Orange County NC Website
7 <br /> 1 homeless service system (latest gap analysis update from 2019). Orange County has had <br /> 2 proven success with a street outreach program, connecting people living unsheltered with <br /> 3 services and housing, administered by Housing for New Hope -- this program ended when <br /> 4 Housing for New Hope ended work in Orange County in 2016. <br /> 5 <br /> 6 In April 2019, over thirty community stakeholders from the criminal justice system, healthcare, <br /> 7 behavioral health system, and housing came together to participate in the Orange County <br /> 8 Sequential Intercept Mapping Workshop facilitated by the North Carolina Department of Health <br /> 9 and Human Services. A systems intercept map and Final Report were created (SIM Final <br /> 10 Report) and one of the identified community gaps that emerged from this process was the need <br /> 11 to divert people who are high utilizers of the courts, health care, and homelessness systems <br /> 12 from further criminal justice contact. <br /> 13 <br /> 14 At the same time, stakeholders from the criminal justice system including law enforcement, the <br /> 15 District Attorney's office, the Orange County Criminal Justice Resource Department (CJRD), <br /> 16 and criminal justice reform advocates are seeking to expand harm reduction deflection efforts in <br /> 17 Orange County. The current pre-arrest diversion program administered by the CJRD (OC PAD) <br /> 18 allows for law enforcement to divert first-offenders, but the OC PAD Advisory Committee, <br /> 19 District Attorney's Office and all law enforcement chiefs have endorsed proceeding with a plan <br /> 20 to expand to a separate harm reduction track, which would allow for diversion for low level <br /> 21 offenses committed by individuals impacted by behavioral health concerns, homelessness and <br /> 22 prior criminal justice involvement. These high utilizers will be linked to appropriate resources <br /> 23 and will avoid the trauma of arrest, short-term incarceration and justice system involvement. <br /> 24 This harm reduction model of diversion moves away from ineffective punitive models and <br /> 25 unnecessary law enforcement response and increases public safety, enhances stability and <br /> 26 improves public health. <br /> 27 <br /> 28 With the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020, homeless service providers reduced, <br /> 29 changed, and eliminated existing services to comply with social distancing and other response <br /> 30 recommendations. As a result, existing homeless service gaps, including street outreach, have <br /> 31 been exacerbated and deepened. On any given night, there are thirty to forty people living <br /> 32 unsheltered in Orange County. We are seeing these numbers increase during the COVID-19 <br /> 33 response and recovery period. Research shows that street outreach programs that link people <br /> 34 with housing improve health outcomes and positively impact spending in other sections <br /> 35 including healthcare and the criminal justice system. In addition, recent national incidents of <br /> 36 police brutality have led to a new urgency in addressing systemic racism in policing and a <br /> 37 conversation about reinvestment in communities. Increasing therapeutic responses and <br /> 38 deflection from the criminal justice system, where it is safe and appropriate, have been widely <br /> 39 considered an evidence-based best practice for improved outcomes for individuals. Reimagining <br /> 40 law enforcement as one of the conduits for referring people in crisis to behavioral health <br /> 41 treatment experts and peer support is an important example of a reinvestment in impacted <br /> 42 communities. <br /> 43 <br /> 44 In August 2020, the CJRD and Housing Departments were awarded an Emergency Solutions <br /> 45 CARES Act grant in the amount of$256,225.00 for the Street Outreach and Harm Reduction <br /> 46 Program. This one year of funding will support three positions to administer the program, which <br /> 47 is designed to connect people living unsheltered with housing, therapeutic interventions, critical <br /> 48 resources and ongoing peer support and case management. The program will also increase <br /> 49 harm reduction efforts and reduce unnecessary law enforcement response and justice <br /> 50 involvement, where deflection is appropriate. <br /> 51 <br />