In the ongoing effort to find programs that are effective, (to help Sacramento respond to the large scale illegal camping by the homeless in the Parkway) here is one which sounds pretty good, providing the bundle of services, based on housing first, that does appear to work.
Miami homeless program to go national: Miami's Community Partnership for the Homeless is taking steps to offer cities nationwide its model program
Lisa Arthur, The Miami Herald
The Miami Herald (Florida)
September 21, 2007
Sep. 21--Miami's much-praised program for helping the homeless get off the streets, into permanent housing and more stable lives is taking steps to go national.
The new initiative was announced Thursday at the annual board meeting of the Community Partnership for the Homeless. The local agency has created a national committee to formalize the expansion of "The Miami Plan" to cities across the country that are struggling to help their homeless populations.
Representatives from more than 60 cities have visited Miami to survey the local program. The latest was San Antonio, Texas. After looking at programs in some 35 cities, San Antonio officials chose to replicate the Miami Model.
NUMBERS DOWN
The Miami Model has been heralded for decreasing the number of homeless on the streets from 8,000 in 1993 to 1,683 recorded during the last count done in July.
The partnership and the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust have developed sophisticated outreach programs for the on-street populations. Many of the trust's street staff know the homeless people they encounter by their first names and the on-the-street population is tracked in computer databases.
What makes Miami's program attractive to others are the services offered to people trying to stabilize their lives.
When a homeless person is coaxed off the street, the trust has actual housing units to place them in, not to mention two Homeless Assistance Centers (HACs), one in downtown Miami and the other in South Dade. Every bed comes with "wraparound services" -- mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment, a caseworker, a social worker, depending on the needs of the person.
