STRATEGIC PLAN TO END HOMELESSNESS - SUBURBAN COOK COUNTY - Alliance to End Homelessness in ...
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2019 - 2022
STRATEGIC PLAN
TO END HOMELESSNESS
SUBURBAN COOK COUNTY
Date Adopted: November 2018
4415 Harrison Street, Suite 228 708-236-3261
Hillside, IL 60162 www.suburbancook.org
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Alliance to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County would like to acknowledge the dedication of time, resources, and expertise of the many individuals and organizations who contributed to the development of this plan. Specifically, we would like to thank: All provider organizations and individuals who participated in the community input process, for their willingness to share their knowledge and expertise; Members of the Plan Committee of the Alliance, for overseeing and development of this plan; The Alliance Board of Directors, for their vision and leadership in initiation and creation of this plan; Staff from the Alliance, for overseeing day-to-day project management, as well as administrative and logistical support; and Focus Strategies, for their technical assistance in the design of the planning process, analysis of local data, and drafting of the Strategic plan.
I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 1
A. Guiding Principles ......................................................................................................................... 1
B. Plan Overview ............................................................................................................................... 2
II. PROCESS: HOW THIS PLAN WAS DEVELOPED ....................................................................................... 2
A. Community Input .......................................................................................................................... 3
B. System Performance Analysis ...................................................................................................... 4
C. Alliance Board Retreat ................................................................................................................. 4
III. ASSESSMENT: CURRENT STATE OF THE HOMELESS SYSTEM IN SUBURBAN COOK COUNTY ................. 5
A. Key Accomplishments of the Previous Strategic Plan (2014-2017) ............................................ 5
B. Current Homeless Population and Trends ................................................................................... 6
C. Homeless System Components..................................................................................................... 9
D. System Strengths & Challenges ................................................................................................. 11
IV. GOALS, STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS .................................................... 16
A. Goals for the Overall System...................................................................................................... 17
B. Goals for System Components and Populations........................................................................ 17
C. Summary of Goals....................................................................................................................... 25
V. PERFORMANCE TARGETS AND INVENTORY GOALS FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS ............................... 25
A. Performance Targets .................................................................................................................. 25
B. Inventory Goals........................................................................................................................... 27
VI. CONCLUSION......................................................................................................................................... 28
Appendix A: Summary of Community Input ................................................................................................. 29
Appendix B: Homeless System Performance Data ........................................................................................ 35
Appendix C: Right-Sizing Analysis ................................................................................................................. 49
A. Guiding Principles I. INTRODUCTION
Systems Orientation:
The goal is to create a system The Alliance to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County (the
that responds effectively and Alliance) is committed to reducing and ultimately eliminating
rapidly to the crisis of homelessness in our community. Ending homelessness in Suburban
homelessness. In a system, all Cook County – which covers more than 570 square miles and 130
stakeholders, programs, and municipalities – means ensuring that those who are experiencing a
organizations work together crisis of homelessness obtain safe and stable housing as quickly as
in coordination to accomplish possible and do not return to the homeless system. This Plan
a clear set of shared articulates a strategic path to guide our efforts and achieve these
objectives. The objective of goals over the next three years. This plan does so by building upon
the housing crisis resolution the foundation, strengths, and successes of our previous plan, A
system is to ensure that Strategic Plan Forward to End Homelessness (2014-2017), and
anyone who is homeless utilizing strategies informed by analyses of our existing homeless
quickly returns to stable response system in Suburban Cook County.
housing.
Over the last three years, the Suburban Cook County Continuum of
Data Driven: Care (CoC) has achieved many of the goals set out in the previous
The system is data-driven. three-year strategic plan, which include expanding permanent
Plans are based on an housing inventory, identifying and lowering barriers to system entry
analysis of the current system and housing, building out Coordinated Entry processes, and
and the best assessment of increasing systemwide data capacity. To continue to make progress
what is and what is not over the next three years, this Plan will focus on how to continue
working. System and developing our work into a fully coordinated system to end
program-level performance is homelessness. We will strive to ensure that all the programs and
measured, then results are interventions employed to address homelessness function together
used for continuous quality with a common set of objectives and performance measures – and
improvement. Funders of the that the system’s resources are being used to maximize impact and
system view their role as yield the greatest possible results.
stewards of community
resources who are Critical to creating a system is maintaining a data-informed, results-
responsible for oriented approach. The Alliance has invested in capacity building
understanding what results around systemwide data collection and evaluation by measuring
their investments are and monitoring system performance on an ongoing basis, creating
achieving and ensuring data dashboards, and developing a plan for improving data quality.
resources are used in a way This investment in data and evaluation is key to meeting the
that maximizes impact. community-wide goal of ending homelessness. Thus, this Strategic
Plan is data-driven and outlines measurable goals and objectives for
reducing homelessness. It is founded on evidence-based practices
and strategies in the field, focused on efforts that will yield the
greatest possible results, and designed to provide the Continuum of
Care and community leadership a framework for ending the crisis
of homelessness for the entire Suburban Cook County community.
Strategic Plan to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County | 2019 – 2022 | Page 1
Client Centered: B. Plan Overview
Clients – people experiencing This Plan is organized into four main sections that provide (1) an
homelessness – are at the overview of the process by which the plan was developed; (2)
center of the system design. results of the CoC’s systemwide performance assessment, including
The system is designed to strengths and challenges of the current system, which serves as a
ensure easy and streamlined basis for the goal and strategies of this plan; (3) detailed goals,
access for everyone, strategies, and activities set out by the Alliance for the next three
particularly those who years; and (4) performance targets and inventory goals to make
experience the greatest even greater progress toward reducing homelessness.
challenge navigating the
The Plan is organized around the main elements that comprise a
complexities of publicly-
systematic response to homelessness: strategies to reduce the
funded services and
entry of people into homelessness; interventions that provide a
programs. Programs within
short-term crisis response; housing solutions that provide the exit
the system adopt fair,
pathways out of homelessness; and infrastructure for system
transparent, and
planning, evaluation, and oversight. The goals and strategies set
understandable policies
forth in this plan are outlined in greater detail in Section IV.
about how assistance is
accessed and how these
policies respect client choice
and self-determination. II. PROCESS: HOW THIS PLAN WAS DEVELOPED
The Alliance to End Homelessness, through its Plan Committee, was
Housing First:
responsible for overseeing development of this plan. The Plan
People experiencing
Committee is a standing committee of the Continuum of Care and
homelessness need housing
is responsible for overseeing year-round planning efforts. To
above all else. Strategies and
provide technical assistance in developing this Plan, the Alliance
interventions must focus on
engaged Focus Strategies, a national consulting firm dedicated to
returning households to safe,
helping communities develop and implement data-driven strategies
secure housing that they can
to reduce and end homelessness. Focus Strategies provided expert
use as a starting place to
support to the Alliance in the development of this plan, including
address other issues.
the facilitation of a community input process and providing
technical assistance to the Alliance staff to analyze homeless
system data from the Homeless Management Information System
(HMIS).
About Focus Strategies
Focus Strategies is dedicated to helping communities improve
efforts to end homelessness by using local data to shape program
and system design using a “systems thinking” approach. We have
worked with clients from across the country at all levels, including
local and state government agencies and philanthropic and large
non-profit organizations.
Strategic Plan to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County | 2019 – 2022 | Page 2
A. Community Input
The community input process, which took place between March and July 2018, included gathering and
analyzing input from a variety of community stakeholders about the existing homeless response system in
Suburban Cook County, including key strengths, challenges, and areas of opportunity. The process
consisted of the following components:
1. Kick Off webinar: On April 24, 2018, Focus Strategies hosted an initial kick-off webinar alongside
the Alliance to introduce the strategic planning process, as well as overall project timeline and
goals. The webinar provided a review of accomplishments of the previous three-year strategic
plan, an overview of the planning framework for this 2018-2021 strategic plan, and key
information about performance data and measurement.
2. Stakeholder interviews: Beginning in March 2018, Focus Strategies staff conducted a series of
one-on-one interviews over the phone with key stakeholders to gather contextual information
about specific topics. The purpose of the interviews was to solicit information from those
involved with efforts to address homelessness in Suburban Cook County to shed light on key
elements of the homeless response system, such as emergency shelter, permanent housing
interventions, and Coordinated Entry. These interviews were also designed to illuminate how the
system as a whole is operating, as well as its key strengths and challenges.
3. In-person community input sessions: Focus Strategies staff conducted four community input
sessions on May 30 and 31, 2018, including two general input sessions (one in the north and one
in the south region of suburban Cook County) and two population-specific listening sessions
(representing youth and family populations). Participants included homeless system providers,
local government representatives, Alliance staff, and other key stakeholders. The input sessions
were designed to provide a venue for stakeholder feedback and discussion on various aspects of
the current system, its strengths and challenges, and top priorities for moving forward in the
strategic planning process. These public forums were also an opportunity for participants to be
oriented to the strategic planning process, framework, and timeline, as well as to understand
how to provide input to shape the strategic plan.
4. Focus group with people experiencing homelessness: On May 30, Focus Strategies staff conducted
a focus group with people experiencing homelessness who were staying at a summertime PADS
shelter. The purpose of this group was to hear about clients’ experiences accessing housing,
emergency shelter, and other homeless system resources. The focus group provided an
opportunity to hear clients’ perceptions about what is working well and what can be improved in
terms of the community’s response to assisting people who are experiencing a housing crisis.
The community input has been integrated into the goals and strategies articulated in this Plan. A
summary of input is provided in Appendix A.
Strategic Plan to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County | 2019 – 2022 | Page 3
B. System Performance Analysis
To ensure that this Plan is strongly data-informed, Focus Strategies worked with Alliance staff to analyze a
range of available community data. Focus Strategies provided technical assistance and expert advice to
Alliance staff to gather Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) data and develop an analysis
of homeless system performance. The purpose of this analysis was to understand how each program type
(shelter, transitional, rapid re-housing, and permanent supportive housing) and the homeless response
system are performing. The analysis also explored results by household type (families with children, single
adults), and investigated whether there are regional variations in performance among the North, South
and West regions of the county.
A detailed summary of system performance assessment data is provided in Appendix B.
C. Alliance Board Retreat
On July 18, Focus Strategies staff facilitated a one-day retreat with members of the Alliance Board. The
purpose of the retreat was to review and discuss the community input and system performance data.
Focus Strategies used this feedback to develop strategies and priorities for the new plan. Throughout the
planning process, the Plan Committee of the Board provided strategic direction and guidance to Alliance
and Focus Strategies staff.
Strategic Plan to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County | 2019 – 2022 | Page 4III. ASSESSMENT: CURRENT STATE OF THE HOMELESS SYSTEM IN SUBURBAN COOK COUNTY
The Alliance is dedicated to ensuring that this Strategic Plan is strongly informed by an analysis of our
current system, identifying where there are strengths and efforts to build upon, and where there are gaps
and a need for new strategies and priorities. To that end, this assessment of our current state serves as a
starting point for this Plan’s goals and strategies for the next three years.
A. Key Accomplishments of the Previous Strategic Plan (2014-2017)
Between 2014 and 2017—the timeframe of the previous Strategic Plan—Suburban Cook County achieved
a 37% reduction in homelessness. Much of this success can be credited to the development of A Strategic
Plan Forward to End Homelessness: 2014-2017 Strategic Plan, which set forth goals and objectives for
reducing homelessness in Suburban Cook County. During that three-year period, the Alliance made
significant progress toward achieving the Plan’s goals in several areas. Key accomplishments include:
• Focus on reducing chronic homelessness and significant reductions in Veteran homelessness: In
coordination with the 100,000 Homes and Built for Zero campaigns, the Alliance prioritized efforts
to identify and house people experiencing chronic homelessness and homeless Veterans.
Through the 100,000 Homes campaign, the Alliance successfully housed 450 individuals with the
greatest barriers to housing, more than triple the original goal. Additionally, over the course of
the three years, Suburban Cook County CoC successfully halved the number of Veterans
experiencing homelessness (105 Veterans in 2014 to 53 in 2017), according to Point in Time (PIT)
Count results;
• Permanent supportive housing: Increased permanent supportive housing (PSH) to 1,349 beds
systemwide in 2017 from 979 total beds in 2014, an increase of 38%. This includes an increase in
PSH beds for those who meet the federal definition of chronic homelessness to 589 beds based
on the 2017 Housing Inventory Count (HIC), an increase of 168 beds (or 40%) since 2015;
• Rapid re-housing: Increased rapid re-housing capacity to include a total of 262 total units, based
on the 2017 HIC, which represents an increase of around 160 units (or 157%) since 2014;
• Affordable housing: Established Flexibility Livability Outcomes Wellness (FLOW) Vouchers
program alongside the Housing Authority of Cook County (HACC) to increase access to Housing
Choice Vouchers by allowing permanent supportive housing participants to move on to less
service-intensive affordable housing; also established a homeless housing preference with HACC;
• Street outreach: Increased street outreach geographic coverage for Supportive Services for
Veterans Families (SSVF) and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG)-funded1 programs;
1
Supportive Services for Veterans Families (SSVF) program is a funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
and provides supportive services to very low-income and homeless Veteran families to help them identify and
transition into permanent housing. Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) program is funded by the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development for the rehabilitation and operation of emergency shelters, social services, and
homelessness prevention services.
Strategic Plan to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County | 2019 – 2022 | Page 5• Coordinated Assessment/Entry: Adopted a standardized assessment tool, the Vulnerability Index -
Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool (VI-SPDAT) for both families and individuals, as well
as adopted Coordinated Entry (CE) protocols and began CE implementation;
• Healthcare: Increased resource sharing and training around the intersection between
homelessness and healthcare; also launched a partnership with the Cook County Health &
Hospital System; and
• Data system: Reorganized and improved the Alliance’s Data Dashboard, defined performance
measures through CE, and implemented a data quality plan to ensure low rates of null/missing
data.
The Continuum of Care is also in the process of building out a targeted prevention program operated in
conjunction with the Homelessness Prevention Call Center at Catholic Charities, using a standardized
assessment tool.
B. Current Homeless Population and Trends
The most recent annual Homeless Point in Time Count, conducted in January 2018, found a total of 873
people (640 households) experiencing homelessness in Suburban Cook County. The data show that most
of the homeless population in the community is sheltered, with 398 of counted households living in
emergency shelters (62%), 134 (21%) living in transitional housing, and 24 households (4%) living in safe
havens.2 There were 84 unsheltered households, comprising 13% of the total households counted. There
were 131 people experiencing chronic homelessness and 50 Veterans.
2
A safe haven, as defined by HUD, is a type of supportive housing for people who are literally homeless and have
severe mental illness – primarily those who are living in unsheltered locations and “have been unable or unwilling to
participate in housing or supportive services.”
Strategic Plan to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County | 2019 – 2022 | Page 62018 Homeless Populations (Point in Time)
Sheltered
Unsheltered TOTAL
Emergency Transitional Safe Haven
Number of Children 93 105 0 1 199
Number of Transition
32 52 1 6 91
Aged Youth (TAY) (18-24)
Number of Adults 386 89 23 85 583
TOTAL HOUSEHOLDS 398 134 24 84 640
TOTAL PERSONS 511 246 24 92 873
2018 Homeless Subpopulations3
Sheltered Unsheltered TOTAL
Chronically Homeless Individuals 108 23 131
Chronically Homeless Families 1 0 1
Persons in Chronically Homeless Families 3 0 3
Veterans 47 3 50
Adults with a Serious Mental Illness 165 29 194
Adults with a Substance Use Disorder 90 15 105
Adults with HIV/AIDS 12 0 12
Adult Survivors of Domestic Violence 94 2 96
As noted above, the Alliance’s effort over the past several years to reduce the number of people
experiencing homelessness has been effective. As shown in the graph below, the number of homeless
people has gone down from 1,242 in 2013 to 781 in 2018 – a decrease of 37%. Veteran homelessness has
also decreased substantially, down from 121 individuals in 2013 to 46 in 2018 – a decrease of 61%.
Chronic homelessness has held relatively steady despite intensive efforts focused on this population. In
2018, 111 people were experiencing chronic homelessness, which remains relatively unchanged since
2013 when there were 109.
3
Subpopulation categories are not mutually exclusive, so these figures do not sum to the total homeless population.
People may be represented in multiple categories.
Strategic Plan to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County | 2019 – 2022 | Page 7Number of People Experiencing Homeless Over Time (2013 - 2018)
1400 1242 1182
1200
895 952
1000
780 781
800
600
400
200 109 121 97 105 106 92 125 81 107 53 111
50
0
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Total # of People Experiencing Homelessness
Total # of People Experiencing Chronic Homelessness
Total # of Veterans Experiencing Homelessness
The graph below shows trends for three main household types: adult-only households, families with
children, and youth (age 18-24). Households of only adults make up most of the homeless population
(56% in 2018), followed by families with children (37%), and youth (7%). Although homelessness overall
has gone down since 2013, youth homelessness has risen slightly, from 38 people in 2015 to 59 in 2018.4
Likewise, family homelessness has gone up between 2017 and 2018, from 272 to 311 households.
Number of People Experiencing Homelessness by Population Type
800
692
700 642
600 550 539 526 555
508
469
500
367 396
400 311
272
300
200
100 38 44 43 59
0
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Total # of People in Adult Households Total # of People in Family Households Total # of Youth
4
The youth population was not separately broken out as a population group before 2015 in HUD Point in Time
Counts.
Strategic Plan to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County | 2019 – 2022 | Page 8C. Homeless System Components
The following section provides a brief description of the programs and interventions available for people
experiencing homelessness in Suburban Cook County. They are organized into the three main
components of a homeless crisis response system: access (inflow); interim housing (crisis response); and
exits to housing (outflow).
1. System Access (Inflow)
In a homeless crisis response system, there should be a consistent process and policy that determines
how people experiencing homelessness access the resources they need to regain housing. Entry
pathways into the system are designed to streamline access for people with the highest needs – those
who are unsheltered and chronically homeless. The system also has policies and processes to divert and
re-direct those who are struggling with unstable housing but who are not homeless. Outreach,
coordinated entry, prevention, and diversion are all critical system components to manage access.
• Coordinated Entry: Coordinated Entry (CE) is a community-wide system designed to quickly and
efficiently assist people experiencing homelessness to access housing interventions, shelter, and
other homeless system resources. CE is also intended to help the Continuum of Care effectively
target system resources to those people who have the highest need. The Alliance, through the
Coordinated Entry Committee, has designed and implemented a HUD-compliant CE system that
assesses and prioritizes households for available transitional housing, rapid re-housing, and
permanent supportive housing.
• Prevention and Diversion/Housing Problem-Solving: Homelessness prevention programs and
strategies are designed to assist households to avoid becoming homeless and entering the
homeless response system. The previous strategic plan set forth Suburban Cook County’s goals
for homelessness prevention which included “improving targeting and access to homelessness
prevention resources to better meet needs” and “expanding homelessness prevention activities
beyond financial assistance.” Since the last plan, the Prevention Committee of the Continuum of
Care has been extensively working to refine and strengthen the prevention component of the
homeless system. They have established a Homelessness Prevention Call Center for households
who need financial assistance with expenses such as rental arrears, rental payments or deposits,
utility payments, or other housing related expenses, as well as developed a standardized
assessment tool and process to target assistance to those with the highest likelihood of becoming
homeless without assistance. The Committee is now developing and implementing a shelter
diversion effort, which will target assistance to households seeking shelter and attempt to
prevent shelter entry by identifying and implementing immediate housing solutions.
• Street Outreach: People who do not seek out services or housing from the homeless system are
engaged and connected through street outreach. In Suburban Cook County, the Continuum of
Care coordinates an outreach team that includes staff from several agencies including Edward J.
Hines Veterans Affairs (VA) (for Veterans’ outreach), coordinated entry, and provider agencies.
Street outreach is generally available five days a week and covers the whole county geography,
Strategic Plan to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County | 2019 – 2022 | Page 9though coverage is inconsistent and tends to be more available in the areas with more people
experiencing homelessness.
2. Interim Housing (Crisis Response)
The unifying goal of the homeless system is to help each household quickly secure a housing solution. In
many cases, the pathway from homelessness to housing will include a stay in a short-term program,
whether an emergency shelter bed, transitional housing, or “interim”/ “bridge” housing. These
interventions are essential elements of the system, but they are not destinations in and of themselves.
Their performance is measured based on how effectively they help people make the transition from
homelessness into permanent housing.
• Emergency Shelter: Of the 640 shelter beds in Suburban Cook County, the majority operate on
the PADS model – providing a short-term place to stay, basic services (such as food), and other
supports. PADS operate on a seasonal basis out of rotating community churches and places of
worship. The PADS are mostly volunteer-based and are open seven days a week during the main
shelter season (October through April). The summer shelter season generally runs from May
through September and capacity is limited. PADS shelters typically operate on a first-come-first-
served basis and can have high barriers to entry (e.g. sobriety requirements) and strictly enforced
rules.
• Transitional Housing: Transitional housing programs are designed to offer longer-term stays
paired with intensive case management and other supports to assist homeless system clients
transition into permanent housing. The previous three-year plan set forth the goal of prioritizing
transitional housing to individuals and families experiencing a transitional phase in life with acute
service needs – such as victims of domestic violence, people in recovery or treatment, and young
adults who were previously involved in the child welfare system. Since the last plan, the CoC has
been working to right-size the community’s inventory of transitional housing and reduce vacancy
rates, while focusing on assisting people in transitional housing programs to move to permanent
housing. In 2018, there were 300 transitional housing beds in the community.
3. Exits to Housing (Outflow)
The ultimate goal of the homeless system is to help people secure housing, not shelter. This requires
having a range of housing interventions available to help people exit from unsheltered homelessness or a
shelter stay into a safe and permanent housing situation. This includes permanently subsidized affordable
and supportive housing. Lower-intensity, flexible, short-term and medium-term rental subsidy options
are also needed for the many people who are not chronically homeless and do not require long-term
assistance to be housed.
• Rapid Re-housing: Rapid re-housing (RRH) is a critical component of the Alliance’s response to
homelessness, providing short-term rental subsidies to clients. Clients eventually take over
responsibility for paying their rent in full. Over the past several years, the CoC has increased its
inventory of RRH, which has led to significant community-wide reductions in homelessness,
Strategic Plan to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County | 2019 – 2022 | Page 10especially among families. In 2018, there were 250 RRH slots at a point in time (these slots can
serve multiple households over the course of a year). In Suburban Cook County, rapid re-housing
programs generally serve households with low-to-moderate levels of need; however, the
community hopes to extend some of its RRH supply to serve as bridge housing from
homelessness to permanent supportive housing (PSH) for higher need households.
• Permanent Supportive Housing: Permanent supportive housing (PSH) provides permanent
housing subsidies paired with flexible, individually-tailored services and supports to people with
the highest needs (i.e., chronic substance abuse, mental illness, or other disabilities). The
community’s previous strategic plan set the goal of increasing the supply of permanent
supportive housing to 1,307 beds, which was surpassed over the last three years. PSH projects
vary in structure, with a mixture of scattered-site, site-based, and clustered PSH units. In 2018,
there were 1,352 PSH beds listed in the Continuum of Care’s Housing Inventory Count.
D. System Strengths & Challenges
As part of the process of developing this Strategic Plan, the Alliance identified key strengths and
challenges in the existing system. Assessing how the current system is performing ensures that the Plan is
data-informed and that proposed strategies and activities are well-targeted to meet system needs. The
assessment presented in this section draws from the work the Alliance conducted with support from
Focus Strategies; it includes the gathering of community input and the analysis of system performance
data. This section lays the groundwork and provides context for the goals and priorities set forth in this
plan.
1. System Access (Inflow)
The implementation of the Coordinated Entry (CE) system, which is designed to quickly and efficiently
assist people in ending their homelessness, has been beneficial to the community. Coordinated Entry has
been a key step in connecting all agencies and entities working to address homelessness across Suburban
Cook County and developing a more streamlined process for helping clients access homeless system
assistance. However, while the system has established a clear path to housing for people who qualify for
assistance, those who are not assessed as being high priority for a housing intervention often are left out.
Some providers and clients perceive the CE system as overly complicated and bureaucratic – eligibility
criteria may be too narrow, thus “shutting out people who need assistance.” Additionally, system
entry/access points are not always clear for people attempting to access assistance.
Front-end prevention services offered through the Prevention Call Center are recognized as a major
strength of the existing system. Prevention resources help people avoid entering homelessness and
remain housed by accessing one-time assistance. However, there is still a gap between what prevention
assistance provides and what people who are seeking emergency shelter need. Many who are at the
shelter door no longer have a housing situation that can be preserved through prevention and need a
more robust, tailored form of housing problem-solving to avoid shelter entry. Shelter diversion is
recognized as a significant need in the community.
Strategic Plan to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County | 2019 – 2022 | Page 11Data from the HMIS illustrates this point. The table below shows the prior living situations of people
entering shelter, transitional housing, rapid re-housing, and permanent supportive housing. While most
people who enter programs are already homeless upon entry (they are staying in shelter or are
unsheltered), a significant number were coming directly from a housed situation into homelessness.
These households are strong candidates for assistance through a diversion strategy.
Entries for People Served in 2017
100% 4% 6% 5%
19% 1%
80% 4% 33% 1% 3% 23%
33%
% of Entries
37%
60%
40% 79% 70%
56% 61% 66%
20%
0%
Emergency Shelter Transitional Housing Rapid Rehousing Rapid Rehousing Permanent
(Non-SSVF) (SSVF) Supportive Housing
Homeless Entries Housed Institutional Other/DK/Refused
Another critical element of system access and inflow relates to the role of other systems of care whose
clients may be exiting institutional settings (jail, prison, hospitals, treatment facilities, foster care settings,
etc.) and entering the homeless crisis response system. Building strong partnerships with these systems
and working collaboratively to prevent homelessness will be critical to reducing the entry of people into
homelessness for whom a housing solution is available.
2. Interim Housing Interventions (Crisis Response)
In Suburban Cook County, interim housing interventions include emergency shelter, transitional housing,
and safe havens. As previously noted, much of the community’s inventory of emergency shelter operates
on the PADS model, which is primarily seasonal and volunteer-based. Stakeholders agree that the
community benefits from a strong and committed base of volunteers who run PADS throughout the
summer and main shelter seasons. However, there is insufficient shelter capacity, especially during the
summer months when the number of congregations facilitating PADS is scaled back. Most providers agree
that the PADS model is particularly ill-suited for sheltering families with children, since the facilities offer
little privacy and may be divided by gender. Youth generally avoid entering shelter altogether. There are
geographic gaps in shelter accessibility and capacity, and the rotating nature of the PADS model often
makes transportation between sites difficult for shelter guests. Some PADS sites have barriers to entry
such as sobriety and curfews.
Over the past five years, much of the community’s transitional housing inventory has been converted to
permanent housing. The remaining programs are now targeted to special populations, including domestic
violence victims, youth, and Veterans. While transitional housing programs generally have long lengths of
stay (averaging 327 days in 2017) compared to rapid re-housing, the Alliance recognizes that transitional
housing plays an important role in the homeless system. While rapid re-housing programs generally exit
people to a permanent destination 85-90% of the time and with shorter lengths of stay, a relatively high
Strategic Plan to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County | 2019 – 2022 | Page 12rate of people (69%) also exit transitional housing to a permanent housing situation. Our goal is to
continue to sharpen the performance and housing-focus of the transitional programs that remain to
ensure special populations benefit from these programs.
Length of Stay in 2017
Rapid Rehousing (All) 187
Transitional Housing 324
Emergency Shelter 29
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Average # of Days
Permanent Housing Exits in 2017
100% 1%
7% 7% 2%
3% 8%
80% 11% 1%
52% 11% 2%
1%
60% 1%
% of all Exits 4% 2%
91% 85%
40% 6% 1% 69%
17%
20%
19%
0%
Emergency Shelter Transitional Housing Rapid Rehousing Rapid Rehousing
(non-SSVF) (SSVF)
Permanent Housing Temporary Housing Unsheltered Institutions Other Missing
Note: This graph reflects a distinction between rapid re-housing funded by the VA’s Supportive Services for Veterans
Families (SSVF) program and non-SSVF funded rapid re-housing programs.
3. System Exits (Outflow)
Over the past three years, Suburban Cook County has significantly increased its permanent housing stock
– including rapid re-housing, permanent supportive housing, and affordable housing resources. This
increased capacity to house people experiencing homelessness has significantly reduced the total number
of people experiencing homelessness in the County. However, there is an inadequate supply of
interventions for people who are not assessed as having high needs or who do not meet the federal
definition of homelessness (i.e., people who are doubled up or couch surfing). The community simply
lacks adequate affordable housing options.
The Alliance has identified a strong need to advocate for the creation of affordable housing, removal of
restrictive zoning practices, and banning of discriminatory housing practices (such as “crime-free housing”
Strategic Plan to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County | 2019 – 2022 | Page 13ordinances that create barriers for people who have experienced domestic violence, have criminal
backgrounds, or have had other emergency service interactions).
Efforts to expand rapid re-housing in Suburban Cook County have resulted in the creation of around 50
additional units since the inception of the previous three-year plan. Rapid re-housing programs are
generally low-barrier and useful for people who need lighter touch assistance than permanent supportive
housing to end their homelessness. However, the Continuum of Care needs to undertake additional,
more coordinated efforts to recruit and engage landlords to house even more clients. The system could
also benefit from increased funding and better targeting of rapid re-housing resources to ensure the
system is prioritizing those with the highest needs for all intervention types. Additional resources and
stabilization services may also be needed once a household’s subsidy ends to keep clients housed and
prevent returns to homelessness.
In addition to rapid re-housing, the Suburban Cook County homeless system has increased the number of
permanent supportive housing units for people experiencing homelessness with high service needs,
including many units that are dedicated to people who meet the chronic homelessness definition. There
are gaps, however, for people with high service needs (such as the elderly and those with serious mental
illness) who do not meet the definition of chronic homelessness. Families with children and youth are
much less likely to meet the chronic homeless definition and thus have limited ability to access
permanent supportive housing. A range of housing options is needed for these populations, including
more rapid re-housing and service-enriched affordable housing. HUD has recently created a new joint
Transitional/Rapid Re-housing (TH/RRH) program type which could be particularly appropriate for families
and youth.
Once households secure housing through either a rapid re-housing or permanent supportive housing
intervention, it is critical that they receive the services and supports they need to sustain housing and not
return to homelessness. This is an area where the Alliance must partner effectively with other systems,
particularly health, mental health, and employment. Data showing the rate at which households return to
homelessness after being housed suggests that improvement is needed in this area. The overall rate of
households returning to homelessness is 16%, with shelters and transitional housing programs showing
the highest rates.
Permanent Housing Exits that Return to Homelessness
100%
% PH Exits that Return
80%
60%
40% 29%
21%
20% 8% 11%
5%
0%
Emergency Shelter Transitional Housing Rapid Rehousing Rapid Rehousing Permanent
(Non-SSVF) (SSVF) Supportive Housing
Note: This graph reflects a distinction between rapid rehousing funded by the VA’s Supportive Services for Veterans
Families (SSVF) program and non-SSVF funded rapid re-housing programs.
Strategic Plan to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County | 2019 – 2022 | Page 144. Regional Differences
Although Suburban Cook County is a single Continuum of Care, there are significant variations in the
availability of programs and resources within the large geography of the community. The south and west
regions of the community have a variety of programs and are home to the largest proportion of people
experiencing homelessness. The north region has fewer homeless people and also fewer programs.
Distance and transportation issues are greater challenges in the northern and southern parts of the
community.
To further tease out and understand regional variations in the homeless system, the Alliance included a
breakdown of system performance measures by region in our data analysis (see Appendix B). This data
shows that there are several differences between the north, south, and west parts of the County on all
measures. For example, emergency shelters in the north seem to be more successful in helping
households exit to permanent housing, while transitional housing programs in the west have a higher rate
of successful exit than their counterparts in the south and north. As the Alliance moves forward with
implementing this Strategic Plan, it will be important to develop refinements to our strategies that are
tailored to each region. It is also critical to ensure that there are consistent goals, standards, and
expectations across all the regions of the community so that all the elements of the homeless crisis
response in Suburban Cook County are operating as a single system.
5. Racial Disparities
At the federal level, agencies involved in leading the national response to homelessness have recently
identified racial disparity as a critical policy issue. In 2018, HUD directed local communities to begin
analyzing the homeless population and homeless system performance with a racial equity lens –
identifying where there might be disparities and developing strategies to address them.
Alliance staff conducted an initial assessment of racial disparities in 2018 using data collected from our
Homeless Management Information System and made the following findings:
• African American individuals are three times more likely to be represented in the homeless
population as they are in the general population of people living in Suburban Cook County and
twice as likely when compared to the population of people at or below the federal poverty line.
• African Americans are about 1.3 times as likely as Whites to be counted in the Point in Time
Count. They are 2.2 times more likely to be assessed through the Coordinated Entry (CE) process.
• Compared to people who go through the CE process, African Americans are somewhat more
likely to enroll in rapid re-housing while White people are somewhat more likely to enroll in
permanent supportive housing.
• White people are more likely to return to homelessness following exits to permanent housing.
This data is still preliminary and warrants further investigation. One of the Alliance’s priorities in the
coming year will be to more fully understand racial disparity in the system and develop strategies to
address it.
Strategic Plan to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County | 2019 – 2022 | Page 155. Homeless System Infrastructure
Homeless system infrastructure includes system governance, data evaluation capacity, and training and
technical assistance efforts. Overall, stakeholders who participated in the input process for this Plan said
the infrastructure and governance for the Suburban Cook County Continuum of Care are strong. The CoC
allows room for collaboration at all levels and is supportive of providers in the system. The Alliance strives
to offer regular training and meetings to ensure all stakeholders are aligned in their practices and
objectives. However, the CoC still struggles with managing the “dictates of HUD” which tend to drive
decisions and programs and distract focus from overall system design. There is a strong feeling among
CoC members that the committee structure is overly complex and there are too many meetings.
Simplifying the committee structure, holding fewer meetings, or expanding methods for Continuum of
Care participation (i.e. via video conferencing) would ensure a more streamlined, efficient Continuum of
Care participation process. Additionally, more input from and engagement with current and former
homeless system clients, funders, elected officials, and the business community on the CoC-level is
needed. More engagement and coordination with systems of care, such as child welfare, criminal justice,
education, and healthcare, is also seen as a key opportunity for the Continuum of Care.
In the realm of data and evaluation, the CoC has strong data collection and analysis capacity. Key areas
for further development include: updating data dashboards to align with system performance measures,
improving data sharing across the system, and identifying strategies to share data with neighboring CoCs
to develop a better regional picture of homelessness and of regional system performance. Other specific
data needs include developing and tracking performance measures for prevention and diversion and
refining how the system calculates “returns” to homelessness.
IV. GOALS, STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS
The Alliance Board, Plan Committee and staff have collected and synthesized information about our
current homeless system and its performance to guide the development of our plans for the next three
years. This plan is a living document that serves as a guide for our local work to address homelessness
and will be updated on an ongoing basis as the Strategic Plan is implemented. Our guideposts for this
work are to:
• Focus efforts on high-priority, high-impact work with a strong return on investment;
• Build upon successes and strengthen what is working well;
• Identify new areas needing our attention; and
• Be mindful of the time and capacity of Alliance staff, Board, and committee members.
Using these criteria and based upon our system assessment, the Alliance has identified a set of goals for
the next three years, 2019-2022, as well as the key strategies and activities we will need to implement to
achieve our goals. In each of the four broad goal areas, we have designated one or two new areas of
work, as well as continuing areas of work. Designated lead entities (staff, committees, other stakeholders)
will be responsible for developing detailed action plans for each goal, tracking progress, and reporting on
results.
Strategic Plan to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County | 2019 – 2022 | Page 16A. Goals for the Overall System
The overall goal of this Plan is that we will continue to make homelessness in Suburban Cook County rare,
brief and one-time:
• Rare: Whenever possible, the system will prevent vulnerable individuals and families from falling
into homelessness.
• Brief: A system will be in place to ensure that any household experiencing a crisis of
homelessness returns to housing as quickly as possible.
• One-time: Individuals and families that secure housing through the homeless system will not
return to homelessness.
We will evaluate our overall success in meeting this goal based on whether the population of
people experiencing homelessness in Suburban Cook County is decreasing or increasing.
B. Goals for System Components and Populations
Goal 1: Access (Inflow)
To improve and strengthen our system for managing access into the homeless system, the Alliance will
launch a new focus on system-wide diversion and prevention; while at the same time continuing to
improve and evaluate our Coordinated Entry system.
Goal 1a: New Focus Area
Use Systemwide Diversion and Prevention to Reduce Entries into
Homelessness
The Alliance, through the Prevention Committee, is in the process of implementing a targeted prevention
pilot that seeks to create a single point of entry to prevention services and ensure those resources are
targeted to households with the greatest barriers and highest risk of becoming homeless. Moving
forward, we will continue to expand and refine our prevention efforts and add a new shelter diversion
component. Shelter diversion will provide problem-solving, mediation, service referrals, and flexible
financial assistance to households seeking shelter to either preserve their current housing or help them
transition to new housing without spending a night in shelter.
Strategies and activities to achieve this goal:
1. Build up and refine the targeted prevention pilot to serve more households, improve targeting,
and evaluate results.
2. Work with shelter providers to integrate a diversion practice into their intake processes to help
prevent shelter entry where possible.
Strategic Plan to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County | 2019 – 2022 | Page 173. Add a diversion or problem-solving practice to the Coordinated Entry process so that households
waiting for a housing referral can receive practical support to self-resolve their homelessness.
4. Improve coordination with other systems (i.e. healthcare, justice) to prevent discharge into
homelessness; educate other systems to ensure they do not inappropriately use the homeless
system.
5. Raise flexible funds to assist households who can be diverted with small amounts of financial
assistance to sustain or secure housing, with more staffing to support diversion.
Goal 1b: Continuing Work
Use Street Outreach and Coordinated Entry to Streamline System Access
for Highest Need Households
The Alliance, through the Coordinated Entry Committee, will continue to improve and refine the
Coordinated Entry System. This system is designed to identify those households with the highest needs
based on a standardized assessment, and ensure they are prioritized for available assistance. Street
outreach supports this goal by engaging people who have high needs and do not seek out assistance from
the homeless system.
Strategies and activities to achieve this goal:
1. Continue ongoing assessment and refinement of CE.
2. Provide technical assistance and training to provider agencies on verification/documentation of
chronic homelessness status.
3. Identify resources to strengthen and expand street outreach to ensure it fully and equitably
covers the suburban Cook County geography.
4. Identify additional ways for people who are homeless to access the Coordinated Entry System by
increasing the number of homeless services providers and non-traditional partners that are
access points and improve marketing of the system.
5. Continue integrating Coordinated Entry with health/hospital system to identify frequent users
who are homeless and streamline access to housing.
We will evaluate the success of this work by tracking the following metrics:
• Rate of “first time” homelessness as measured by HUD System Performance Measures.
• Rate of entry into programs from “literal” homelessness (unsheltered/emergency
shelter), as measuring in HMIS data (APRs).
Strategic Plan to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County | 2019 – 2022 | Page 18Goal 2: Interim Housing Interventions (Crisis Response)
To improve and strengthen our crisis response, the Alliance will work to continually improve the
performance of emergency shelter and transitional housing programs in the system, as well as to
strategically increase the availability of shelter options for those populations with the greatest unmet
need for shelter: families with children and youth age 18-24.
Goal 2a: New Focus Area
Create Crisis Housing Options for Families and Youth
The existing shelter inventory in the community consists mostly of beds that follow the PADS model,
which are not well suited to meet the needs of families with children or youth. As much as possible, the
Continuum of Care will seek to divert families and youth seeking shelter by working to problem-solve and
identify an alternative housing situation. However, for those who cannot be diverted, new crisis housing
and shelter options are needed. To the extent shelter capacity is increased, however, these new beds
must provide a strong pathway into housing so that they don’t become a dead-end for families and
youth.
Strategies and activities to achieve this goal:
1. Create crisis housing options available year-round for high-need families who cannot be diverted
from shelter, providing an alternative to PADS shelters. The Alliance will explore a range of crisis
housing options to serve families including: dedicated rotating shelter sites; repurposing vacant
buildings (convents, schools) to create dedicated beds; renting apartments to provide interim
housing; exploring the new HUD TH/RRH model; and identifying alternative funding for motels as
a transition strategy.
2. Create youth-tailored shelter and crisis housing options for transition-aged youth using the
strategies noted above for families and including family reunification strategies and scaling up
existing youth program models (e.g. 12-flats).
3. Develop a strategy and process to better align available funding for shelter (Emergency Food and
Shelter Program (EFSP), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), and Illinois Department of Human
Services (IDHS) funding.
4. Develop a systemwide policy for all shelters to prevent family separation.
5. Collect and analyze data to better understand need for shelter including data on turn-aways;
trends in shelter use based on geography.
Strategic Plan to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County | 2019 – 2022 | Page 19Goal 2b: Continuing Work
Build Capacity of Shelter System to Support Rapid Exit to Permanent
Housing
The Alliance will continue our work to build the capacity of the existing shelter system to help households
exit to a safe and stable housing situation as rapidly as possible.
Strategies and activities to achieve this goal:
1. Provide training, technical assistance, and capacity-building to shelter providers on operation of
housing-focused shelter.
2. Identify resources shelters can provide households to speed exit to permanent housing (e.g. one-
time, small amounts of flexible financial assistance, housing search support, etc.).
We will evaluate the success of this work by tracking the following metrics:
• Length of time households remain in interim housing, as measured by HUD system
performance measures.
• Rate of exit from shelter and transitional housing to permanent housing, as measured by
HUD system performance measures.
Depending on the outcomes of the work on family and youth shelter (Goal 2a), it may be necessary to set
different targets for each subpopulation (see Performance Targets in Section V).
Goal 3. System Exits (Outflow)
The most critical piece of the homeless crisis response system is housing. The Alliance will focus on
strategically expanding the availability of housing for people experiencing homelessness.
Goal 3a: New Focus Area
Develop Partnerships and Collaboration to Sustain Housing and
Prevent Returns to Homelessness
While maximizing the use of CoC funds and other homeless system resources, the Alliance will devote
attention to deepening partnerships and collaborations across systems to integrate and coordinate
services to help people secure housing and prevent returns to homelessness.
Strategies and activities to achieve this goal:
1. Build deeper, more collaborative relationships beginning with health, criminal justice, workforce,
and child and family services partners.
2. Engage mainstream systems (SSI/SSDI Outreach Access & Recovery (SOAR), Health, Department
of Child and Family Services (DCFS), Housing Authority of Cook County (HACC), Hines VA, Criminal
Justice, Workforce) to better link people experiencing homelessness with mainstream benefits.
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