Homeless shelters in state say they need more funds

Seeing surge, as 17,900 came for help this year [2023]

By: Ashley Balcerzak
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... With more New Jerseyans experiencing homelessness relying on the Garden State shelters, shelters leaders say they need stronger financing - and the people they sere need greater mental health resources and access to affordable housing.
..... Nearly 17,900 people lived in homeless shelters and government-paid hotels between January and October 2023, a 12% increase from the period in the previous year, [2022] when there were 15,900 people, according to data released in November [2023] by the state Office of Homeless Prevention.
..... "What we need? Funding, funding, funding," said Laura Van Blum, senior director of development at Eva's Village in Paterson, which hosts two shelters on its campus with a combined 63 beds.
..... "Homelessness is not the shiny new thing people want to fund, and people often think of shelter as a band-aid to get people off the street, but we do so much more than offer a safe bed," Van Bloem said.
..... "We're trying to address their challenges, offer wraparound services and healthy meals," she said. "We're trying to get to the root causes of what brought them here."
..... A handful of shelters have gone out of business or stopped offering critical program in the past few years, said Connie Mercer, the CEO of the nonprofit New Jersey Coalition to End Homelessness, and founder of HOmeFront, a Mercer county shelter and service provider.
..... "Reimbursement rates for shelters don't work," Mercer said. "There is no system to sustain shelters."
..... For sheila Phillips, the director of the HomeFront shelter in Ewing, which can accommodate 38 families, mental health services for children and adolescents are at the top of the wish list.
..... "Kids are so traumatized, and there's so much dysfunction because they're moving, sleeping on someone's couch, sleeping on someone's chair, sleeping in someone's kitchen," Phillips said. "They're also less likely to talk than adults about what they're feeling."
..... Phillips said HomeFront signed an agreement with Catholic Charities to offer services for 51 to 8-year-olds. "We're working on it and it's getting done slowly," she said.

Living on the street, 'and they shouldn't be'

..... Michael Callahan, director of the office of Homelessness Prevention, pointed to data showing that the most common resewn New Jerseyans lost their homes was being asked to leave a shared residence, followed by eviction, then loss of income or a job.
..... Mercer said she is hearing more stories of people experiencing homelessness for the first time. Many spent down their savings living in hotels for what they through would be a short stay, and ended up needing shelters because they could not find an affordable apartment after months of searching.
..... Drug and alcohol abuse was the 10th-highest reason for becoming homeless, release from a psychiatric facility was 18th, and mental illness was 20th, according to 2023 state data.
..... "It's not being diagnosed with serious mental illness, it's not because you're struggling with addiction, it's beaus you're a normal person struggling with the realities of our economy," Callahan said. "They are living on the street and they shouldn't be, because life has dealt them a hand."

Mental illness a growing need

,,,,, The relationship between mental illness and homelessness is complex. while some may find it difficult to keep steady housing because of mental illness, the trauma and stress of becoming homeless itself can trigger mental illness or increase levels of alcohol and drug abuse.
..... Shelter leaders repeatedly mentioned treating mental illness as an unmet need in their facilities.
..... At Joseph's House, a 90-bed low-barrier shelter in Camden, executive director Colandra Coleman wishes she had a mental health specialist on staff and someone to help refer people to the appropriate services they may need to treat their conditions.
..... "We're up more than we have ever been in the past with the number of severely mentally ill folks coming into the shelter, and we're not equipped to handle them, though we still take them," Coleman said. "they're coming to us with a wide range, from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, depression, the whole gamut."
..... A man with schizophrenia who refused medication would come to stay at Joseph's House at night, and shortly after arriving he would scream and try to set things or fire, Coleman said. He would agree to let the staff call the police to get him medical help, then refuse to speak with emergency personnel.
..... "There isn't anything we can do," she said.
..... In May, [2023] Governor Phil Murphy signed A4755, which allows behavioral and mental health providers to operate in homeless shelters. In the past, such services need to be housed in facilitates specifically licensed for that purpose.
..... "This is a game-changer for a lot of folks,: said Van Bloem, of Eva's Village. "We can have a psychologist come into the shelter and evaluate people, and we weren't able to do that before.
..... "Folks may not necessarily think they need mental health services and may have reservations about dealing with the medical industry as a whole," Van Bloem said. "So if someone can come int the shelter, it just makes that conversation easier and makes people more open to talking to people trying to help them."
..... Eva's Village and Bergen County's homeless shelter also recently received grants that allow them to treat people with opioid addictions with Memedication-Assisted Treatment, or to prescribe medicine such as buprenorphine,, methadone or naltrexone alongside counseling and behavioral therapies.
..... "If we can get their cravings and everything under control, then a lot of times we can help address their mental health challenges," Van Bloem said.

Those who are pregnant or older

..... Philips, at HomeFront, said the shelter is housing some pregnant mothers who are addicted to opioids and are trying to get clean before they have their babies. Her dream is to start an aftercare program that checks in on the mothers after they leave the shelter - most stay 90days or so - to make suer they remain connected to services during the difficult period to prevent relapses.
..... Many shelters also serve an older population and are not equipped to deal with their specialized needs, such as health conditions or mobility constraints.
..... The Housing, Health & Human Services Center in Hackensack was referred a 96-year-old man a couple of weeks ago. [12/2023]
..... "People are outliving their incomes and their spouses, and their benefits are not adequate for them to remain housed," said director Julia Orlando.
..... Orlando is also seeing an increase at the shelter of people with intellectual disabilities, often adult children who live with their older parents. It was taking shelter staff six months to navigate the complicated system of care for those with disabilities, but recently the support coordinator agency Infinity Today has placed an expert in the shelter to help fill out medicaid applications and other forms needed to obtain the services the families need.

Becoming more flexible

..... Finding affordable housing remains a challenge, as New Jerseyans face denials from landlords based on their credit scores or eviction histories, or from property owners who don't want to accept public assistance - a stance that is illegal in New Jersey - and rising rents that vouchers don't cover.
..... And that's when families are actually able to obtain public help.
..... At the beginning of the year, [2023] more than 140,000 people filled out applications for the waiting list of the state's largest Housing Choice Voucher program - also known as Section 8 - run by the department of Community Affairs.
..... The agency accepted 20,000 families to the waiting list. Of those, the stater expects to give vouchers to 11,500 households - over the next two years.
..... But state officials say they are asking for feedback from people who have experienced homelessness about what isn't working, and are trying to be more flexible with funds to get people the help they need when they need it.
..... "There is the difficulty people have in accessing our services due to what we demand that they bring: We have people who are in a major crisis, and we say, 'Well, I hope you have a big box full of documents, and I hope they're all up to date and also that we don't lose them'" said Janel Winter, assistant commissioner of the DCA.
..... The DCA launched programs to help families obtain necessary documents required for public assistance, as well as street outreach teams to quickly provide case management and flexible funds to people sleeping on the streets. These efforts have led to a 20% increase in the past year [2023] of people who have made use of homelessness prevention services.
..... "We also heard a lot about some of the issues people have, like car broke down, they need new tires, they need a veterinarian for their pet,: Winter said. "We don't have a car fixing program" at the DCA, "so what we're learning is that we have to find ways to be more flexible. We have to stop saying, 'Well the rules say we can't do this,' and really look and say, 'Do the rules say that?'"
..... Reaching people as early as possible makes it easier to prevent homelessness, and state officials say their efforts pushing out aid have led to a drop in the number of people sleeping on the streets in the past year. [2023]
..... The state found a 23.4% drop from the first nine months in 2022 to 2023 by analyzing long-term data reported by shelters that interview people previously unsheltered, and outreach teams that fan out across the state. The office counted 10,014 unsheltered people in 2022 and 7,669 in 2023.
..... Advocates are please with the progress but say there is still work to be done.
..... Over the state Legislature's lame-duck session, short-term goals include passing A5549, which would extend emergency assistance aid for certain people in danger of becoming homeless, said Arnold Cohen, senior policy adviser for the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey.
..... The network of housing providers would also like to see a "Code Red" bill - which would lower barriers for people who need shelter during hot temperatures - to include other circumstances in which it is unsafe or unhealthy to be outside, such as during the smoky skies the Canadian wildfires brought earlier this year. [2023]

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