How IHS Contributes to the Ten Essentials

Ending homelessness in Hawaii

IHS has adopted a systematic approach to ending homelessness in urban Honolulu based on the Ten Essentials offered by the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

Plan: IHS supports Hawaii’s Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness. This is accomplished by: Participating in the development and implementation of local strategies focused on providing safe respite for unsheltered homeless by removing barriers to stable, affordable housing; preventing homelessness before it happens; promoting greater self-sufficiency; build resiliency to homeless vulnerability.  We do all of this by offering emergency food and shelter, housing placement programs and other supportive services, and tailoring programs to special needs of subpopulations of homeless persons (families with children, mentally ill, substance abusers, released offenders, and at-risk for homelessness).  We also offer leadership in homeless service planning forums sponsored by our local Partners in Care Continuum of Care, and we participate in Honolulu’s application to the federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Homeless Programs.

Data: IHS participates in the State’s homeless data gathering efforts by entering service data in the State’s Homeless Management of Information System (HMIS), which is used as the basis for the University of Hawaii’s Center on the Family’s annual report on Homeless Service Utilization.  Our agency also collects and reviews our own data for trends and outcomes with which to develop new programs and to evaluate them.  We also participate in the City and County’s Point-in-Time Counts, which HUD uses to determine Honolulu’s pro-rata share of funding for homeless services.

Emergency Prevention: IHS offers a Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program that assists households experiencing significant, but temporary, setbacks in rent due to job loss, reduction in hours, medical events, etc.  Our TANF (Temporary Aid to Needy families) Housing Placement Program also offers rental subsidies for those moving from one rental to another.  Both programs have income-related eligibility criteria and help to prevent evictions by offering support for negotiating with landlords.

Systems Prevention: IHS triages all guests that enter our shelter in order to provide referrals to resources that are most likely to help the individual.  We also interface and collaborate with hospital emergency rooms, mental health facilities, jails, and prisons to reduce the likelihood of persons becoming chronically homeless.

Outreach: IHS conducts outreach in collaboration with nursing and medical students in neighboring parks and areas, and collaborates with other agencies delivering homeless outreach, to encourage entry into shelter services or access to appropriate mental health, substance abuse treatment, housing, and employment.

Services: Case Managers who serve as “life coaches” assist clients with accessing mainstream programs like TANF, Social Security Insurance (SSI), Medicaid or MedQuest, Food stamps, etc.  At our shelter, families also access parenting and financial management classes, and employment support. Academic support for children is provided through Headstart and Homework Club programs.  Prior to being housed, many of our shelter guests and our Housing programs’ participants learn more about the rights and responsibilities of being good tenants.

Permanent Housing: Persons and families are assisted with access to permanent or transitional housing through our Housing Placement support, and Shelter Plus Care Programs in the case of those who are chronically homeless and live with disabilities.  IHS also advocates with policy makers to take consistent steps toward funding and developing more permanent affordable housing for low-income households.

Shorten Homelessness: IHS assesses lengths of stay in our shelter programs monthly, and short-term goals are developed with guests with the intent to end homelessness as soon as possible. Outcomes tailored for each program are reviewed quarterly and these might include: Achievement or maintenance in housing, access to primary care, employment or educational activities, and increase or maintenance of income.

Rapid Re-Housing: If permanent housing is not readily available for shelter families, they are often referred to transitional housing programs to continue supporting the development of self-sufficiency skills.  Individuals may also be referred to clean-and-sober housing as a next step toward more permanent housing.

Enhancing Income: IHS Employment Program assists those who are seeking work and helps them prepare themselves for a job search, interviews, and sustaining employment once they achieve it.  Plans are developed to target increasing income and learning to manage resources more effectively to achieve an affordable lifestyle.