homeless housing / services community to secure funding to support their
efforts; to maintain established,
successful housing and services models for the homeless; to decrease the duplication of
services; and, to encourage solutions
to ending homelessness.
Vision for
Combating Homelessness
The vision for
combating homelessness in Philadelphia as outlined in “The Blueprint” began
through information gathering and consensus building toward a shared aspiration
of:
C Ending homelessness in
Philadelphia, ensuring that every person and family has a safe, decent and
affordable place to live, and a chance to achieve self-esteem as a productive
member of the community.
Specific goals
and strategies have been identified for five major elements of homelessness in
Philadelphia.
1) Homelessness
Prevention - increase the number of persons served by community-based and
other prevention programs; sustain the
success rate of the Community-Based Homelessness Prevention centers, ensuring
that all clients receive a full range of services; decrease the number of persons using the City’s shelter system.
2) Solutions
for Those on the Streets - reduce the number of persons living on the
streets through enhanced street outreach and referral; and local implementation
of the Housing First Model.
3) Shelter
and Services - strengthen front line intake and assessment to maximize
placement into appropriate settings;
cut the recidivism rate for shelter usage; improve basic quality, standards and provision of case management
at all shelters and residences.
4) Housing
- improve the appropriateness of housing placements; increase the number of homeless households receiving permanent
housing assistance and expand the stock of affordable housing for low- and very
low-income households.
5) Employment
- provide job readiness and job placement services to place homeless adults
into jobs or opportunities leading to employment.
The City of Philadelphia supports the development and provision of housing for homeless individuals and families, and has established as its first priority, a strategy to end chronic homelessness by the Year 2010 and the provision of permanent housing for persons/families with behavioral health disabilities (serious mental illness, substance abuse and co-occurring disabilities). The development and provision of transitional housing for homeless households remains the second priority. These priorities support the public / private efforts embraced by the coalitions addressing homeless housing / services needs. Expanding the supply of homeless supported housing units will assist homeless Philadelphians to transition through the City’s Continuum of Care System. The Continuum of Care System supports a variety of supportive services, job development / training and housing resources to enable homeless persons to achieve greater self-sufficiency and self-determination with dignity.