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Updated on December 5, 2005
Dear Advocates:
Cuyahoga County is in a Housing Crisis!
We need your help to raise housing on the priority list for Cuyahoga County. We need to send your comments to the County Commissioners and urge them to lobby at the state and local level for more funds and preservation activities to address the growing crisis in affordable housing locally. We lost 1,000 units of affordable housing just in the last three years.
I have also enclosed a letter to the Cuyahoga County Commissioners that we are asking you to revise and send to the Commissioners (If you are not an employee of Cuyahoga County.) The County has hired a lobbyist to influence the State budget process. This is a lobbyist for all of the citizens of the county, and we are asking that they put housing on their agenda. We feel that Cuyahoga County needs to be more involved in the affordable housing crisis, and our elected officials and their representatives need to lobby the state to become more involved in affordable housing.
Sincerely,
Brian P. Davis
Executive Director
NEOCH recommended policy regarding Homeless Management Information System in Cuyahoga County
Congress has demanded that cities come up with an unduplicated count of homeless people as part of their Continuum of Care application. This demand must be in place by 2004. In order to accomplish this, OHS has purchased Service Point and is currently testing it with 12 providers. They are trying to get this in place for every homeless social service provider. We believe that this systems goes far beyond the mandate from Congress.
One of the problems is that this data collection does very little to help homeless people. We have always said that as a part of collecting data there must be the development of a better planning mechanism to serve the long term and emergency needs of those living below the federal poverty level. Counting the number of homeless people is nearly impossible, but counting and providing access to homeless people of the number homeless service providers is possible. We also have concerns about the privacy rights of those involved in the submitting data.
The goal of the MIS system should be for homeless people to honestly volunteer information in order to distill accurate demographic and statistical information. This cannot be accomplished if the information collected is not vigorously protected. Homeless people will not volunteer accurate data if there is not some assurances that the data will only be used to provide the best services possible to the individual. Those without stable housing will not provide accurate information or will not use facilities that require identification if that personal data is used by government or other entity without authorization.
The data collected should be released in the form of system background and not personal pathology. For example, "Those involved with the mental health system" instead of "the mentally ill." This reporting within communities will allow the collection of broader data such as eviction rates, move outs, releases from the criminal justice system, reductions in the project based section 8 housing programs. This will allow communities to match demand side problems with supply side interruptions. Without the information about forces that increase the number of homeless people entering the system, the statistics will be used to stigmatize individuals.
Here is the recommendations for NEOCH to support of the HMIS system in Cuyahoga County. These were passed by the NEOCH Board of Trustees in June. These mirror the recommendations from the National Coalition for the Homeless:
All laws governing access to client level data should be applied rigorously to the HMIS systems. Those programs that have licensing requirements that would prohibit participation must be respected. Attorney Gino Scarselli produced a thorough examination of the laws in Ohio regarding privacy for the Coalition.
OHS should provide specific guidance to partners within the community about appropriate procedures and protocols for data collection.
Under no circumstances should the provision of services be a prerequisite or requirement for obtaining services.
OHS should not penalize any service provider that does not complete data on all their program participants.
All data collected will be aggregate data, and will focus on the connections between people experiencing homelessness and the systems that serve those people.
No individually identified data should be shared with anyone (including other social service providers.) There should be no exchange of information about an individual between social service providers. Aggregate data may be utilized to analyze systems. Aggregate data will be available to the public for system analysis.
OHS should provide financial assistance to groups that do not have the ability to construct a data collection system by providing the technology necessary.
Organizations should not be penalized if they financially cannot support an HMIS system for reporting.
Agencies that are found to be denying service to individuals who refuse to participate should have financial penalties assessed. There should be an ability for an individual to file a grievance with Cuyahoga County if their privacy or confidentiality is not protected or if they are forced to participate. Agencies that do not protect confidentiality or privacy should be sanctioned with a monetary penalty.
In reporting on the aggregate data collected, existing data sources should also be accessed including eviction rates, mental health case loads, and other information that would assist in developing a good snapshot of homelessness in Greater Cleveland.
Storage of information must have the highest level of protection from unauthorized access. The storage of information in the mainframe computer must also have a high level of security and protection from unauthorized access.
This data should not be used to establish a local registry of homeless people or exchanged with any branch of law enforcement or the criminal justice system.
As part of the yearly Continuum of Care application process or the Emergency Shelter application, OHS should verify that all participant agencies are abiding by the guidelines and goals of the HMIS system.
I agree with the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless position on local HMIS:
Name:_________________________________________________________
Agency:__________________________________________________________
Address:____________________________________________________________
City:__________________________________State:_______________Zip:_______________
_______NEOCH has the permission to use my agencies name in support of the above position regarding HMIS:
Signature: _______________________________________________________
_______ NEOCH has the permission to use only my name (and not my agency) in support of the above position regarding HMIS:
Signature:_______________________________________________________
Please send or fax back to NEOCH at 216/432-0620.
Homeless People NEED Lockers Available in the Community
It is getting increasingly difficult for homeless people to find a place to store their important documents and even a simple change of clothing. T the lack of storage space for homeless people needs to be raised as a priority in the community. Every shelter faces the problems of people needing space to store their life possessions. We are asking you to assist homeless people in raising this issue as a critical issue for our community leaders to address. Storage space allows people to get jobs, keep important papers to sign up for entitlements, and follow up on housing contacts. Without a birth certificate or even a simple shelter letter it is very difficult to get services. We have seen access to storage decrease because of changes at the largest men’s shelter, and the temporary agencies are now charging for storage of items for homeless people who go to work. We have seen important documents discarded because individuals could not return to pick those items up from various drop in centers. This is a serious barrier to stability that we need to address.
The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, under the direction of homeless activist Tony Gentile, are asking local social service agencies to provide us a letter of support indicating your agreement that Cleveland should focus on this severe need for lockers or storage for homeless people. NEOCH has model letters of support if you need. This is not a letter to support any NEOCH fund raising efforts. NEOCH could not operate a storage program, but we continually hear from homeless people who feel that this is a need in the community. Please call Tony or Brian to get a letter faxed to your office 216/432-0540.
For more specific information call
NEOCH at 216/432-0540
Spring 2004
The state of Ohio has always fallen way behind the curve in serving homeless people. They have never made an investment in serving very low income individuals. They have gutted cash assistance programs and implemented extremely harsh sanctions on families for not being able to cooperate with the bureaucratic machine. They have never addressed predatory lending or temporary labor exploitation. In fact, with prison discharges, mental health discharges to the streets, and the failures in the alcohol and drug system, the State of Ohio might be the largest contributor to the homeless population in existence. NEOCH is asking that for a couple of items for the state to fund in order to address homelessness:
1. The creation of a statewide homeless voice mail system.
2. An evaluation of all discharges from public systems (alcohol, corrections, and mental health facilities), and specific recommendations with appropriate funding to reduce policies that cause homelessness in Ohio.
3. The creation of local housing assistance websites so that homeless people can find help with rental assistance or landlords with vacant affordable units.
4. An improved state hate crimes law so that young people who attack homeless people in the middle of the night with a stun gun will be charged with a felony.
We Need You To: Regularly check the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio website to continue to track state advocacy, and urge state officials to take on our issues
LOCAL
LEVEL:
The City and County have finally agreed to undertake a local planning process to address the affordable housing crisis. This is expected to be complete by the end of the year, and the process will involve a public process. Look to the Coalition to keep you updated about the process and your opportunities to provide input.
In March 2004, the shelter community was at peace. The City of Cleveland is one of the few in the country that guarantees access to shelter for everyone who requests shelter. This has put a huge strain on the entry shelters. The men’s shelter has 400 beds, but now serves 600 people per night. The women’s shelter increased from 70 to 134 beds in the last year, and has 110 women per night. With the opening of the overflow shelter at Aviation High School, and the re-opening of the Bishop Cosgrove Center as a daytime drop in center, there are places for people to be out of the elements on the East and West Side of Cleveland. The overflow has transportation and a very peaceful environment.
The entire men’s shelter system could collapse as early as May 2004, when the overflow is expected to close. This will put at least 150 men back on the street every night. The Salvation Army has publicly stated that they will not accept more than 400 people into the main men’s shelter at 2100 Lakeside. The overflow problem has also created a crisis with the future of the men’s shelter. There are problems with the lease, and tensions are rising between the Salvation Army and the County. There are charges and counter charges and it looks to be heading for a showdown between these two huge organizations. There are budget problems including the demand for a tripling of the Salvation Army budget, charges of dishonesty with the budget, and problems with staffing and food shortages. There needs to be a mediator to step in and try to avert this potential crisis, and time is running out.
The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless’ board of trustees voted last week to give the Homeless Grapevine a deadline of May 10, 2004 to raise funds to preserve the paper. The board of trustees decided to approve a two stage process recovery process to keep the paper viable in Cleveland. The first stage is to settle the outstanding debt issues and the second stage would be to build the capacity for the paper with more vendors and the construction of an advertising program. Without an infusion of dollars, the Grapevine will suspend operations.
The second stage for stabilizing The Grapevine outlined by the Board is to increase vendors, increase advertising and get community groups to partner with the Coalition to assist the vendors. The paper is a hand up, not a hand out, and the NEOCH Board is looking for community support to keep the paper around for another 10 years.
We Need You to: Current advocacy alerts will be placed on this web page, so please keep informed by checking our website. If you would like advocacy alerts sent to you directly, just send an e-mail to neoch@neoch.org, and we will send you regular updates.
The
Homeless Grapevine:
The only paper representing the words and thoughts of homeless people continues to struggle. The paper has just celebrated its 10th Anniversary as "Northeast Ohio's Street Newspaper", and has not found stable funding. We have had to raise the price of the paper to $.25 for the vendors to cover the printing costs. The paper continues to receive recognition on the streets and is supported by the public. We have 15 regular vendors and we train about 8-15 vendors a month. Brian Davis edits and produces the paper, and is on the Executive Committee of the North American Street Newspaper Association. The Homeless Grapevine is an opportunity for pedestrians to get a product back for the money they give to low income people in need of help. This project fully embraces the American work ethic of selling an individual’s words as the pamphleteers did during the American Revolution. The Grapevine is always in need of volunteers and monetary support. Call NEOCH for more information.
Cleveland Advocacy Report Fall 2005
1. Housing Authority Scales Back on Changes: Cleveland’s Section 8 program proposed many dramatic changes in its annual plan in order to save money. After the Coalition and others objected to these changes, they stepped back to more modest changes. NEOCH was happy with the cooperation shown by the Housing Authority.
2. No oversight of the shelters: The emergency shelters in Cleveland were told in 2003 that they could not discharge people to the streets. They were told by the state that they could not break up families by preventing 13 year old or older boys from entering, but we still have reports of this happening. There is still no place in this county for a homeless person to complain. We give out $17 million in public money to shelters and homeless services, and no one provides adequate oversight.
Civil Rights
Cleveland Men's Shelter: Lutheran Metro Ministry took over the shelter in 2005. They have worked on solidifying staff, procedures, and improving the relations with the community. They are adding a trustworthy Clients' Rights Officer and attempting to make other positive steps.
Cleveland Women's Shelter: We are at least talking to the Women’s Shelter. We are trying to resolve the differences in how to manage a shelter between the opinions of homeless women and the staff of the shelter. We have issues with security guards, utilization of the space, severity of the punishments, and commitment by some of the staff. We had a huge dispute with the shelter over the summer, which came down to a lack of oversight and planning.
HMIS: There was a bill HR 2695 introduced in Congress by Gwen Moore of Wisconsin to protect victims of Domestic Violence from the “being inadvertently betrayed to their abusers.” This legislation would require informed consent before entering any information in a publicly funded data management information system.
Panhandling: The City Council at the urging of the Administration passed a horrible piece of legislation during an election year to restrict panhandling in Cleveland. The legislation outlaws “aggressive” solicitation (already illegal), and restricts where people can ask for money. To date 10 people have received tickets for violating the law. We will continue to monitor the legislation and have spoken to lawyers about the legislation.
Housing:
HousingCleveland.org Database Introduced: Bridging the Gap and 2-1-1/First Call for Help unveiled the new database of affordable housing in Cuyahoga County. Housingcleveland.org is a searchable database on vacancies, bedroom size, or neighborhood. The site has a lot of great information and is updated by a company out of North Carolina called Socialserve.com.
Bringing America Home Act re-introduced: This act goes a long way to address the problems with the current McKinney Act legislation. The Bill is HR 4347, and addresses housing, some economic justice issues, and health disparity in the United States.
Mayor Frank Jackson: As a Councilman and Council President Frank Jackson has always had a strong commitment to affordable housing. He has always been a friend to homeless people and to low income people.
Economic Justice:
Community Hiring Hall: They are currently seeking employers to meet the huge number of people looking for work in the community. For those that want to hire a temporary worker can contact 216/241-0530.