Housing and Community Development First (5th) Year Action Plan (2019)

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Apartments opened 32 permanent supportive housing units in October of 2017 and currently all are occupied. Concerted effort and progress has been made to create and address the By Name list as part of the Mayor's Challenge to end veteran homelessness. Monthly meetings of service agencies involved have been occurring with the goal of submitting the Mayor's Challenge memo prior to the end of 2018. ' Helping low-income individuals and families avoid becoming homeless, especially extremely low-income individuals and families and those who are: being discharged from publicly ' funded institutions and systems of care (such as health care facilities, mental health facilities, foster care and other youth facilities, and corrections programs and institutions); or, receiving assistance from public or private agencies that address housing, health, social services, employment, education, or youth needs. Discharge planning within the community continues to be difficult. While hospitals and community mental health centers coordinate plans with emergency shelter facilities, it is still less than ideal for an ' individual released from their care. Additionally, correctional facilities do not coordinate their releases. It is not uncommon for an individual to arrive at a facility with paperwork ordering them into residence when there is no available bed. With the support of IHCDA, the RPC is working with the State Department of Correction and the Department of Child Services to improve coordination of discharge policies. The St.Joseph County RPC developed the following discharge coordination policies for foster care, health care, mental health systems of care, and re-entry from corrections facilities care. Foster Care:The Division of Child Services has a written protocol, and partners with community providers to ensure that youth discharged from foster care are not discharged into the streets. Division of Child Services case managers are responsible for creating individualized plans for each youth being discharged from foster care.They are responsible for case planning and reunification conferences with providers. 1 Health Care: RPC leadership works with area hospitals, clinics, and agencies to serve the needs of individuals that are homeless or are at risk for homelessness.They meet with key hospital staff to discuss opportunities to maximize coordination of services. Future conversations are planned to focus on developing partnerships with RPC agencies to close the housing gap for those who are homeless and have substance use disorders. ' Beacon Health System and St.Joseph Regional Medical Center are the two major medical hospitals in the community. Both have Clinical Social Workers assigned to all inpatient and outpatient areas and are ' accredited by JCAHO, which requires that discharge planning services are provided to all patients. Both hospitals have trained social workers and/or case managers that have protocols in place to assess needs upon admission and develop a plan of care which includes the healthcare team, patient, and family. ' Annual Action Plan 53 2019 OMB Control No:2506-0117(exp.06/30/2018)