The Innovative Homeless Project began June 15,1995 based on a Federal Grant from HUD to the City Human Services Department. Partners in the Grant included Spokane Neighborhood Homeless Project (SNAP), Women’s Drop In Center (Transitions), and the Community Health Association of Spokane(CHAS). The Grant lasted for 2 years and was extremely successful. The following tasks and outcomes were accomplished during that time.

SHELTERING. 90 additional families including 226 individuals were sheltered during the life of the Grant

EXPANDED CASE MANAGEMENT. A total of 1290 households (2905 individuals) received intensive outreach. Of that total, 449 families (757 individuals) entered one of the Programs for case management services.

DEVELOPMENT OF A STREET OUTREACH PROGRAM. This component of the Project has changed the way the outreach is accomplished in Spokane. The Innovative Street Outreach Program brought together a wide variety of providers (both Partners and others) to systematically "reach out" to families and individuals not only living in shelters, but also in the "rough". Rather than wait for the homeless to visit a provider, teams routinely visit a diversity of locations (including camp grounds, parks, the jail, shelters and the streets) talking with individuals and helping them understand not only where but how best to access additional help. Many of the homeless contacted through this process are uncertain or afraid to seek help. A major part of this process has been to establish a relationship. One of the outcomes of this effort has been a mobilization of the homeless provider community to seek additional and more sensitive care for Spokane’s homeless mentally ill.

A STUDY & POSSIBLE IMPLEMENTATION OF A LOW-DEMAND DROP-IN CENTER FOR THE HOMELESS. In the first year of the Grant, the Project subcontracted to review models for low demand drop-in services across the nation. Based on this study and a review of local conditions, the Project used funds to augment existing services, improving their ability to provide drop-in services.

A STUDY OF THE INFORMATION SYSTEMS CAPACITY OF LOCAL HOMELESS SERVICE PROVIDERS. The information Study was completed in 1995 by a local expert. Based on that Study, Innovative Partners raised an additional $14,000 from Foundation Northwest and US West Foundation. Using the mix of public and private dollars, the Project funded the necessary computers/modems for programs allowing them to link with the various automated products of the Innovative Grant. A total of 14 systems or system upgrades were placed in the Homeless Service Provider community and one central system was purchased for the City Human Services Department to coordinate information.

DEVELOPMENT OF AN AUTOMATED UNIFIED ASSESSMENT TOOL AND RELATED DATA BASE. Through an ongoing design/redesign process, the Partners of the Grant developed and tested an "Outreach Form", "Intake Form", "Closing and Discharge Forms", and an "Adult and Family Assessment Form" The Unified Assessment Tools have been automated and adopted not just by the programs receiving funding through the grant, but also by the Homeless Providers throughout the community. Currently there are 16 different programs who are submitting data routinely to the automated system. This has allowed Spokane to: 1. Identify the unique needs of the homeless within Spokane, 2. Begin to develop a more accurate unduplicated count of the homeless living in Spokane, and 3. Measure our success in meeting our goals and objectives.

DEVELOPMENT OF A SHELTER VACANCY INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE (SPOKANE HOMELESS WEB SITE). Your looking at it! The Innovative Project has been successful in developing a WEB site where professionals as well as homeless individuals can get up-do-date information about homeless services. Professionals can also access information critical to timely referral such as daily shelter vacancies. Currently there is information from over 16 homeless serving programs on the WEB.

OVERVIEW OF PERFORMANCE ON MEASURABLE OBJECTIVES:

The Innovative Project defined a variety of measurable process, utilization, and outcome objectives. The Project not only achieved, but exceeded all implementation and utilization objectives. They were able to perform the activities of the Grant in a timely fashion, and even were able to increase the number of units leased, and the Projects ability to meet objectives related to the Unified Assessment, through matching Grant dollars with additional local and state dollars. Reflecting the successful implementation, the numbers of homeless individuals and families receiving outreach, case management and shelter services exceeded initial projections.

Performance on outcome indicators was more mixed. Finding in this area frequently reflected the overall economic conditions of the Community. While essentially meeting the Residential and Safe Housing objectives (the numbers sheltered initially, the quality of that sheltering, and finally the number who moved to permanent housing), the Partners fell short in the area of employment. 39% (projected 50%) were able to improve their employment or maintain existing employment. However, when coupled with the demands that employment be steady that number dropped to 30%. Partners then added the demand that income meet basic financial needs, the number became 22%. It dropped to a very low 10% when the requirement of employment benefits was finally added.

 

As with housing, performance on self determination issues was much more positive. Outcomes for children generally evidenced the most consistent success. However, issues around health care, especially access to treatment for adults with chronic health problems, and drug/alcohol abuse were less than hoped. Dental care, use of emergency rooms, and resolution of domestic violence issues also fell substantially short of projections.

Finally, throughout the coarse of the Innovative Project, Spokane’s Homeless Coalition (already an active group) solidified its mission and expanded its membership to include not just the "usual providers" but a variety of services critical to the Continuum of Care. New members included: Mental Health Advocates (SAMI), Community Housing Association, City Community Development, Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium, Spokane Housing Authority, Spokane Mental Health Center, The Spokane Family Service Network, Legal Services, Spokane County Health, the VA, County Community Services, RSN Ombudsman and QRT, and Common Ground.

 

A complete copy of the Final Evaluation Report may be had upon request. It includes not only the above information, but also assessment information from the unified intake process, profiles of typical consumers and their response to services, specific outcomes for each objective, and finally a detail description of the challenges identified during the Project.