Orange County NC Website
The Board received a report from the Orange County Partnership to End <br /> Homelessness regarding the future provision of emergency homeless shelter services in the <br /> County. <br /> Commissioner Pelissier said last year Commissioner Rich asked to look at the needs <br /> for an emergency shelter, and this was referred to the Partnership to End Homelessness. She <br /> apologized that it has taken longer than expected to respond. She said the request was <br /> made when the partnership was in the middle of revising its plan, and this process could not be <br /> stopped. She said there are also a lot of changes happening at the federal level. She said, in <br /> reality, the partnership has to look at all of the housing needs of all the homeless. She said <br /> the IFC shelter has evolved from an emergency shelter to transitional housing. <br /> Commissioner Pelissier said an evaluation sub-committee and a housing sub- <br /> committee worked on this. She said the question of assessing housing needs is not just about <br /> emergency shelter. She said it involves four types of housing - emergency housing, <br /> transitional housing, permanent supportive housing, and rapid re-housing. <br /> She reviewed the following section of the report <br /> Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness <br /> Homeless Housing Needs Assessment <br /> Definitions of homeless housing types: <br /> • Emergency Shelter: short-term shelter, often up to thirty (30) or sixty (60) days. <br /> • Transitional Housing: long-term shelter providing increased case management and <br /> services, often up to two (2) years. <br /> • Permanent Supportive Housing: rental housing for people who are physically and/or <br /> mentally disabled and homeless and not capable of living independently; supportive services <br /> are provided and tailored to individual needs. <br /> • Rapid Re-Housing (RRH): homeless people are thoroughly assessed and housed in <br /> subsidized and non-subsidized apartments and receive services to help them become self- <br /> reliant; program enrollment can be three (3) months to two (2) years. NOTE: Department of <br /> Housing and Urban Development (HUD) data demonstrates that RRH programs are highly <br /> successful and cost effective for ending homelessness and has determined it to be a best <br /> practice. <br /> Commissioner Pelissier reviewed the findings and recommendations from the report, as <br /> listed below: <br /> Emergency Shelter (ES) <br /> • no beds are needed for families (none currently exist - all IFC ES beds are for individuals) <br /> • there is a surplus of 57 beds for individuals (who need TH, RRH or PSH) <br /> Transitional Housing (TH)/Rapid Re-Housing (RRH) <br /> • there is a surplus of 20 beds for families (who need PSH) <br /> • 38 additional beds are needed for individuals (who are currently on the streets or in ES) <br /> Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) <br /> • 10 additional beds are needed for families (who are currently in ES or TH) <br /> • 47 additional beds are needed for individuals (who are currently on the streets, in ES or in <br /> TH) <br />