Sunday, November 18, 2007
COMMENTARYGetting smarter on homelessness
From the RoundTable blog
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Paula L. Prince
Prince is chairwoman of the Roanoke Valley Alleghany Regional Advisory Council on Homelessness.
Communities across the country face many difficult issues. One such issue is homelessness. Our community, the Roanoke Valley, is no exception. We have individuals and families who while living here become homeless. We also have individuals and families who come here looking for a better life, which might mean looking for a job, a home and possibly other services.
People who find themselves homeless do so for a variety of reasons, ranging from an inability to pay rent or medical bills to being victims of family violence. As the economy worsens, many are finding they are just one setback away from homelessness.
Some lose their jobs because of a car breaking down or losing dependable child care. Others have a family member diagnosed with a major illness that drains the family of financial resources. And when people find themselves homeless, they need more than shelter -- they need a plan and community support to get back on their feet.
Compassion for the homeless is important, but compassion alone is not sufficient. How quickly and efficiently our community responds to homelessness is critical to the future of these people and the economic well-being of our community.
The regional council on homelessness has embraced a federal goal to end homelessness within 10 years. To do so, all organizations combating homelessness must act in unison; the right hand needs to know what the left hand is doing. Coordination of services is achieved in large part though the collection and sharing of data on those who are accessing services. As chairwoman of the Roanoke Valley Alleghany Regional Homelessness Advisory Council, I am pleased to report that our community has a 10-year plan in place and a comprehensive electronic data collection system.
In late 2006, the Council of Community Services launched a Web-based computerized system called the Blue Ridge Homeless Management Information System that links most of the homeless service providers in the Roanoke Valley. The purpose of the HMIS is to develop unduplicated counts of homeless people served, to analyze patterns of use of people entering and exiting the homeless assistance system and to evaluate the effectiveness of the system.
The HMIS has been embraced by most of the homeless shelters as well as those organizations that provide supportive services. To date, the following organizations are participants in the HMIS:
Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare, Blue Ridge Independent Living Center, city of Roanoke Homeless Assistance Team, Roanoke Valley Interfaith Hospitality Network, Salvation Army, Red Shield Lodge, TAP Transitional Living Center, Trust House and YWCA of Roanoke Valley.
While the current list of participants is primarily organizations located in the Roanoke Valley, the goal is to expand the system to include outlying areas. The advisory council has expanded its membership to include representatives from the surrounding communities so we can coordinate and better address the underlying issues of homelessness as a region.
The agencies involved in the HMIS have stepped up to the plate to work together and to streamline services to the homeless population.
This effort not only will provide more effective services to these individuals and families, resulting in their finding permanent housing, but ultimately it also will produce cost savings in management and reporting activities for the agencies.
These organizations should be commended for their efforts, as it has taken additional staff time and effort to incorporate new software and data collection processes into their own systems.
Initial funding for Blue Ridge HMIS came from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The system also is funded in part by the city of Roanoke and United Way of Roanoke Valley, both of which endorse this new way of conducting business in the homeless arena.
So our message is simple: Let's be compassionate, but let's be smart and work together in planning services and accurate data collection on the needs of the homeless population.
By doing so, we will improve the lives of those in need of assistance while also improving the lives of all living in the Roanoke and Alleghany regions.
