From Harford County Government:
BEL AIR, Md., (Feb. 17, 2015) – The Harford County Department of Community Services coordinated the annual Point-in-Time Homeless Count in Harford County on the evening of January 29, 2015. Teams of community volunteers, homeless service providers, county government employees and police officer escorts were joined by County Executive Barry Glassman, County Councilman Mike Perrone Jr. and Councilman Chad Shrodes to conduct the street count. Data was also collected from community partners providing services for the homeless.
Overall results from the Point-in-Time Homeless Count showed a total of 210 homeless persons in Harford County, a decrease from the 2014 total of 223. A breakdown of these numbers indicates that 90 adults and 56 children were sheltered and receiving comprehensive support services on the night of the count, 32 adults and 29 children had been temporarily placed in motels and 3 single adults were found living outside.
“While there is still much work to be done in Harford County, we are pleased that our homeless numbers showed a decrease from last year, in line with national trends such as those reported by the National Alliance to End Homelessness,” said Amber Shrodes, director of the county Department of Community Services.
During the count, street outreach teams distributed donated hats, gloves, coats, blankets, personal care items, food and bus vouchers to the homeless people they encountered. Remaining donations were shared with community shelter providers.
The annual homeless count allows Harford County to secure the federal, state and local funding necessary to serve this vulnerable population. The data collected also allows the community to strategically plan for the future needs of its citizens.
Each year, the Harford County Department of Community Services works with community and faith-based agencies to help families avoid homelessness. When tough times happen to families, the Department works closely with its partners to make sure funding can be accessed at various locations throughout the county. Through these partnerships, homeless individuals and families are able to develop life skills, find employment opportunities and achieve self-sufficiency by obtaining safe, affordable housing. The Department also helps divert individuals with mental health issues away from the criminal justice system and into treatment, which reduces recidivism and increases stability.
There are 13 emergency, transitional and permanent supportive shelters in Harford County, offering a total of 241 beds for homeless adults, children and families. In fiscal year 2014, the shelters provided 386 families, or 538 people, with 40,238 emergency shelter or transitional housing bed nights for an average stay of 75 nights per person. In 2014, the Harford County Department of Community Services provided more than a $1 million in homeless program funding, which assisted such organizations as Alliance, Inc., Faith Communities and Civic Agencies United, Inc. (FCCAU), Associated Catholic Charities Inc./Anna’s House, the Sexual Assault/Spouse Abuse Resource Center (SARC), Homecoming Project, Inc., and Harford Family House, Inc.
The Harford County Department of Community Services would like to publicly thank all of the community volunteers, homeless service providers and police officers from the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, the Havre de Grace Police Department, the Aberdeen Police Department and the Bel Air Police Department who made this year’s homeless count respectful, safe and successful.
To learn more about homeless services in Harford County, visit http://www.harfordcountymd.gov/services/downloads.cfm?FormID=2342, or call the Department of Community Services at 410-638-3389.
Were the individuals found living outside unwilling to accept a shelter placement? It sounds like there’s available space. It’s too cold to be out overnight without proper equipment. How does this work when it’s this cold? Can we get them some help somehow? Is there someone in regular contact with them?
Keep in mind that not all of the county money goes to direct service. The agencies take their “cut” for administration. At least one of these agencies is notoriously high in their indirect costs. Sounds like if we water down the amount of funding to a greater number of agencies, we run the risk of delivering less direct service to a very vulnerable population. It also costs the county more in staff time overseeing contracts, reporting and accountability. As a community, we can do better. I would love to see one main entity responsible for homeless services, similar to Healthcare For the Homeless in Baltimore City. I also believe it would be better off without ties to county government.
Nearly all grants stipulate the percentage or dollar amount that can be put toward administrative costs, and it is not discretionary, while multiple layers may utilize more administrative costs, there is no ability to skim more money by organizations.
The issues that create homelessness are very complex, and become even more complex when you have conversation about public/private and funding. Most of the hardest to house have outstanding issues that prevent them from being housed easily.
While I agree that most direct services should be done by private organizations, they tend to also use private funding, which can be hard to maintain when you’re talking about funding services for substance abusers, sex offenders, etc, which is why government is often involved– which of course also has its own complications.
No easy answers, unfortunately.
Which agency is high in their admin costs?
So, seems to me that there are a ton of “shovel ready” jobs available in the County / State.
See where I am going with this? Even flipping burgers would do them good.
If you can dodge a wrench…you can dodge a ball
All well and good but if you ran that business, would you want to have a substance abuser giving your family and other customers their Mickey D burger or tightening your brakes? Like it was stated, complex issues and unfortunately a job is not the answer to this question. They need to get well before they can move on. While no fan of sex offenders at all, they are even harder to place and will more than likely be on Govt assistance their entire lives since their options for employment are so limited to transient low wage jobs. Unless you are directly willing to step up, the County is their last resort.
Yes, homelessness is a very complex issue. There is no one face of homelessness. That’s why doing the count in the current manner gives us inaccurate data. We miss the homeless families, teens who are thrown out of the house and go from friend’s couch to friend’s couch. I’ve been in the human service field for many years and have seen countless stories of homelessness. Some will never avail themselves to staying in a shelter but they could still get whatever services they feel safe enough to get. I invite anyone who wants to see a good homeless program, go to Baltimore City and learn about the resources they provide. With a consolidated funding stream, they are able to spend less on duplicative administrative costs and more on the people in need of these services.
There are a lot of complaints about doing the count at the time and in the manner it is done, in many jurisdictions. Generally the main complaint is that by doing it in the winter you underestimate the number of homeless because many resort other means of shelter because of the cold.
I’d say the counter argument to that is that by doing it in the winter, rather than the summer for example, you get a picture of the MOST desperate cases of the homeless in the community– ie, the people who need the most help and literally have no other option.
Additionally, the count is just one of several, dozens I believe, factors that are considered when funding decisions are made.
What needs to happen to help homeless in our community