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Q&A
Discussion on the Enhanced Client Placement Support program
1:11:01
·
4 min
Council Member Diana I. Ayala inquires about the Enhanced Client Placement Support program announced by DHS, expressing concerns about potential increased street homelessness. Commissioner Molly Wasow Park and Administrator Jocelyn Carter respond, explaining the program's intent, implementation plans, and accountability measures.
- The program aims to build a culture of accountability without increasing unsheltered homelessness
- It focuses on supporting clients, providers, and DHS to achieve permanent housing solutions
- Implementation includes training, provider support, and a multi-step process before any discontinuance of shelter services
Diana I. Ayala
1:11:01
In March of this year, DHS announced a new pilot program, Enhanced Client Placement Support, which would allow DHS to evict shelter residents who are out of compliance with certain rules.
1:11:10
DHS has said that this program is designed to build a culture of accountability.
1:11:14
However many advocates have expressed alarm that the policy would lead to increased street homelessness.
1:11:20
What is the budget for this program and where are the funds allocated in HRA's budget and in which fiscal years?
Molly Wasow Park
1:11:28
I'm going to start.
1:11:29
I'm going pass it over to Administrator Carter.
1:11:31
This is so this will be run out of our shelter operations team and with support from the DSS Office of Legal Affairs.
1:11:42
I have head count numbers.
1:11:43
I don't have exact dollars.
1:11:44
We can certainly circle back with that.
1:11:47
But I'd like Administrator Carter to really talk about the program and how we see it working because we absolutely do not intend this to increase unsheltered homelessness.
1:11:57
We think this is something where we're anticipating very high levels of engagement and control, and if we saw anything like that that that would be a real issue for us and we would of course correct.
Jocelyn Carter
1:12:09
Thanks commissioner.
1:12:11
One of the things that we were really intentional about is looking at this as client support, right, not sanctions.
1:12:21
So if we are in the pilot seeing lots of discontinuances, then we're doing something wrong, right.
1:12:29
So the idea behind this when we really thought about this, and I was here in DHS where we had sanction, client responsibility, right.
1:12:36
It was really about, you know, clients and what we have now revamped it is, you know, we accountability to, you know, for us, DHS, for the providers and for clients.
1:12:47
So, it's a three prong program and it's not really you're not doing something right clients, right.
1:12:52
We want to hold our providers accountable.
1:12:54
We want to hold DHS accountable and certainly the clients accountable, but we want to make sure that our providers are supporting the clients so that they can actually exit shelter to permanency.
1:13:05
So that's the goal.
1:13:06
The goal is not to put people on the street, right.
1:13:08
If I'm seeing that, then we are failing, right.
1:13:11
So, right now we're in a training stage.
1:13:14
We're not implementing until July, right, because we want to make sure that we've trained ourselves up.
1:13:19
So, it is staff that we have hired, so we have a team now at DHS that they staff a variety of staff plus our legal partners at DSS that's really looking at what is the work that needs to happen to support providers so that they know what do you have to do.
1:13:34
We have stages of housing that they should be going through and documenting that this is happening.
1:13:40
We are doing lots of work on the ground in our provider spaces that we are seeing, well, how do you really do independent living plans?
1:13:46
Are you really doing the work?
1:13:48
Because, right, you were saying, you know, clients are not searching, but have we told them?
1:13:51
Have we showed them?
1:13:52
That's the work that we are doing.
1:13:54
And so, is moving towards, you know, discontinuous is the last thing I want to see happen.
1:13:59
The piece other piece to it that we want to do is to keep our facilities safe.
1:14:03
So, there's a gross misconduct piece of it, right?
1:14:06
And so, we want to reduce gross misconducts and we want to move to discontinue, we want to not reduce discontinuous.
1:14:12
That's the absolute goal.
1:14:13
So, if we have done, you know, the training, if we have worked with providers and they haven't moved towards that, then they're not going to be able to discontinue clients because you haven't done the work, right.
1:14:24
So, that's the first thing to remember.
1:14:25
We're holding everyone accountable in this program.
1:14:29
So, if if they're not doing it, I'm looking at the team saying what you know, you're not doing the work too, right.
1:14:34
So, it's a whole comprehensive program.
1:14:36
If we have not done the work, that's one piece, but if we have and then there's you know there's a hole, then we have to plug that hole.
1:14:46
We will support providers.
1:14:47
We have an office of accountability where we'll move providers towards that track to really help tighten what they need to do.
1:14:53
If we do get to a discontinuance, there's a first level.
1:14:57
There are conferences that will happen.
1:14:59
We'll escalate that up.
1:15:00
We'll look at is the apartment really suitable and suitable means is the rent, you know, can they really pay that rent?
1:15:05
Is there a safety issue?
1:15:06
Is it an apartment that they can actually move into because it's not, you know, can you use that apartment?
1:15:12
Is it safe, right?
1:15:13
So it's not just you're going to do this.
1:15:15
So we have a whole process.
1:15:16
So we are evaluating throughout the entire year do we have to tweak anything?
1:15:21
So our expectation, know, we've talked a lot in this program with, you know, and I know the idea that happened years ago, that's not what we want to replicate.
1:15:30
So, the idea is not sanction, but move to permanency.
1:15:34
That's the idea of this program.
1:15:36
So, ECPS for me is not put people on the street.
1:15:40
If that's happening we have failed.
1:15:41
So, it's to move people to prominency.
1:15:43
That's the goal of the program.