Topic

Homeless services

Homeless services+context

Government or private programs serving the homeless, including shelters and skill training.

+resources and best practices

Homeless services+background

Homeless services+definitions

Homelessness refers to the condition and societal category of people who lack fixed housing, usually because they cannot afford a regular, safe, and adequate shelter. The term "homelessness" may also include people whose primary nighttime residence is in a homeless shelter, in an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized, or in a public or private place not designed for use as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings. - Wikipedia at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeless Amy Sample Ward

Homeless services+best practices

National Alliance to End Homelessness
Click here for best practices case studies from around the nation: http://www.endhomelessness.org/content/article/browse/?type=31

A good overview article of the Housing First approach to ending homelessness:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/fixes/

Click here for "A Research Agenda for Ending Homelessness" which "was developed in order to better inform government agencies, philanthropic organizations, and other funders about research questions that will help move policy and practice forward."
http://www.endhomelessness.org/content/article/detail/1671

Amy Sample Ward

The 2009 Annual Report for the 10-Year-Plan to End Homelessness in Portland:

http://www.portlandonline.com/phb/index.cfm?c=38062

Homeless services+issues

OREGON’S HOMELESS YOUTH

a 2006 reprot from the League of Women Voters of Oregon

How many of Oregon’s youth are homeless? Why are they separated from their families? What services are available to them? What more is needed? In 2005, following a local study of homeless youth by the League of Women Voters of the Umpqua Valley, the League of Women Voters of Oregon voted to adopt a statewide study, and this report presents its findings.

http://www.lwvor.org/documents/HomelessYouth2006.htm

Marion County Runaway and Homeless Youth Initiative
Click here to download and read the issue brief or full report on "From Out of the Shadows: shedding light on Oregon's homeless and runaway youth," published in 2005 for the Interim Committee on Health and Human Services.

http://www.co.marion.or.us/CFC/youthdevelopment/runawayhomeless.htm

Portland's Housing for Homeless
Read this article from Knowledgeplex-The Oregonian, August 27, 2007:
http://www.knowledgeplex.org/news/784991.html

ASSESSMENT OF THE MULTNOMAH COUNTY HOMELESS YOUTH CONTINUUM May 8, 2008

MMT commissioned an assessment of Multnomah County's Homeless Youth Services Continuum (which includes Outside In, New Avenues for Youth, and Janus Youth Programs). We hired researcher Kristina Smock to do the assessment. Our main goal was to try to create a working understanding of what the available data says about the work of the continuum since its inception in 1999 and its impact on homeless youth and to provide a baseline assessment and recommendations as the continuum moves forward with a major redesign effort. It was a pretty complicated undertaking but I think the process and resulting report will be very helpful to the County and providers as they embark on the next phase of their work. The report should also be of help to other funders as they look at requests from continuum providers.

ASSESSMENT OF THE MULTNOMAH COUNTY HOMELESS YOUTH CONTINUUM May 8, 2008 (PDF)

2011 Report on Homelessness

NCRP

2011 Report on Homelessness (pdf)

Homeless services+lessons learned

Homelessness Research Institute
"The goals of the Homelessness Research Institute are to build the intellectual capital around solutions to homelessness; connect with researchers across the country to ensure that policymakers, practitioners, and the caring public have the best information about trends in homelessness demographics, research, and emerging solutions; and to engage the media to ensure intelligent reporting on the issue of homelessness."

http://www.endhomelessness.org
1518 K Street NW, Suite 410
Washington, DC 20005
202. 638.1526
naeh@naeh.org

Boston Foundation
Download "Preventing Homelessness and Promoting Housing Stability: A Comparative Analysis" published in 2007. "The report, from the Boston Foundation and the McCormack Graduate School at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, reviewed outcomes for one state-funded prevention program and two foundation-funded prevention programs. Success rates for the foundation-funded programs were 63 percent and 91 percent, while the success rate for the state program was 79 percent. On average it cost from $456 to $1,707 per prevention case, compared with $2,969 for an average individual three-month stay in a shelter and $8,820 for an average family three-month shelter stay."

Homelessness_June07.pdf">Download

Amy Sample Ward

Homeless services+standards in field

The Borgen Project
"The Borgen Project is a nonprofit organization working to
bring U.S. political attention to severe poverty."

http://www.borgenproject.org
P.O. Box 61276
Seattle, WA 98141
info@borgenproject.org

Reviving a Poor Neighborhood for Its Inhabitants

Published: March 23, 2010 By LINDA BAKER for New York Times

PORTLAND, Ore. — To revive a languishing neighborhood, one theory goes, cities should encourage new restaurants, locally owned shops and quality market-rate housing, and the money will follow. In the Old Town/Chinatown district here, however, that model is being turned upside down.

“The R.A.C. will be at an intersection of our education system, transportation system and economic development laboratory,” said Nick Fish, a city commissioner who oversees the Portland Housing Bureau, which works on behalf of low-income residents. “It will be a showcase for the city.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/24/realestate/commercial/24portland.html