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<br />Chronic Homelessness In Boulder County
<br />Chronically Homeless persons living in Boulder County include
<br />individual adults (age 25 and older), transition age youth age
<br />18 — 24 living on their own, and families. This report is focused
<br />on exploring solutions to the need for housing of individual
<br />adults age 25 and older, although CSI has collected data and
<br />will also provide some potential suggested solutions for
<br />chronically homeless youth, and families. All three groups of
<br />residents have a need for more stable housing opportunities
<br />throughout Boulder County.
<br />The number of homeless residents can be challenging to
<br />determine. Without a permanent address, many persons
<br />experiencing homelessness live in the shadows, in shelters, in
<br />cars, on friend's couches, or outside. There are a number of
<br />ways that agencies serving Boulder County's homeless population
<br />count persons experiencing homelessness and identify the needs
<br />and characteristics of these residents.
<br />The annual Point -in -Time count is conducted throughout the
<br />Metro Denver area on one January night yearly and is overseen
<br />by the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative. A count specific to
<br />Boulder County is overseen by local homeless providers and
<br />advocates. The Point -in -Time is meant to provide an annual
<br />snapshot of persons experiencing homelessness. The numbers
<br />are dynamic, and change annually with population trends and
<br />changes in the housing market. People are counted at shelters,
<br />at homeless agencies throughout the County when they come
<br />to access services, and throughout the day in parks, parking lots,
<br />soup kitchens, day shelters, and wherever else local agencies
<br />know to find homeless individuals and families. In January of
<br />2015, there were 117 chronically homeless persons counted
<br />throughout Boulder County. In the past four years, there has
<br />been an average of 108 chronically homeless persons counted
<br />ted in the annual PIT in Boulder County. These individuals
<br />represent 18% of the homeless persons counted in Boulder
<br />County in 2015.
<br />Chronically Homeless Persons Counted
<br />Boulder County, 2010 — 2015 Point in Time
<br />2012
<br />89
<br />2013
<br />101
<br />2014
<br />125
<br />2015
<br />117
<br />Many homeless providers express concern that the Point -in -
<br />Time undercounts the true number of homeless persons in any
<br />community. In addition, the HEARTH Act and federal reg-
<br />ulations require communities to develop a mechanism for
<br />common assessment and coordinated access to homeless services.
<br />The need for a practical, evidence -informed system to satisfy
<br />federal regulations while quickly implementing an effective
<br />approach to access and assessment, has led the Denver Metro
<br />Homeless Initiative and many other Continuum of Care's
<br />nation-wide to adopt the Vulnerability Index -Service Prioriti-
<br />zation and Decision Assistance Tool (VI-SPDAT).
<br />The VI-SPDAT tool combined two widely used existing as-
<br />sessments, the Vulnerability Index street outreach tool which
<br />helps determine the chronicity and medical vulnerability of
<br />homeless individuals, and the Service Prioritization Decision
<br />Assistance Tool (SPDAT), an intake and case management tool
<br />that helps service providers allocate resources in a logical, tar-
<br />geted way. The individuals and households most in need of
<br />services and housing can be more quickly placed with provid-
<br />ers able to serve them using the VI-SPDAT system. The tool
<br />is meant to determine the best type of support and housing
<br />intervention for an individual by relying on three categories of
<br />recommendation: permanent supportive housing, rapid re -hous-
<br />ing, and affordable housing. Therefore, results from the index
<br />can be used to estimate the need for permanent supportive
<br />housing in Boulder County.
<br />Many Boulder homeless providers are using the VI-SPDAT
<br />tool in conjunction with the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative
<br />(MDHI) Continuum of Care, in which they are participants.
<br />However, not all agencies use this tool, and it is currently not
<br />used for homeless youth (a youth VI-SPDAT is currently being
<br />piloted in Boulder County). Still, the tool gives the most ac-
<br />curate estimate of the total number of chronically homeless
<br />persons in need of Permanent Supportive Housing in Boulder
<br />County. According to MDHI and homeless providers, indi-
<br />viduals with a VI-SPDAT score of 10 or more on the assessment,
<br />who are not housed, are those in need of a PSH unit. In Boulder
<br />County in April of 2016, that number was 225 households.
<br />Homeless providers agree that the score of 10 or more screens
<br />out some individuals and households who could use Permanent
<br />Supportive Housing because scoring criteria are so stringent
<br />that some that meet the HUD definition of chronically home-
<br />less do not meet the VI-SDAT definition of chronically home-
<br />less. Still, agencies agree that the estimate of 225 is better than
<br />the PIT count estimate or any other "count" of chronically
<br />homeless individuals.
<br />In Boulder County, local homeless providers and Boulder County
<br />have developed their own coordinated entry system to best and
<br />most quickly place homeless individuals and households with
<br />the appropriate services and housing available to them. The
<br />Boulder County Community Housing Resource Panel (CHRP
<br />or "The Panel"), accepts referrals of homeless or marginally
<br />housed individuals and families from a network of seven com-
<br />munity partners and two school districts. In 2015, the Panel
<br />screened approximately 400 households for eligibility and re-
<br />sources. Referring agencies include homeless providers serving
<br />various populations working throughout the county, child pro-
<br />tective services, domestic violence providers, the criminal justice
<br />system, mental health and community health providers, the
<br />County, and others. The Panel recently completed an estimate
<br />of the number of applicants who would meet the definition of
<br />needing a Permanent Supportive Housing Unit, and not other
<br />more appropriate housing solutions. Agency staff estimate that
<br />20 — 25% of those screened, or 10 per month (120 per year),
<br />would be referred to Permanent Supportive Housing if it was
<br />available.
<br />Another coordinating group in Boulder County working with
<br />chronically homeless individuals is the C4, or the Complex
<br />Client Community Collaboration, made up of Clinica Family
<br />Health and other agencies, emergency room behavioral health
<br />staff, staff from mental health agencies, Bridge House, Boulder
<br />Shelter, the jail and detox, and approximately 17 total homeless
<br />service agencies. This group estimates that there are 50 known
<br />homeless individuals considered a "High Utilizer Group"
<br />who would benefit from permanent supportive housing, of these,
<br />40 are included in the VI-SPDAT estimate of 225.
<br />The Boulder Outreach for Homeless Overflow day shelter had
<br />19 people who had more than 20 visits to the day shelter in
<br />January of 2016. They have 120 —130 per night in their emer-
<br />gency warming shelter during the winter months, 30 — 40 single
<br />men and women in their resident shelter, which is open all year,
<br />and 60 qualified chronically homeless individuals in their
<br />residency program who could benefit from Permanent Sup-
<br />portive Housing. Bridge House, which operates the Resource
<br />Center in Boulder, and acts as a one stop service center for
<br />homeless persons needing assistance, refers approximately 10
<br />persons to the VI-SPDAT system to access homeless and
<br />permanent supportive housing per month. Clients of both
<br />programs should be reflected in the VI-SPDAT estimate of
<br />demand for PSH.
<br />The Veteran's Administration works with the Boulder County
<br />Housing Authority to support the VASH veteran tenant based
<br />voucher program. The VA has provided 60 vouchers to the
<br />Housing Authority, 58 of which were being utilized in April
<br />of 2016, and two which are being re -issued to new veterans.
<br />There is a waiting list of three veterans for vouchers. The program
<br />provides rental subsidy to homeless veterans using the Housing
<br />First model, and intensive case management and services are
<br />provided by trained VA staff. Currently, there are two social
<br />workers who support the 60 VASH voucher holders. VA staff
<br />indicates that they have been successful finding units for their
<br />clients, and often an estimated 20 are housed within Boulder
<br />County Housing Authority properties. The VA does have some
<br />voucher holders being displaced at properties that no longer
<br />take rental assistance vouchers, due to rising private market
<br />rents and low vacancies. The program is successful in large part
<br />due to the ability of the VA to provide intensive case manage-
<br />ment and mental health services to the veteran residents.
<br />Homeless persons being served by local agencies using HUD
<br />homeless funds must report the characteristics of those served
<br />through the HMIS data system. CSI obtained HMIS data for
<br />2015 that included all chronically homeless persons being served
<br />by these agencies in Boulder County. While this data set has
<br />more personal detail than others, it leaves out many homeless
<br />individuals and households who have not accessed HUD as-
<br />sistance, either because the agency assisting them does not use
<br />these assistance types, or they have not sought help at one of
<br />these agencies.
<br />In 2015, there were 95 chronically homeless individuals entered
<br />into the HMIS system who were served in Boulder County.
<br />Seven of these individuals were living at Lee Hill, the Perma-
<br />nent Supportive Housing project located in Boulder. Therefore,
<br />there were 88 without a permanent housing solution. Some
<br />were receiving assistance through rapid re -housing or transi-
<br />tional housing and were not on the street or unhoused any more.
<br />Most had been living in places not meant for habitation, hotels,
<br />or came out of jail before being served.
<br />The total number of households in need of a Permanent Sup-
<br />portive Housing solution in Boulder County is at least 225, and
<br />most likely higher.
<br />Chronically Homeless Unmet Need Estimate Recap
<br />High Utilizer
<br />50
<br />HMIS
<br />88
<br />Panel
<br />120
<br />PIT
<br />117
<br />VI-SPDAT
<br />225
<br />High Utilizers are
<br />individuals who are often
<br />seen in the judicial system,
<br />emergency room, by
<br />mental health providers or
<br />others, most likely hardest
<br />to serve chronically
<br />homeless
<br />Individuals identified as
<br />Chronically homeless in
<br />the HMIS system are
<br />being served by some
<br />Boulder County
<br />homeless providers
<br />Chronically
<br />homeless
<br />households referred
<br />by most homeless
<br />providers to the
<br />Boulder County
<br />homeless
<br />coordinated intake
<br />panel
<br />Persons counted on
<br />one night annually
<br />who meet the
<br />definition of
<br />chronically
<br />homeless
<br />Persons who have
<br />had an intake
<br />assessment scoring
<br />high enough to be
<br />Chronically
<br />homeless and who
<br />have not yet
<br />received any
<br />housing assistance
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