HOME IS IN SIGHT

Lake County’s 10 Year Plan to End

Homelessness

Continuum of Care Lake County, Ohio

October 1, 2010
 Home Is In Sight

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary…………………………………………………………………….. ……… 3

The Team ………………………………………………………………………………………... 7

Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………. 8

Prevention ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 14

Outreach …………………………………………………………………………………………. 17

Emergency Shelter ……………………………………………………………………………… 23

Transitional Housing ……………………………………………………………………………. 26

Permanent Supportive Housing ……………………………………………………………….. 29

Supportive Services …………………………………………………………………………….. 30

Ongoing Process ………………………………………………………………………………… 36

Appendix ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 39

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Need
Homelessness and the myriad of problems that it creates is a concern for Lake County, the
state of Ohio and has become a national dilemma. The social and financial costs of
homelessness are often starkly visible on our streets, but many hidden costs of homelessness
burden our pocketbooks and strain our communities‟ budgets. Although the majority of our
citizens are able to meet their basic needs and live in adequate housing that is safe, sanitary
and secure, there are significant numbers, many of whom may be our friends and neighbors,
who struggle each day to maintain homes for themselves and their families.

The 2009 Lake County statistics reveal:

 Nearly 18,000 Lake County citizens were living in poverty,

 25,000+ free meals were served to individuals and families in need in Lake County,

 3,500 residents requested help during the year to prevent eviction,

 More than 6,000 households required help in 2009 with paying rent or utility costs,

 1,695 Lake County families lost their homes in foreclosure,

 Over 2,200 calls were made to 2-1-1 from county residents seeking information on
emergency shelter.

Within Lake County the situation surrounding homelessness is becoming more serious every
day. Foreclosures, unemployment, catastrophic medical expenses, and extensive housing cost
burdens can result in people being forced into situations of homelessness or near
homelessness. The costs associated with homelessness, both visible and hidden, are straining
our municipal budgets and stretching the capacity of our existing services. Throughout the
nation the „best practices‟ undertaken by progressive municipalities and social service
organizations have found that preventing homelessness is a far more cost-effective solution
than simply waiting to address homelessness after the fact. Not all who are poor or need
assistance from social services agencies end up homeless, but there is a direct link between
poverty and its causes and homelessness.
Working to address these root causes helps
prevent homelessness and reduces the
number of our county‟s citizens who are at-
risk.

The Players
The Lake County Continuum of Care is a
cooperative organization of government
agencies and non-profit service organizations
with the expertise to develop programs to
address homelessness. Its members have
been assigned the responsibility of identifying
the basic root causes of homelessness and

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developing the programs and methods to better support the needs of the homeless and those
who are on the verge of becoming homeless. Under the umbrella of the Lake County
Commissioners‟ Federal Grants Office, the Continuum of Care has worked with and included
representation from organizations as varied as Extended Housing, Inc., Project Hope for the
Homeless, the Salvation Army of Painesville, and New Directions for Living. The City of Mentor,
Lake Metropolitan Housing Authority , Fair Housing Resource Center, Inc., Lake County
Planning Commission, the Adult Parole Authority, and the Lake County Alcohol, Drug Addiction
and Mental Health Services (ADAHMS) Board have also been instrumental in providing input
and developing this plan (For a complete list of participating organizations, please see The
Team section on page 7.) This team of dedicated professionals began working together in April,
2010 to develop a 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness which will be the framework to address
the current issues of homelessness and to implement more effective solutions to prevent
homelessness in the future.

Our Actions
The Continuum of Care assessed the current state of homelessness in Lake County and the
effectiveness of the current programs in place. Continuum members examined among other
things poverty statistics, housing data and the types of citizens using the existing public services
that are available. These existing public services have been grouped into six key components
that form the support structure necessary to adequately serve those in need.

The six key components this plan addresses are:

 Outreach – actively seeking out those people who are currently homeless and
identifying those who are at-risk or on the verge of becoming homeless,
 Prevention – providing financial assistance with housing cost burdens such as rent and
utilities payments, working with property owners to prevent eviction that would cause
homelessness, and assisting with foreclosure prevention,
 Emergency Shelter – providing temporary shelter to homeless citizens and victims of
domestic violence and other crisis situations along with referrals to other services to
address immediate needs for employment, mental/physical health, etc.,
 Transitional Housing – offering affordable below-market rental housing coupled with
ongoing life skills counseling with the goal of helping individuals and families become
self-sufficient,
 Permanent Supportive Housing – provides assistance to find and maintain affordable
rental housing along with specialized ongoing support services to those homeless
persons with persistent and severe mental illnesses or physical disabilities
 Supportive Services – provide a broad spectrum of help such as medical, dental and
mental health services, employment services, as well as commodities such as food,
furniture, education, and day care, to assist those in need to become and remain stable
and to develop self-sufficiency.

Our Findings

Data was collected on the local level for each of the six components listed above. The data was
then used to benchmark our local processes against those processes of other organizations
doing the same work elsewhere. The goal was to evaluate the effectiveness of our current
efforts, identify those services or programs that will be a positive addition to our current
repertoire of services offered and to develop methods to continuously improve the services that
are offered. Given limited funding and other resources available, we will prioritize the needs

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listed below by giving preference to those items that satisfy an urgent need or those that will
best prevent homelessness in the future.

The following highlights gaps identified in our current processes that need to be addressed in
the future:

Outreach

 Regular ongoing outreach education is needed throughout the community to develop an

understanding of the issues surrounding homelessness and to further help the
community understand their roles and responsibilities in this issue.
 Those organizations involved in the identification of homeless citizens must find methods
to fund programs focused on those persons who are “At Risk” and who do not meet
guidelines for other programs.

Prevention

 Improve our process for recovering security deposits from landlords

 Improve coordination between agencies focused on prevention
 Benchmark other communities‟ prevention programs to identify new approaches and
process improvements

Emergency Shelter

 Provide 24 hour emergency shelter rather than the approximately 12 hours of shelter
currently available
 Expand current emergency shelter to include more than the 35 beds it has today (or
identify alternative ways to house the homeless)
 Provide separate emergency shelter for homeless families

Transitional Housing

 Provide additional programs for pregnant women who are homeless

 Provide a transitional housing program for single men

Support Services

 Offer representative payee service to help the mentally ill stay current with their financial
obligations
 Provide medication reminder calls to those for whom controlling mental illness is
dependent on regular medication
 Provide the homeless with public transportation to help them get to job interviews, jobs,
medical appointments
 Expand Day Shelter or develop a Community Center
o Provide mailboxes for the homeless
o Offer day time access to showers, washers & dryers, computers
o Provide daycare services
 Expand dental care to include adults, rather than just children

Additionally, Continuum members identified the need to improve our ability to respond to
emergencies such as local natural disasters, etc. Two recent incidents, the 2006 flood of the

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Grand River in Painesville and the 2009 train derailment, highlighted gaps in our ability to
maintain services to the homeless.

Next Steps
Starting in 2011, the Continuum will focus on generating more community recognition and
involvement in addressing the issues facing the homeless, developing its crisis management
process, identifying funding sources and outlining a process for the ongoing review and revision
of our 10- Year Plan that will help us predict and respond to changing needs within Lake
County. Preliminary work done by Continuum members identified the following potential
components:

 Develop a sound process to review existing programs and work with Continuum
members to use proven techniques like benchmarking and peer review to revise their
approaches to better suit the community‟s changing needs,

 Improve our data collection process to make it easier to identify trends and to define
success criteria that can be used to evaluate the impact of any changes made,

 Community involvement should include a two way communication process that lets the
community express their concerns and needs while allowing the Continuum to
communicate its current activities to address those needs,

 Crisis management coordination will require the Continuum to

use data effectively to predict problems and mobilize its membership to
proactively address any urgent needs related to the homeless,

 Funding is critical to the success of all the programs addressing

the needs of the homeless. Ideas for how the Continuum could
support the funding process include providing technical assistance in
seeking funds, identifying funding strategies other communities have
used successfully and identifying new funded programs and initiatives
that may help solve problems we face.

Continuum members believe the above approach will bring much needed process to the work of
the Lake County Continuum of Care and much benefit to the broader community as we become
even more effective and efficient at addressing the root causes behind homelessness. We also
see having more direct community involvement via ongoing feedback loops as an important
addition that will help us develop practical and cost-effective solutions.

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THE TEAM
Continuum of Care 10-Year Plan Project Team
The following organizations were primary contributors to the work required to draft Lake
County‟s 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness. From mid-April, 2010 until September, 30, 2010
Directors and staff members from these agencies joined Marian Norman from the Lake County
Federal Grants Office and participated in bi-weekly working sessions to complete the plan.

Adult Parole Authority Extended Housing, Inc. Fair Housing Resource Center
Jeremiah Houser, Parole Officer Karen McLeod, Executive Director Patricia Kidd, Executive Director
Phone: 440-357-5040 Phone: 440-352-8424 Phone: 440-392-0147
http://www.drc.ohio.gov/web/apa.htm www.extendedhousing.org www.fhrc.org

Forbes House Homeless Outreach Council Lake County ADAMHS Board

Mary Barnes, Executive Director
Phone: 440-357-1018
www.forbeshouse.org
Dave Mattis, Representative Kim Fraser, Executive Director
Phone: 440-352-0034 Christine Ernst, Director of Quality &
Clinical Operations
Phone: 440-350-2198
www.lakeadamhs.org

Lake County Free Clinic
Johanna Henz, Executive Director
Phone: 440-352-8686
www.lakefreeclinic.org
Lake County Commissioners‟ Lake County Department of
Federal Grant Office Job and Family Services
Marian Norman, HOME Investment Matthew Battiato, Director
Partnerships Program Manager Ed Smith, Social Services Supervisor
Continuum of Care Chairperson 440-350-4000
Phone: 440-350-2756 www.2.lakecountyohio.org/jfs/
www.lakecountyohio.gov

Lake County Planning Lake Metropolitan Housing Lifeline, Inc.

Commission Authority Carrie Dotson, Executive Director
Jason Boyd, Director Steven Knotts, Executive Director Phone: 440-354-2148
Phone: 440-350-2740 Phone: 440-354-3347 www.lclifeline.org
www.lakecountyohio.gov www.lakehousing.org

City of Mentor New Directions for Living Pathways, Inc.

Tom O‟Hara, Planner Betty Jurkowski, Executive Director Penny Kidder, Clinical Director
Phone: 440-974-5740 Phone: 440-357-6142 Phone: 440-918-1000
www.cityofmentor.com www.newdirectionsforliving.org www.pathwaysinc.com

Project Hope for the
Homeless
Judy Burr, Executive Director
Phone: 440-354-6417
www.projecthopeonline.org
Salvation Army of Painesville
Nick Gilpin, Social Service Director
Phone: 440-354-3774
www.use.salvationarmy.org
United Way of Lake County
Deborah Foley, President
Jean Argo, Community Impact
Director; AFL-CIO Liaison
Phone: 440-352-3166
www.uwlc.org

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INTRODUCTION
The Need

Homelessness continues to be a serious concern nationally, throughout all parts of our state
and here in Lake County. The primary causes of homelessness, a lack of good paying jobs and
affordable housing, mental illness and drug/alcohol abuse, are difficult to overcome. The social
and financial costs of homelessness are often starkly visible on our streets, but many hidden
costs burden our pocketbooks and strain our communities‟ budgets. Not all of our citizens are
able to live in adequate housing that is safe, sanitary and secure. There are significant
numbers, many of whom may be our friends and neighbors, who struggle each day to maintain
homes for themselves and their families. They have no choice but to turn to Lake County‟s
government and social services agencies for help.

A review of data related to calls taken by 2-1-1, Lake County‟s community referral service and
data collected by other agencies in our county shows the breadth and depth of the overall need
here. The following statistics were reported for 2009:

 Over 8.5% of Lake County‟s citizens were living in poverty,

 More than 25,000 free meals were served in soup kitchens and on the street to
individuals and families in need,

 3,500 residents requested help during the year to prevent eviction from their homes,

 1,695 Lake County families lost their homes in foreclosure, compared to 864 in 2004
and 580 in 2000,

 Over 2,400 calls were made to 2-1-1 from county residents who indicated they were
homeless or on the verge of homelessness at the time of the call,

 During the 2009-2010 HEAP Winter Crisis Season, 1,464 households received
$315,193 in direct assistance to prevent utility disconnections.

The 2010 year-to-date data indicate that those citizens who have low education levels and are
poor continue to be hit the hardest in these tough economic times. With unemployment
hovering around 10% nationally, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the unemployment
rate for people with less than a high school diploma was 14% in August, 2010 compared to just
4.6% for those workers with a bachelor‟s degree or higher1. Additionally, as unemployment
rises, the number of households without health insurance also goes up. The majority of those
who are uninsured have a household income under $25,000, represent 26.6% of the U.S.
population2 and are the ones most at-risk for homelessness. In Lake County, the 2000 Census
data showed 21,219 adults over the age of 25 did not have a high school diploma or its
equivalent and 20.5% of households reported incomes under $25,0003. We must find cost
effective ways to help those at-risk today and prevent more from joining their ranks.

1
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table A-4 Employment status of the civilian population 25 years and
over by educational attainment, August, 2010; a copy is available in the appendix.
2
Kaiser Health News, Census Bureau: Recession Fuels Record Number of Uninsured Americans,
updated September, 2010; www.kaiserhealthnews.org
3
Ohio Department of Development Lake County Profile Report based on Census 2000 data.

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Working Toward Solutions

In order to qualify to receive the funding necessary to prevent homelessness and address the
many needs of those who are already homeless, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development requires each metropolitan area or county to organize a Continuum of Care (CoC)
responsible for coordinating the region‟s efforts. Lake County‟s Continuum of Care currently is
part of Ohio‟s Balance of State Continuum of Care (BOSCOC) along with 79 other counties.
BOSCOC covers all regions of the state and represents the diverse needs of its members. The
Ohio Department of Development, Office of Housing and Community Partnerships (ODOD) and
the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO) serve as the lead agencies for
the BOSCOC. Local CoCs address community-level planning, identify service gaps, and plan
and prioritize new and renewal homeless assistance projects. However, to compete for federal
funding available through the Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Programs, local CoCs in
these 80 Ohio counties participate in the BOSCOC.

The focus of these Continuum organizations is to identify the root causes behind homelessness
and develop programs that address those root causes. In addition to addressing housing for the
mentally ill and providing treatment for substance abuse, Lake County‟s Continuum of Care
coordinates a broad spectrum of services that work to prevent homelessness and provide
support to those needing shelter and help developing the skills required for independent living.

Across the U.S. most Continua have found

that two of the primary root causes require
even broader local support to address them
successfully. Those root causes are:

 A lack of jobs that pay a living wage

 A lack of affordable housing

According to the National Low Income

Housing Coalition‟s April, 2010 report,
nationally the average household hourly
wage for renters dropped from $14.69 in
2009 to $14.22 in 2010. Lake County‟s low
income residents face harsh realities. Here
the estimated household hourly wage for renters is $11.60 which means the average renting
household would have to work 49 hours each and every week just to pay for the typical two-
bedroom rental. In Lake County, 39% of our renting households are unable to afford the fair
market rent for this type of unit. For those earning the U.S. minimum wage of $7.30, the
average renting household here would have to work 77 hours each week just to pay for a two-
bedroom rental4.

Our county has several groups who are working on these two issues. The Coalition for Housing
and Support Services of Lake County, Inc. focuses its efforts on increasing the supply of
affordable housing and works with various agencies and non-profit organizations for which
housing is their primary mission. While there is no single organization coordinating the work to
bring more living wage jobs to our county, local municipalities‟ business development
departments, Department of Jobs and Family Services, the Building Trades Councils,

4
National Low Income Housing Coalition, Out of Reach 2010 Report, www.nlihc.org/oor/oor2010/

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Chambers of Commerce and other organizations are doing their best to address this need. The
chart below provides an overview showing the primary organizations contributing to these
causes.

Lake County’s Continuum of Care Organization

Lake County Commissioners’ Federal Grants Office
Lake County Planning Commission
City of Mentor Economic & Community Development Department
Focus: Planning, Program Development & Grants Administration

Lake County
Continuum of Care Various Lake County
The Coalition for Housing and Business Development
Support Services of Lake Focus:
Efforts
County, Inc. Homelessness
Focus: Living Wage
Focus: Affordable Housing Jobs
Outreach

Fair Housing Resource Center, Inc Prevention Lake County Job and Family
. Services
Lake Metropolitan Housing
Authority Emergency Shelter United Way of Lake County
Western Reserve Community Municipal Business Development
Development Corporation Transitional Housing
Chambers of Commerce
Extended Housing, Inc.
Permanent Building Trades Council
New Directions for Living, Inc. Supportive
Housing
Muni/County Zoning & Building
Departments
Supportive Services

The Lake County Continuum of Care continues to seek opportunities to encourage

communication, interaction and support between all the organizations whose work benefits the
homeless.

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Understanding the Problem

In April, 2010, Lake County‟s Continuum of Care started working to develop a ten year plan to
better address the needs of the homeless in this county. They identified six key components
that must be in place and functioning well to make a positive impact on the problem. The six
components are:

Outreach

Outreach efforts emphasize the following activities:

 Identifying those individuals and families that are currently homeless and other groups
with a high potential for becoming homeless

 Assessing these individuals‟ core physical and mental health needs

 Connecting those who are currently homeless with appropriate shelter options and other
services

 Providing those resistant to seeking emergency shelter with basic survival necessities

 Connecting those with a high potential for becoming homeless with agencies providing
programs that focus on preventing homelessness

 Educating members of the community on homelessness and what they can do to help

Prevention

Efforts aimed at preventing homelessness must intervene in an individual‟s or family‟s crisis at

the appropriate time. Intervene too early and efforts/money will be wasted on those who
ultimately would have found a way to handle the problem themselves. Intervene too late in the
crisis and the cost of resolving the problem increases significantly while chances for a positive
outcome decrease. In Lake County, the primary prevention efforts center on:

 Providing security deposits and first month rent to help at-risk individuals and families
transition to affordable housing

 Securing subsidized housing for those who are at-risk of homelessness

 Paying utility bills to prevent shut offs and negotiating payments plans

 Negotiating with landlords, financial institutions and other authorities to resolve other
issues that could lead to housing loss

Emergency Shelter

Efforts to provide emergency shelter include:

 Providing temporary housing for up to 90 days for those experiencing homelessness

or needing to flee domestic violence

 Assessing the root causes behind an individual or family‟s homelessness

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 Offering crisis intervention as needed

 Providing access to those supportive services that can quickly address issues

 Helping people find and maintain stable housing going forward by providing support
services via an After Care program

In Lake County, mental illness, substance abuse, low income, chronic joblessness and
domestic violence are key factors in precipitating a need for emergency shelter.

Transitional Housing

Transitional housing provides an interim step for those individuals and families facing serious
issues with maintaining stable housing. While taking part in a transitional housing program,
people receive the following types of support:

 Safe and sanitary housing

 Specialized coaching and counseling to address the root causes behind the client‟s
inability to maintain a stable home

 Reduced rents that gradually increase as clients stabilize in their situations and get a
better handle on managing their money

 Help in developing a realistic plan for exiting the program and maintaining their
independence

Permanent Supportive Housing

For many individuals experiencing a severe and persistent mental illness, permanent supportive
housing is the only option that gives them a reasonable chance at securing stable housing.
Typical permanent supportive housing programs provide:

 Housing with rental subsidies based on paying no more than 30-40% of one‟s income
for housing and utilities

 Help in securing disability benefits

 Regular access to mental health and medical services

 Ongoing support from a case manager who monitors stability and helps with any crisis
that may occur

Support Services

The broadest of all six components, support services, offers the homeless and those at risk of
becoming homeless a wide variety of helps and programs that address those issues that most
often lead to homelessness. These services include the following types of help:

 Education and Employment services such as adult basic education, career counseling,
job readiness training, computer literacy programs, resume writing and interview
coaching, and help in completing GED and college degree programs

 Medical services including the Free Clinic, referrals to medical specialists, dentists and

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mental health practitioners, medication management services, drug and alcohol
treatment, nutrition advice

 Financial support services include providing utility, rent and food assistance, financial
management workshops, credit establishment or repair programs, consumer education
programs and income maintenance help

 Personal Services and day shelter-type services including assistance with

transportation, daily living services such as hot meals, clothing, access to the furniture
bank, mailboxes, access to showers and laundry facilities via the Day Shelter, referrals
for affordable day care

The Continuum members worked together to assess the overall health and functioning of each
of the above components. Forming small teams, members identified the core processes
associated with each component and evaluated the current state of the services provided. As a
second step, these teams then sought out other Continuum organizations around the state and
country as they benchmarked Lake County‟s services against similar services provided
elsewhere. This work helped Continuum members identify ways to improve existing services
and highlighted additional services provided in other communities, but not here. The
benchmarking process also helped Continuum members establish contact with peers around
the state and the resulting conversations and comparisons proved to be beneficial for all
involved.

Developing the Plan

The Continuum members all agreed that Lake County‟s 10-Year Plan must not be a document
that, once completed, sits on a shelf gathering dust. Instead, the team believes it is important to
consider the plan a living document that will be reevaluated at least annually as the
homelessness situation changes over the next ten years.

The plan is structured around the six components necessary to address homelessness. Each
component section includes basic data showing the current level of need and our success at
meeting those needs. Information describing the existing programs is provided. Also included is
an explanation of any ongoing needs and process improvement opportunities that were
identified during benchmarking. Preliminary suggestions for developing solutions are
documented, but are expected to evolve as Continuum members continue to seek out and
implement best practice methods.

One of the main improvement opportunities identified by Continuum members is to implement a

process for soliciting more input from local city governments, the courts, the schools, civic
organizations and, of course, the general population of Lake County. We believe including
these groups as part of our problem solving process will enhance the viability of any proposed
solution and make it more palatable for local communities to support these efforts.

As Continuum members worked closely together to develop our county‟s 10 -Year Plan, they
began to realize the importance of structuring the Continuum of Care as a formal organization
charged with the responsibility of coordinating the dozens of agencies and non-profits who work
to support the homeless and play a role in making the county‟s 10 -Year Plan a success. Much
effort over the next few months will go toward defining the role and responsibilities of the
Continuum and its member organizations.

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PREVENTION
Overview

In Lake County homeless prevention efforts include the application of a variety of programs,
legal actions, and authority to assist individual and family households as they need help in
maintaining their current housing, obtaining appropriate affordable housing thus avoiding
homelessness, or rapidly re-entering the housing market and securing housing adequate to
meet their needs. These programs offer such things as financial help with security deposits,
first month‟s rent, rental subsidies and utility bills; no-interest loans to cover urgent family
expenses; and negotiations with landlords and lenders to prevent eviction and foreclosures.

Homeless prevention activities address our citizens‟ needs throughout the housing spectrum.
Households assisted are both owners and renters. Household size ranges from singles or
elderly living alone to large family households. Those needing help often present additional
challenges to meeting housing needs due to their physical, mental, or developmental
disabilities. Size of housing units (# Bedrooms) necessary to meet the needs of the varied
household sizes is one variable, income level;
affordability, accessibility, location and availability
are other key factors.

As the team painted the picture of the effectiveness

of homeless prevention, we compared data about
citizens at risk of losing their housing with the data
showing demographics of those households that
have been assisted. The number and percentage of
households by income level as well as by
community are shown in the appendix through
tables and maps. Data from 2000 Census through a
special HUD tabulation known as “State of the Cities
Data Systems: Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS)”
http://socds.huduser.org/chas/index.htm shows detailed demographic information and housing
affordability (income level and housing costs as a percentage of income level) on households of
various types: single, senior, family, renter, and owner. A few observations of Lake County
level data are shown below but similar data is available for the every city, village and township
in Ohio and throughout the United States. Community by community the percentages and
picture of lack of affordable housing is consistent.

 Of the county‟s 17,888 elderly owner households 11% are extremely low income
(≤30%AMI). Of this group 74% have unaffordable housing costs.
 Of the county‟s 20,184 renter households 15% are extremely low income (≤30%AMI).
Of this group 79% have unaffordable housing costs.
 Of the county‟s 20,184 renter households 55% are low income (≤80%AMI). Of these
low income renter households 55% have unaffordable housing costs.
 Increased income level improves but does not eliminate the problem.

Data from the 2010 Census and from the American Community Survey 2008-2009 is not yet
available, but estimates reveal low to flat growth rates. Increases in unemployment and poverty
have added to the demand for prevention services. Unemployment rates and the number of
persons unemployed have nearly doubled. These measures increased from 4.8% / 6,400 in
2006 to 8.6% / 11600 in 2009.

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From 2000 to 2008 the poverty rate in Lake County has increased from 5% to 8.5%. Our school
aged children have been affected even more so as the poverty rate increased from 7.9% in
2006 to 10.1% in 2008.

Additional Tables and Maps in the Appendix further demonstrate that these related issues of
homelessness, poverty, aging, housing affordability, and income level, will be best addressed
through a powerful coordinated strategic effort.

Current Efforts

Rental

Current efforts to meet the need of renter households include the provision of security deposits,
first month rent, and rental subsidy of short or long term duration. Additional financial
assistance is provided to prevent eviction, and cover heat and electric utility costs. The
adequacy, standard, decency, and safety of units in service must be ensured through an
inspection process by the entity providing funds, the agency administering them or the
community in which the housing unit is located.

Each community benefits from its residents young and old being housed in stable, decent, safe,
affordable housing. Affordability of the unit must be determined at point of application.
Affordability and accessibility must be determined and maximized to avoid reinvesting limited
resources in the same household and or housing unit. Ongoing contact (aftercare) with the
household following the provision of assistance will increase the likelihood of successful
outcomes since overcoming the crisis is only a part of the solution. Continued contact ensures
that households are linked to opportunities for education, income and additional resources
available via the Ohio Benefit Bank.

Entities providing funding, program design, enforcement, administration and implementation

toward the effort of rental homeless prevention include: Project Hope for the Homeless, Forbes
House, Lifeline, Inc., The Salvation Army, Fair Housing Resource Center, Inc., Extended
Housing, Inc., Lake County Church Network, Lake Metropolitan Housing Authority, Board of
Lake County Commissioners, (Federal Grants Office), Lake County Department of Job and
Family Services, City of Mentor (Community Development Department), United Way of Lake
County, Lake County Health District, and The State of Ohio Department of Development.

Owner

The relatively recent trend of increased foreclosures was caused by diverse factors across the
housing and financial services industries, a description of which is beyond the scope of this
plan. While some foreclosures have had an impact on the rental market, the most pronounced
effect in Lake County has been upon the average homeowner household. One near term result
of this trend is the destabilization of neighborhoods and of previously stably-housed households
of middle, moderate and low income. Increased unemployment and under-employment has
further contributed to this destabilization. Many of these households never had a need for
assistance, financial or otherwise and thus have never sought it and are uninformed of where to
begin.

Entities providing funding, program design, administration and implementation toward the effort
of owner homeless prevention include: Fair Housing Resource Center, Inc., The Board of Lake
County Commissioners, (Federal Grants Office), City of Mentor (Community Development
Department), United Way of Lake County, Lake County Sherriff‟s Office, and The State of Ohio
Department of Development and the State of Ohio Office of Attorney General.

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The provision of financial assistance to owners that continue to live in their homes has
developed rapidly to meet this emerging need. Programs have emerged at the federal, state
and local level that provide assistance in terms of direct financial assistance, housing
counseling, formal mediation through the court system, and agencies acting as an intermediary
between the lender and owner to obtain a loan modification. The alphabet soup of assistance
programs includes: ERMA, H4H, and HHF.

Additional programs exist in a variety of forms that allow owners to remain in their homes.
Housing Rehabilitation programs are in place to assist with the cost of maintaining a home
and/or modifying it to meet the needs of homeowners as they age or adapt to disabilities.
Demand for these programs exceeds current resources.

Ongoing Needs

The need for prevention continues across all types of households. During the benchmarking
process, the team identified the following opportunities:

 Improve coordination of funding and program delivery between agencies

 Improve and consolidate our prevention data collection efforts

 Add a follow up housing retention service to track families receiving prevention help and
their success in maintaining housing for 12 months

 Improve our process for recovering security deposits from landlords

 Improve education, training and advocacy efforts to preserve rental housing units by
informing tenants and landlords of their responsibilities and rights while reducing
behaviors that lead to eviction

 Improve education, training and advocacy efforts to preserve homeownership and avoid
foreclosure and promote potential homeownership as a responsible decision

 Develop a process to use focus group interviews with those who are homeless or on the
verge of being homeless to help us better understand the barriers and difficulties they
encountered

 Continue benchmarking other communities‟ prevention programs

Developing Solutions

Funding, linkages and interagency cooperation are all necessary to continue to help households
avoid that first brush with homelessness. Intervention must be timely and sufficient in order to
be effective. The cost of re-housing a household is significantly higher than preventing the loss
of housing.

Several historic dedicated funding streams that prevent homelessness are undergoing dramatic
changes; making solutions the focus rather than crisis management. In May 2009, President
Obama signed the Homeless Emergency and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act of
2009. This Act reauthorized e the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and made
substantial changes, including: expanding HUD‟s definition of homelessness and chronic
homelessness, consolidating HUD‟s competitive grants, increasing prevention resources, and
re-emphasizing performance.

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A barrier to obtaining and maintaining housing (rental or owner) is illegal discrimination. This
barrier is faced by many of our neighbors, our family and friends. Discrimination is prohibited
under the federal Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. Section 3601, et seq.) based on race, religion,
color, sex, national origin, familial status, and disability. Ohio law (O.R.C. Section 4112.02(H))
includes all of these grounds, as well as ancestry and military status. Local laws may provide
for additional protected classes. A complete analysis of the impediments to fair housing for
Lake County will be completed by year end 2010 and added to the data in the appendix.

The Lake County Continuum of Care through strong leadership and cooperative efforts with
front line agency providers will design, deliver and monitor programs to ensure continued
effectiveness and efficiency. Our citizens‟ homes whether rented or owned will be preserved.
Our citizens will be prepared to progress through the housing spectrum as their abilities allow.

OUTREACH
Overview

According to the web site sponsored by Projects for Assistance in Transition from
Homelessness (PATH), “Outreach and engagement involves meeting people where they are –
geographically, philosophically, and emotionally – in order to reduce barriers to care and link
people with appropriate housing and services.” For our purposes here, outreach has two
separate and distinct components:

 In-the-field, in-person outreach works to actively seek out homeless persons wherever
they may be and direct them toward appropriate shelter and services. In Lake County it
also includes:

 Ongoing follow-up provided to those individuals identified to make sure that

shelter and services are secured.

 In-reach efforts, whereby a homeless outreach worker is placed directly into a

facility used by homeless persons and the homeless person seeks out the
outreach worker to request assistance. For example, 2-1-1, Lake County‟s
community based information center, has trained its operators to provide referral
services for any caller indicating they are homeless or at-risk of becoming
homeless. For the purposes of this report In-reach has been incorporated into the
discussion of active outreach.

 The annual Point-In-Time count of the homeless is conducted each year in

January. The purpose of this count is to establish the actual number of homeless
persons at a particular point in time. The 2010 Point in Time data shown on
page 19 totals the number of homeless persons surveyed on January 27, 2010 in
Lake County. The count was conducted through surveys initiated by Project
Hope for the Homeless and Extended Housing. It attempts to quantify the
number of homeless persons in our community to allow for the efficient planning
of available resources. Additional information is gleaned through calls made to
2-1-1 requesting homeless services.

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 Outreach education, a form of indirect outreach, provides the general community with
education and information about homelessness and the issues surrounding it through a
variety of means. Local newspapers include information on 2-1-1, Project Hope for the
Homeless, and the domestic violence hotline. The Homeless Advisory Council, an
advocacy group that includes former and current homeless individuals, sponsors
community outreach events such as bake sales and winter coat drives to both increase
awareness and raise money to support grass roots efforts to provide essentials for the
unsheltered. Many organizations offer trained speakers who are available to present
information on homelessness to groups looking to learn more about the problem.

These two components of outreach are intertwined and the success of the overall plan is heavily
dependent upon the success of the outreach education efforts in the community.

The Data

In Lake County, Extended Housing, Inc. is responsible for the majority of active outreach,
including coordinating the Point-In-Time count. Their staff actively seeks out homeless persons,
particularly the mentally ill, wherever they may be and assists them in finding suitable shelter
and services. For example, in 2009, Extended Housing‟s outreach workers found:

PATH Program Homeless Outreach Statistics for Calendar Year 2009

 381 homeless or at-risk persons needing assistance

 74 persons exhibited the need for mental health services and were enrolled,

 25 clients were housed in the following Cities: 17 in Painesville, 4 in Fairport Harbor, 2 in

Mentor, 1 in Willoughby, and 1 in Eastlake,

 15 clients were provided with PATH financial assistance: 7 were provided Security
Deposits, 4 were provided 1st month rent and 4 were assisted in preventing their
eviction,

 16 clients were successful in gaining other housing assistance:

o Extended Housing provided housing for 5 persons directly

o 6 others were housed with PATH assistance;

o New Directions accepted 2 persons

o Forbes House, the local domestic violence shelter, accepted 2 clients

o 1 found housing through the Lake Metropolitan Housing Authority (LMHA).

Additionally, 2-1-1 data showed in 2009:

 2,476 callers inquired about services related to homelessness or preventing it

 2,070 asked specifically about emergency shelter

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The Point-in-Time Count completed on January 27, 2010 showed the following:

 7 households with dependent children in emergency shelters

 15 households with dependent children in transitional housing

 17 households without dependent children that were unsheltered

 17 persons in households with dependent children in emergency shelters

 36 persons in households with dependent children in transitional housing

 61 households without dependent children in emergency shelters

 69 sheltered homeless who are severely mentally ill

 28 sheltered homeless with chronic substance abuse

 8 sheltered homeless veterans

 12 sheltered victims of domestic violence

While these numbers help us understand that segment of

our county‟s population with current needs, we recognize
there is more we can do to monitor data over time to predict
trends and provide our county‟s agencies with information
on changing demographics.

Current Programs

Active Outreach

The main function by which Extended Housing identifies

those who are eligible for its permanent supportive housing
units is through its Homeless Outreach Program, which was
formerly known as PATH (Projects for Assistance in
Transition from Homelessness). This activity links newly identified mentally ill homeless
individuals with mental health and housing services. Extended Housing provides this homeless
outreach service through financial assistance from the Lake County ADAMHS Board and the
Ohio Department of Mental Health. Extended Housing also contracts with three local mental
health organizations, Neighboring, Pathways, and Signature Health, to provide a rotating staff
member to the Extended Housing offices to serve as a part-time intake worker for four hours
each per week. This arrangement allows each agency to provide a staff member to Extended
Housing once every three weeks. This arrangement has afforded the homeless, mentally ill
citizens of Lake County an opportunity to access more information and therefore more choices
regarding available services and it has also allowed the participating organizations to each
contribute toward active in-the-field outreach. This additional support helps Extended Housing,
Inc. offer regular “Walk-in Hours” to make it easy for those who are homeless or on the verge of
becoming homeless to stop in without needing an appointment and connect with organizations
that can help.

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The Homeless Outreach Program team (two outreach workers and a director) aggressively
seeks out homeless persons throughout Lake County – visiting places where homeless
individuals frequently gather, as well as locations such as the Salvation Army soup kitchen, bus
stops, and public libraries. When the Homeless Outreach Program team locates a homeless
person they will assist that client in applying for benefits and services. They provide the
expertise to explain various programs available to homeless persons and assist with program
applications. They will regularly accompany clients to various intake appointments and provide
support until individuals are successfully linked with services and housing. The Homeless
Outreach Program can also financially assist homeless persons with security deposits and help
potentially homeless persons with rent support to prevent evictions that would result in
homelessness. The Homeless Outreach Program may also provide supportive supplies,
including but not limited to, bus tokens, food and laundry vouchers and assistance in securing
necessary medications. Such supplies are often vital to the survival of chronic homeless
persons.

Extended Housing‟s Homeless Outreach Program is a unique asset to our community. The
Homeless Outreach Program provides services that are above and beyond the scope of
services found in communities elsewhere. The system empowers individuals to move from
homelessness to permanent housing within a dedicated support system.

Outreach Education

Outreach Education is the on-going effort to educate, inform and create awareness in the
community regarding the issues relating to homelessness and it further helps the community to
foster an understanding of homeless persons and their needs. Outreach Education also serves
the community as an active advocate for the Homeless. It can further include Homeless
Prevention activities and assist in policy making activities. In Lake County the following
agencies have taken on the responsibility for addressing these types of Outreach efforts:
Extended Housing, Forbes House, New Directions for Living, Project Hope for the Homeless
and the Salvation Army. The Homeless Advisory Council is also a valuable link in helping the
community understand issues facing homeless persons.

The performance of Outreach Education in Lake County is as varied as the organizations

performing it and range from activities such as Extended Housing‟s education outreach which
addresses local students in the classroom about the homeless to the Project Hope for the
Homeless Speaker‟s Bureau who provides a similar role by speaking primarily to the larger
community through church and civic groups. The Project Hope for the Homeless Speaker‟s
Bureau is composed of staff and board members, former shelter guests and volunteers, who
speak on average 2 times per month to churches, schools and others about homelessness,
homeless prevention, identification and related topics.

Outreach Education also covers the broader issues such as community awareness and
fundraising. Creating community awareness is an important aspect of Outreach Education and
assists in helping to overcome obstacles in the community. Within Lake County the opportunity
exists for a concerted and combined effort to educate the public about the issues facing
homelessness. Creating community awareness has also occurred through a number of
activities such as the “Chili on the Streets” event and the Homeless Advisory Council‟s May,
2010 bake sale which proved successful in providing outreach workers the opportunity to
discuss with the wider community the issues surrounding homeless outreach. The trending
nature of homeless activities in Lake County is that as one event or activity is deemed a
success the planning for another is underway and this aspect of Outreach Education will
continue to grow. The Homeless Advisory Council is currently working with outreach staff on

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further events that will create awareness and help overcome barriers. The participation of many
Lake County public service agencies in making the recent visit from Convoy of Hope a success
shows how successful cooperation between organizations can lead to successful outcomes. A
final aspect of the Outreach Education effort will be to establish regular and effective methods to
inform the community of the issues surrounding homelessness and to keep these issues
relevant in the community through positive media coverage.

Ongoing Needs

Through the daily performance of this active outreach service five core issues have been
identified:

 Safety of the outreach worker,

 Education of the community as a way of building awareness and tolerance

 Funding of the outreach efforts,

 How quickly the homeless are connected to needed services,

 How to expand the type of population served.

These core issues were used in developing benchmarks to gauge the effectiveness of outreach
efforts in Lake County as compared to other communities. It is evident through the research
compiled that Lake County has developed a successful model for homeless outreach for
mentally ill individuals, but it also became clear that it also needs to be expanded to further
assist the myriad of persons experiencing homelessness who are not mentally ill.

Both in terms of in-the-field and in-person Outreach efforts where direct contact with homeless
persons occurs, safety of the outreach worker is of paramount concern. Extended Housing
does have a safety policy in place that identifies that the following procedures shall be used.
Active in-the-field outreach consists of two outreach workers working together, and
communication by cell phone with the outreach workers shall be maintained. When outreach is
performed in-person in an office setting background checks on all eligible clients is performed,
visitor badges are required when on site, when bags are carried into the facility they are
checked-in, panic buttons are placed in the offices of the outreach workers, office doors have
windows for safety and visibility and the staff participates in annual safety training.

In benchmarking innovative best practices from communities elsewhere, services such as

showers, laundry facilities, hot meals and volunteer opportunities were provided to homeless
persons as part of outreach‟s efforts to connect the homeless with needed services. It was also
noted that similar to how outreach is performed in Lake County, a „best practice‟ was to house
the Outreach activities in an organization that was also a housing provider. Other „best
practices‟ identified were the writing of specific grants to serve populations that could not meet
the PATH guidelines for enrollment. These “At-Risk” grants were identified as an issue to
pursue in Lake County.

Process improvements or policy shifts identified through best practices benchmarking include:

 Expanding services to include access to daily free meals, showers, free laundry
facilities, and mailboxes; such services would help outreach workers connect the

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homeless they meet with immediate help and make any wait time between that first
meeting and when housing is available more tolerable,

 Enhancing the coordination of outreach services between organizations with each

tailoring their efforts according to their mission and the services provided, but with all
providing a consistent core message about how to get help in Lake County,

 Increasing the capacity of those organizations that work to directly serve homeless
persons or further educate the community regarding homeless issues,

 Expanding funding sources to provide money to address the needs those citizens
identified through outreach who are on the verge of homelessness,

 Exploring ways to include the Police Department in “ride along outreach efforts”. This
serves two purposes: the first is increased security for the outreach worker and the
second is to increase the knowledge of the police as to available homeless services and
programs.

This coordination of services, program growth

and increased organizational capacity is
necessary for the success of the overall plan. It
will be important in the future to refine and
further develop the specific expertise of each of
organization along with the role each
organization has in relation to other
organizations providing services to reduce
overlap, increase economies of scale and make
the best use of available resources.

The need for a day shelter with services was identified and as capacity grows within the larger
support community other more specialized shelters for special populations will be necessary.
Improved links to existing services was also identified as one of the ways to enhance service.
Improving shelter availability with walk-in hours was identified as necessary, outreach for
evening shelter services needs to be expanded and greater fundraising and networking events
need to be undertaken. Organizations who are specialized providers of housing will need to
expand their capacity and utilize their expertise in providing services to a wider array of persons,
such as the elderly, older single women, single men or youth. Organizations must refine their
outreach mission in relation to each other and a clear message will be sent to the community of
the needs of the homeless population and the responsibilities of the citizens.

Developing Solutions

Cooperation between agencies as evidenced in the successful Convoy of Hope Outreach event
conducted in June, 2010, is the model for the successful development and implementation of
strategies to end homelessness. Cooperation between the Board of Directors of the various
organizations is necessary to direct the limited resources toward their most beneficial uses. As
the roles of each organization are clearly established the responsibilities for their successful
implementation also become defined. Progress toward Outreach Education can be clearly

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observed in the number of speaking engagements undertaken by the organizations involved.
Progress toward in-the-field outreach is a matter of coordination and enhancement of the
current product being delivered. Monthly process flow meetings between the existing
organizations and coordinated through the Continuum of Care are necessary to refine the roles
and responsibilities of each participating organization, identify and eliminate redundancy and
fine tune current processes.

EMERGENCY SHELTER
Overview

Emergency shelter programs often represent our first point of contact with the homeless. In
Lake County, we have two emergency shelters: Project Hope for the Homeless and Forbes
House. Project Hope for the Homeless, whose facility has a total of 35 beds, offers emergency
shelter to men, women and their children. Forbes House provides emergency shelter for up to
30 victims of domestic violence and their children. Both shelters experience high demand for
their programs and in recent years have not been able to accommodate all who need their help.
The data below provide an indication of the levels of need that have remained unmet over the
past three years.

Project Hope for the Homeless Metrics 2009 2008 2007

# Calls for emergency shelter 2261 2098 1533
# Calls denied emergency shelter all reasons 1075 910 688
# Calls denied shelter due to lack of capacity 632 361 208
# Guests provided emergency shelter 270 296 279
Men 165 185 171
Women 82 81 78
Children 23 30 30
# of Shelter Guests with no income 165 200 200
% of Shelter Guests with no income 66.8% 75.2% 80%
% of Shelter Guests with mental health/drug/alcohol 66% 52% 63%
issues
% of Shelter Guests transitioning with a positive 51% 56% 61%
outcome
% of Shelter Guests who are veterans 12% 5% 11%
Forbes House Domestic Violence Shelter Metrics 2009 2008 2007
# Crisis calls made to the DV helpline 1842 1067 973
# Victims provided emergency shelter 182 130 169
Women 93 84 87
Children 89 46 82
# Victims accompanied through court process 240 202 126
# Interviews for Civil Protection Orders 30 136 65
# Non-resident women attending shelter‟s support 231 N/A N/A
groups

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Current Programs

Project Hope for the Homeless

Project Hope for the Homeless, Lake County‟s only homeless shelter, comes under the
umbrella of the Ecumenical Shelter Network, a non-denominational, faith-based organization
that provides support and direction. Its mission, “responding to the human hurts and hopes of
persons in Lake County who are homeless by providing emergency shelter, care and guidance,
in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ”, demands that it go beyond providing a temporary
place for the homeless to sleep and requires, instead, that the shelter offer a more
comprehensive approach to helping the homeless. Project Hope for the Homeless‟ major
programs include providing shelter and support services, free of charge, nightly from 7 p.m. to
6:30 a.m. and an aftercare program that helps former guests, for up to one year, maintain their
positive transitions through referrals to community agencies, social and educational monthly
meetings, home visits and phone calls, and administration of government security and utility
deposits and federal rent subsidy funds for eligible guests. Project Hope for the Homeless
partners with other local agencies and non-profits to provide referrals to educational and
employment readiness programs, drug and alcohol programs and mental health counseling.
They also partner with local pastors and the Lake County Jail Ministry to provide optional bible
studies to their guests.

Forbes House

Forbes House is Lake County‟s only shelter for domestic violence

survivors. The mission of Forbes House is “to relieve trauma
resulting from domestic violence, to assure access to safe and
caring environments for its survivors and to foster an end to
domestic violence through education, prevention and advocacy.”
Forbes House provides safe, supportive shelter around the clock
and can house thirty women and children. The HELPLINE is
available twenty four hours for crisis intervention and referrals.
Our family and legal advocates assist abused women and their
children by acting as liaisons with the bureaucracies they
encounter. The counselor meets with residents regularly to
address mental health and domestic violence issues, as well as
crisis intervention. The Children‟s Domestic Violence Specialist
addresses the needs of the children individually and in groups;
she also assists mothers with enhancing parenting skills when needed.
Support group and life skills groups are provided daily to residents and nonresidents.
A Community Educator is on staff to address schools, businesses and community groups on
domestic violence as well as healthy and unhealthy relationships. The Aftercare program tracks
and maintains contact with women who have left the program and provides encouragement,
support and resources needed to make sound life decisions and maintain safety.

Ongoing Needs Identified

When businesses want to improve their performance they benchmark by comparing their
policies, processes, and metrics against those of other high performing organizations while
looking for ideas that will result in process improvement opportunities or possible new products

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or services. Benchmarking was a key to this team‟s efforts to evaluate the quality of their
emergency shelter programs.

The processes examined were funding, staffing, capacity, training/licensure requirements,

safety/security and programs offered. While both Project Hope for the Homeless and Forbes
House compared very favorably to their peers, several opportunities were identified that would
help ease the plight of those who are homeless:

 Increase the number of shelter beds available at Project Hope for the Homeless for
single individuals, pregnant women and families.

 Expand the day shelter hours currently offered at the Salvation Army by extending
service hours to fill the gap between when the homeless leave Project Hope for the
Homeless each morning (6:30 a.m.), and when they are able to return to Project Hope
for the Homeless in the evening (7:00 p.m.). Today, the Salvation Army Day Shelter
opens at 7:00 a.m. each weekday morning and closes at 2:00 p.m. It is not open on
weekends or holidays, which means that on those days and on weekdays between 2:00
p.m. and 6:30 p.m., the homeless are on the streets looking for shelter from the
elements in retail stores, fast food chains, churches and the library.

 Provide expanded day shelter services to the homeless including mailboxes,

showers, and laundry facilities.

 Accommodate the short-term/emergency shelter requirements of those special-

needs individuals in Lake County who require a court-appointed guardian. Without
this help, some of our most vulnerable citizens who experience homelessness have
virtually no safety net available to them.

 Provide more affordable housing. Both Project Hope for the Homeless and Forbes
House staff experience difficulties placing their clients in safe, affordable housing when
they are ready to leave the shelters‟ programs. The HPRP (Homeless Prevention, Rapid
Re-housing) program is helping the flow of homeless move from emergency shelter to
subsidized housing or transitional housing, but Lake County lacks sufficient affordable
housing to take clients that final step towards independence.

Developing Solutions

Currently, the Project Hope for the Homeless Board of Directors has commissioned a team to
evaluate the need for more shelter beds and to decide whether to remodel and expand the
current shelter or to build a new shelter. During the benchmarking process, peer shelters
offered suggestions for alternatives to these expensive capital improvements. Due diligence
requires that these alternatives should be investigated.

The Salvation Army operates a day shelter program for the homeless, but recent funding cuts
have forced a reduction of services and hours. Additional funding sources would be needed to
outfit and appropriately staff its shelter or an alternative site should that be required.

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TRANSITIONAL HOUSING

Overview
Organizations managing transitional housing programs target chronically homeless families and
single individuals who are ready to work with case managers and counselors to tackle the root
causes behind their inability to maintain housing. These root causes range from mental
disabilities, drug/alcohol abuse, chronic unemployment or underemployment, insufficient
education, poor budgeting and money management skills, domestic violence, and emotional
difficulties, to a chronic lack of responsibility for financial obligations. Emergency shelter social
workers carefully assess the homeless in their shelters to identify those individuals whose
profiles indicate a high level of readiness for addressing their personal issues before referring
them to a transitional housing program.

In Lake County New Directions for Living and Extended Housing provide transitional housing
programs that address this population. New Directions for Living manages 13 scattered site
transitional housing units, each with a different configuration, and provides a 24 month program
aimed at developing self-sufficiency skills in its residents. Extended Housing provides
individuals with mental disabilities with a 24 month program that includes skill development
activities, referrals for mental health support and rental subsidies. Additionally, Pathways, Inc.
offers a transitional housing program via its North Coast House.

Information on the demographics of those using a transitional housing program and the
programs‟ capacity and results are included in the table on the next page.

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The Data

New Directions For Living Metrics 2009 2008 2007

# people eligible for program 275 240 298
# denied entrance to program due to lack of capacity 10-15 10-15 10-15
# residents provided transitional housing 55 52 49
Men 3 2 1
Women 28 31 29
Children 24 19 19
# residents entering program with no 99 86 78
income/employment
% with no income/employment 36 36 26
# residents with mental health/drug/alcohol issues 40 37 36
% residents with mental health/drug/alcohol issues 73% 72% 75%
% residents successfully transitioning to independent 74% 75% 69%
living
% residents successfully maintaining independence for 74% 75% 69%
12 months

Extended Housing’s Transitional Housing Metrics 2009 2008 2007

# residents provided transitional housing 17 26 13
Men 5 10 8
Women 12 16 5
Children 12 10 6
# residents entering program with no 0 0 0
income/employment
% with no income/employment 0% 0% 0%
# residents with drug/alcohol issues 7 5 5
% residents with drug/alcohol issues 41% 19% 38%
% residents successfully transitioning to independent 6% 19% 38%
living
% residents successfully maintaining independence for 24% 15% 23%
12 months

Current Programs
New Directions For Living

New Directions‟ current programs are funded through a combination of government, public and
private grants along with some individual donations and fund raising efforts. Program
participants are charged a minimum rent and utility charges as an exercise in responsibility.
The program is dual-service, with a provision for housing for a maximum of 24 months that is
combined with individualized and intense self-sufficiency counseling. Independence and
positive life skills are stressed to help replace the negative behaviors and habits that impact
participants‟ abilities to find, secure, and maintain appropriate permanent housing. Throughout
the program case workers help participants establish goals and objectives that target the
ultimate goal of independence. Weekly meetings are conducted to address ongoing progress
and identify potential difficulties that might derail participants‟ progress. Referrals to other social

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services and mental health agencies are made to deal with any specialized needs that are not
included under the New Directions umbrella of services.

Extended Housing

In additional to their program providing permanent supportive housing for the mentally ill in Lake
County who are homeless, Extended Housing also provides a transitional housing program.
This program targets homeless people with mental disabilities and offers transitional housing for
up to two years. Participants in this program meet with Housing Counselors every three months
to receive support and referrals and to review their exit strategies. Participants are required to
pay 40% of their adjusted gross income towards rent and utilities.

Pathways

Pathways transitional residential treatment facility, North Coast House, is a 14 bed transitional
group home that offers around-the-clock staffing and support services for severely mentally
disabled persons. The goal is to provide living arrangements that help residents develop the
skills and confidence to survive in an independent living environment.

Ongoing Needs
In Lake County, there are fewer transitional housing resources for single men. If a single man is
the legal and physical custodian of his children, he is able to apply to the current Lake County
transitional housing program. If he is single with no family, his prospects for obtaining
transitional support are dim.

Funding is, as it is in most problem-solving exercises, at the core of the resolution of this
dilemma. Single Room Occupancy (SRO) sites can be used to solve the housing part of this
dilemma, but do nothing to address the self-sufficiency aspects of the problem that transitional
housing programs target with their supportive services. Identifying and resolving the core
problem behind a person‟s homelessness is required if we are to prevent recidivism. The
Salvation Army of Cuyahoga County operates several single men‟s transitional housing
programs, functioning in the mode adhered to by the existing Lake County programs that serve
women and families. Their program provides housing and the additional supportive services we
know are required for individuals to move successfully to independent living. This suggests that
funding sources, particularly government sources already dedicated to addressing
homelessness, may be open to funding requests for an endeavor that addresses the full
transitional housing needs of single men.

Developing Solutions
Since the Salvation Army is operating a successful transitional housing program for single men
in Cuyahoga County, we have the opportunity to benchmark that program and work with them to
find ways to extend those services to our county. Lake County‟s Salvation Army organization,
Extended Housing and New Directions for Living all have the experience and skills required to
manage a new transitional housing program for single men, but require significant funding to be
able to locate housing units and staff the required support services.

Extended Housing will request input and an evaluation from the Continuum of Care in regards to
the Transitional Housing provided to homeless persons with severe and persistent mental
illness in preparation for its grant renewal application to the Ohio Department of Development in
July 2011.

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PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING

Overview

Permanent supportive housing is designed to provide mentally ill and often homeless people
with support, helping them learn life skills and set goals, and connecting them to financial and
social resources. In Lake County, Extended Housing serves this needy population and provides
150+ units of housing with wrap-around services (via mental health and social service agencies
serving Lake County) that include drug and alcohol counseling, mental health counseling, along
with housing cost subsidies that insure that these tenants pay no more than 30-40% of their
income on rent and utilities. Our county‟s needs far outpace the available supply for these
services resulting in an average three year wait for this type of housing.

Permanent Supportive Housing Metrics July 2010 2009 2008

# on Wait List for Supportive Housing Units** 381 300-400 300-400
# Homeless linked with mental health services 70 78 71
# Homeless still in recovery 6 months later N/A 40 41
# Receiving rental assistance 159 101 207
# Households transferring to LMHA‟s Housing Choice
Vouchers 3 16
# Zero Interest Emergency Housing Loans 41 56 59
# Housing Loans Paid Off 6 15 16
Vacancy rates 4% 7% 7%

** Extended Housing purges its wait list each year. Over the past three years demand for permanent supportive
housing has been steady at between 300 and 400 requests. Approximately 80% of these clients are already
connected with mental health services and are simply waiting for a supportive housing unit.

Current Programs

Shelter Plus Care Program

 Funded through The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
 Funding for this project was initially obtained through the collaborative efforts of The
Coalition for Housing and Support Services of Lake County, Inc., the Lake County
ADAMHS Board, and the United Way of Lake County.
 The community partners with homeless persons experiencing severe and persistent
mental illness to provide housing, mental health and other services to ensure their
success.
 Participants receive mental health and recovery services as a condition to receiving a
Shelter Plus Care housing voucher.
 Participants pay 30% of their adjusted gross income towards rent and utilities.
 Rental assistance is permanent as long as the participant is active in his/her recovery.
 Referrals primarily come through the Lake County ADAMHS Board network of providers
(i.e., Neighboring, Pathways, and Signature Health).

Housing Subsidy Programs

 The purpose is to assist people with severe and persistent mental illness to obtain
permanent community housing.

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 The subsidy acts as a “bridge” until a permanent subsidy (Housing Choice Voucher) can
be obtained, until a person‟s income increases sufficiently so that a rental subsidy is not
needed, or until a person can obtain the financial resources necessary to own their own
home.
 Participants pay 40% of their adjusted gross income towards rent and utilities.
 Housing Coordinators routinely meet with subsidy participants to assist in resolving any
housing issues and provide support during the transition into housing (i.e., Housing
Voucher).

Ongoing Needs Identified

A number of ongoing needs were identified via the Continuum‟s benchmarking process. For
example:

 Adding more supportive housing units would allow us to reduce the wait time.

 Using a “project based” approach rather than a scattered site approach improves client
outcomes and is more cost effective, but often generates strong resistance within the
community where the project will be built. (NIMBY – Not In My Back Yard). We continue
to look for ways to educate the public and reduce NIMBY sentiments.

 Inflexible zoning requirements make it difficult to plan and develop additional project
sites. Establishing a cooperative approach with local zoning and building departments
can help identify innovative ways to expand permanent supportive housing sites in the
county.

 While Extended Housing is a Crime Free Housing Agency where drug related behavior
is not tolerated, there may be an opportunity to provide drug/alcohol education for
tenants. Tenants who continue drinking behaviors often end up losing their housing,
moving to a nursing home or even dying as a result.

 Adding a lease option for bi-monthly or monthly home visits by the Housing Support
Worker would formalize the visit process. This change, however, would be dependent
on staffing, time and funding.

Developing Solutions

Extended Housing is actively working to prioritize and address the needs of this community.

 McKinley Grove, a 17 unit permanent supportive housing project, is currently in the

development process. Extended Housing was able to avoid some of the legal and
zoning obstacles normally associated with a project of this type by purchasing land from
the Cleveland Catholic Diocese that was already zoned for multi-family use.

 Extended Housing requests a subcommittee from the Continuum of Care to address

how homeless persons with severe and persistent mental illness or who are dually
diagnosed (mental illness and drug/alcohol addiction) will gain access to McKinley Grove
(permanent supportive housing apartment community that is under development).

 Extended Housing requests input (or a subcommittee) from the Continuum of Care as to
whether there is a need for more permanent supportive housing apartment communities
like McKinley Grove.

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SUPPORT SERVICES

Overview
Nearly 18,000 people in Lake County live with incomes that put them below the federal poverty
guidelines. Many of these citizens rely on the existing network of social service organizations
which have programs in place that directly target assistance to a wide variety of their most basic
needs. The support services offered by these organizations span a wide range of activities but,
in general, fall into one of four main categories:

 Education and Employment

 Medical and Mental Health Services
 Financial
 Personal and Shelter-type services.

Many of the support services offered can be considered to either directly or indirectly assist
homeless persons or assist in the prevention of homelessness. Extended Housing, Forbes
House, Lifeline, New Directions for Living, Pathways, Project Hope for the Homeless and The
Salvation Army are organizations that offer programs and services directly to homeless persons
or programs to individuals and families which help to prevent homelessness and help to foster
self-sufficiency. It is important to note that these agencies work closely with over a dozen other
government, non-profit and faith-based organizations to put together a coordinated plan for
services to meet each individual‟s or family‟s needs. The goal is to allow support service
providers to help direct the homeless and those on the verge of homelessness to the assistance
they need no matter at what point the person enters the support services network.

Current Programs
Educational and Employment Support Services

This category of services covers a variety of programs designed to help both the homeless and
those who are at-risk of homelessness. New Directions for Living, Forbes House, Salvation
Army and Lifeline all offer personal financial education and training to help individuals develop
skills in budgeting, managing their money and becoming more savvy consumers. Lifeline pays
for non-credit job training certificate programs at a wide variety of vocational institutions to help
individuals increase their skill levels. The Salvation Army also offers GED and basic adult
literacy education along with computer training classes for people of all ages. They have
established a Learning Center which is a program for children to address one of the root causes
of the cycle of poverty – lack of basic educational skills. The center offers educational services
to help intervene in a child‟s life before they become accustomed to failure. By doing so the
Salvation Army is helping the child to have a successful educational experience and therefore
end the cycle of poverty and potential homelessness before it starts. Forbes House, Lake
County‟s Domestic Violence shelter, also provides adult basic education classes which are
intended to bridge the gap that occurs between education and homelessness.

Lakeland Community College‟s Resource Center offers employment readiness workshops.

Lifeline offers an Employment Training Program whose goal is to help those who are under or

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unemployed assess what their strengths are and what fields they are best suited to work in.
The program also assists people in learning new skills to make them more employable and then
further assists with job seeking strategies and job placement counseling. Job and Family
Services staffs a computer lab where anyone in Lake County can come to learn basic computer
skills and get help with writing a resume and conducting a job search.

For those individuals struggling with mental illness and the need to develop employment skills,
Neighboring offers supported employment via its Consumer Cleaning program. In this program,
individuals learn job readiness and commercial cleaning skills while cleaning business offices,
retail shops and other non-residential buildings under the supervision of a mental health para-
professional.

Medical and Mental Health Support Services

In Lake County, the Free Medical Clinic offers low-cost, short-term medical services, including
diagnosis and treatment of short-term illnesses, pregnancy and lab tests, X-rays, well baby
services, suture removal, optometry, physicals, breast/cervical cancer screening, and
prescription assistance.

The Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Board is responsible for
planning, funding and evaluating Lake County‟s mental health and recovery services. Board
members include medical professionals, mental health and recovery experts, consumers of
local mental health services and their families, along with community leaders and business
professionals. The blend of expertise and perspectives makes the ADAMHS Board uniquely
qualified to handle these important services and
resources effectively and efficiently.

Pathways, Inc. provides psychiatric evaluations,

mental health counseling and prescription
services to people in need. They also offer a 24
hour hotline for mental health crisis interventions
and coordinate with the Lake Health System‟s
Emergency Based Crisis Team to provide support
for not only those experiencing a crisis, but also
for their families.

Neighboring, Inc. offers psychiatric evaluation,

mental health counseling and guidance from a Dual Diagnosis team (for those diagnosed with
both mental illness and substance abuse). In addition to these clinical services, they offer a
Forensic Services Program to help mentally ill adults who are involved in the Criminal Justice
System. Forensic service include such things as court ordered mental health evaluations, anger
management, the identification of options other than jail and general advocacy.

Organizations such as the Veterans Administration, Lake Geauga Recovery Center, the Red
Cross and even the Mental Health Court also provide mental health or medical services in
support of homeless or potentially homeless persons. Weekly health care clinics held by the
Salvation Army, health and also Lifeline‟s programs for Prescription Medication, Diabetic
Supplies and Medical Services Assistance along with eye exams/eye glasses can be
considered to assist in the prevention of homelessness as a catastrophic or even minor on-
going medical expense can be the catalyst for plunging a person into homelessness. Western
Reserve Counseling Services provides counseling for both sides of the battered spouse issue
and are a valuable asset in reducing the demands on organizations such as Forbes House.

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Additionally, wellness workshops offered by Lakeland Community College nursing students to
the homeless guests at Project Hope for the Homeless provide basic health screenings and
wellness information each week.

Financial Support Services

These services are offered by many of the same organizations listed above. For example, the
Salvation Army can provide utility, rent and food assistance along with financial management
and budgeting workshops. New Directions provides its clients with budgeting, fiscal
responsibility, credit establishment or repair training. Lifeline provides housing, energy/utility
assistance and consumer education programming designed to help consumers stay or become
self sufficient.

Lifeline‟s case managers will work one-on-one with clients to organize and understand their
monthly budget and finances to help foster self-sufficiency and prevent homelessness. Their
Transportation Assistance Program addresses the lack of affordable transportation options that
hinder some citizen‟s from attending school or doctor appointments. Lifeline also administers
two of the most important homeless prevention programs: HEAP which offers financial
assistance with home heating and cooling costs and the HOME Funds Rental Program.
Through this program, Lifeline can assist families with obtaining safe and affordable rental
housing in Lake County. Project Hope for the Homeless offers similar financial support for its
guests who are preparing to transition to
independent living.

Personal and Shelter Type Services

This broad category of assistance

encompasses many differing activities and
programs. It is these programs and activities
that truly help the homeless person on the
street. For example:

 Extended Housing provides

necessary supplies such as
hygiene products, blankets, food
vouchers, and bus tokens through
its PATH outreach activities.

 The Salvation Army‟s day-time drop-in-center that operates until 2:30pm each
weekday is also an example of this type of service. The Salvation Army also
provides free weekday meals; a shower program, a clothing room; food pantry, and
laundry facilities.

 Lifeline, as a certified site for the Ohio Benefit Bank, is able to assist Lake County
residents with initial eligibility screening and program application completion for a
variety of public social service programs.

 Forbes House advocates assist women and children who are victims of domestic
violence by acting as a liaison with the courts and other bureaucracies their clients
come in contact with.

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Ongoing Needs

As critical as these support services are in the

fight to end homelessness, many of these
programs currently operate without the
necessary and adequate funding to establish
themselves as a driving force in that battle. As
the Continuum teams benchmarked Lake
County‟s current repertoire of services against
those of other counties, we identified potential
gaps that will need to be reviewed.

Having a relatively strong and comprehensive

mental health component in Lake County
provided a knowledgeable base from which to
identify gaps that currently exist within this
sphere of activity. Substance abuse garnered considerable attention as an identified gap,
particularly counseling for substance abuse recovery. Anecdotally, severely addictive and
debilitating drug abuse has been climbing in the county, and as this particular sub-population
grows, it puts unique pressure on homeless shelters and medical facilities for expanded
housing, counseling and treatment services.

Specific medically related gaps that have been identified are:

 An inadequate number of detoxification beds available to meet the demand,

 Difficulties gaining physical access to health care since many poor or homeless
individuals lack adequate transportation,
 Lack of basic dental care services for adults,
 Lack of a medication reminder call service to help mentally ill persons comply
with their medication schedule.

Financial or legal service gaps that have been identified include:

 The need to provide a representative payee service for individuals who have
difficulty managing their financial resources and in more extreme cases some
persons may require Guardianship Services that do not yet exist in Lake County.
Both of these activities can help in preventing homelessness and add to the
quality of the individual‟s life.
 Implementing credit repair services to help prevent credit issues from becoming
a cause of homelessness.

Personal and Shelter Type Services is a broad category and the one area in greatest
need of expansion and improvement in Lake County.

 Transportation services will continue to be a challenge in a county with people

and resources so widely separated. Providing the homeless and those
transitioning from homelessness with public transportation to help them attend
job interviews, employment opportunities and medical appointments will require
the combined efforts of a diverse group of service providers.
 An acute need that has been identified numerous times is an expanded day

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shelter or the development of a Homeless Community Center that can
specifically provide daily living services such as mailboxes, access to showers
and laundry facilities, and the electronic connections to the wider world that
helps provide the link to employment and other services.
 Providing child day care services to homeless families with children has been
identified as an urgent need for the community.

Developing Solutions

It is clear through the identification of services offered that there are similar services, although
not exact matches, that are duplicated between various organizations especially with regards to
educational services. That does not mean that these various services should be eliminated but
rather the delivery of those services should be coordinated to maximize cost savings inherent in
economies of scale. The provision of services that are meant to educate and therefore provide
the client with tools that direct them toward self-sufficiency are offered by nearly every social
service organization indicates that some type of „Alternative School or Educational environment‟
needs to be established where all organizations can send clients for training. Forbes House
and their partnerships with Big Brothers/Big Sisters and Head Start and the unique programs
they have developed together for children is an example of the cooperation between
organizations that is possible and should be a strategy for this 10-Year Plan. A clearly stated
goal of this plan is to encourage and develop inter-agency cooperation and programming that
addresses existing unmet needs and be flexible enough to address those trending and
emerging needs that are arising.

Homelessness is often related to mental illness and substance abuse, but these are not its only
causes. Increasingly, more people without those issues are finding themselves in places not
meant for human habitation. The current state of homeless support services in Lake County is
primarily focused on assisting those with mental health issues which accounts for only about
half of all homeless persons. Homeless persons without mental illness are currently not
prioritized in outreach and support service efforts in Lake County. To address the needs of this
sub-population more comprehensive programs focused on their needs must be developed,
adopted and implemented. Another increasingly and visibly upward trend in homeless persons
is that older, more educated, and formerly stable members of the community are turning for
assistance to the social service network. This particular sub-population often finds themselves
without the necessary resources in place as they realize they are on the verge of
homelessness. The depth of programs currently offered by the existing social service
organizations is not geared toward this type of clientele and will need to be further developed
and adjusted if they are to successfully help these citizens.

LAKE COUNTY CONTINUUM OF CARE ONGOING PROCESSES

Overview

The Lake County Continuum of Care recognizes each participating agency and non-profit
organization has an obligation to its constituency to pursue its mission vigorously. The
Continuum also recognizes that working in silos leads to inefficiencies, redundancies and
missed opportunities. With that in mind, the Continuum has established a strategic approach to
addressing the needs listed in the previous sections of this plan and has processes in place to

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identify and evaluate new needs as they emerge. Each need will undergo a thorough review by
the appropriate agency(s) to identify suitable methods for meeting the need and possible
funding resources. Current data will be examined, success metrics will be defined prior to
implementation and will be monitored post-implementation to determine the impact of any
program changes or capital expenditures. Individual organizations will be encouraged to seek
out partners throughout the community and faith-based organizations and to explore innovative
ways of addressing the needs.

Current Efforts

In April, 2010, the Lake County Continuum of Care began using a formal process as it worked to
develop a ten year plan to address homelessness and guide its efforts over the next decade.
This process included:

 Using a gap analysis process where the team assessed the current state of
homelessness in Lake County

 Benchmarking our processes against other Continuum organizations outside of our

county to identify possible process improvement opportunities and/or gaps in the
services we provide.

 Attending bi-weekly working meetings where members actively addressed each step in
the gap analysis process and began drafting Lake County‟s 10-Year plan

 Analyzing how the Continuum itself functioned and making recommendations for how to
best define its future role in managing homelessness in Lake County

 Having a neutral team facilitator to structure the project plan, to organize meeting
activities that ensured continued progress and to document agendas, meeting minutes
and all working documents via a private collaboration website designed to allow
Continuum members to share each draft of their work with each other

These efforts helped broaden individual Continuum members‟ understanding of each of the six
component processes required to address homelessness and demonstrated the value of
working together as a team as we brainstormed ideas for solving problems. They also helped
our members recognize the importance of following a structured process as we developed the
first draft of the plan. Working together in this manner allowed us to see how important it is for
the Continuum to take a more strategic approach in its quest to resolve the root causes leading
to homelessness.

Ongoing Needs

As a result of our expanded understanding, the Continuum members outlined the following
strategic roles and responsibilities as key to the ongoing success of the Lake County Continuum
of Care and its work:

 Provide strong and collaborative leadership that reaches out to support Continuum
members; brings new information on homelessness to associated organizations, the
faith-based community and the general community; and encourages more involvement
at all levels

 Identify key organizations that should be a part of our efforts and help them stay actively
engaged in the Continuum‟s work

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 Create a broader awareness of member agencies‟ strategies and current capacity

 Use a formal process to identify and evaluate ongoing needs and to help Continuum
members develop state of the art solutions

 Stay focused on outcomes using data to monitor progress and the impact of new
programs/processes

 Coordinate crisis management efforts to help member agencies actively work together to
address immediate urgent needs

 Create awareness of new funding strategies and initiatives to help Lake County receive
adequate funds for its programs

 Report progress to the Lake County Commissioners Office, the Coalition for Housing
and Support Services, the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD), the Coalition on
Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO) and the community.

Continuum members recognize that much work remains to be done as they strive to fulfill these
obligations. Many of these responsibilities are newly defined and have no existing processes in
place today. But, we also recognize the value that developing this role and meeting these
responsibilities would bring to our county‟s efforts to resolve the many issues facing the
homeless. Working together with the Coalition for Housing and Support Services and the
various organizations working to bring more employment to Lake County will increase the
number of affordable housing units and good paying jobs available and go a long way towards
preventing homelessness.

Developing Solutions

Currently Continuum members are doing the work necessary to define processes that will
support the roles and responsibilities listed above. By the end of this year, we intend to have
the following work completed and processes in place. We will have:

 Benchmarked other successful Continuum organizations to identify how they have

defined their organizational structure and leadership roles to ensure strong leadership
within the community and implemented a best practice structure for ourselves

 Identified all organizations that are key to supporting the homeless in Lake County and
defined their place within the Continuum

 Defined which data the Continuum needs to monitor existing programs, predict trends
and upcoming urgent needs and have a process in place to gather and maintain that
data

 Taken the first steps in involving the broader community by seeking feedback on our 10-
Year Plan from various leadership groups and civic organizations active within Lake
County, thus beginning an ongoing dialogue process as we further refine our plan

Starting in 2011, the Continuum will focus on generating more community recognition and
involvement in addressing the issues facing the homeless, developing its crisis management
process, identifying funding sources and outlining a process for the ongoing review and revision
of our 10-Year Plan that will help us predict and respond to changing needs within Lake County.
Preliminary work done by Continuum members identified the following potential components:

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 Community involvement should include a two way communication process that lets the
community express their concerns and needs while allowing the Continuum to
communicate its current activities to address those needs; newspaper articles,
newsletters and a website were all identified as possible communication mechanisms

 Crisis management coordination will require the Continuum to use data effectively to
predict problems and mobilize its membership to proactively address any emerging
needs related to the homeless

 Funding is critical to the success of all the programs addressing the needs of the
homeless. Ideas for how the Continuum could support the funding process include
identifying funding strategies other communities have used successfully, providing
technical assistance in seeking funds, and identifying new, funded programs and
initiatives that may help solve problems we face

 It is important that the Continuum develop a sound process to review existing programs
and work with its members to revise their approaches to better suit changing needs.
Members have suggested forming subcommittees related to the six components
addressing homelessness and to require formal benchmarking and a peer review
process as recommendations for changes to the Plan are made.

 It will also be important to identify success criteria that can be used to evaluate the
impact of any changes made and to document ways in which successful programs can
be replicated

Continuum members recommended the above approach to bring process to the work of the
Lake County Continuum of Care and great benefit to the broader community as we become
even more effective and efficient at addressing the root causes behind homelessness. We also
see encouraging direct community involvement via ongoing feedback as an important addition
that will help us develop practical and cost-effective solutions.

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APPENDIX

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Employment Status ……………………………………. ….40

Ohio Department of Development Lake County Profile ………………………………………41

State of the Cities Data Systems: Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy

http://socds.huduser.org/chas/index.htm…......................................................................46
Census 2000 – Elderly Living Alone …………………………………………………………... 47

Home Program / Lifeline – Security deposit trend data……………………………………..…48

Foreclosure trend data 2000 – 2010…………………………………………………………….49

Foreclosure – potential …………………………………………………………………………..50

Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing – Lake County (Cover/Draft)…………………......51

Map - Income level by community and census tract Lake County …………….................52

Map - Poverty rate by School District – Ohio ……………………………………….………..53

Map Overview of affordable housing 2010 – Options & Solutions…………………………54

Point-In-Time Count January 26, 2010 Detailed Data ………………………………………...55

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State of the Cities Data Systems: Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy

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Household Type ( Including Living Alone by Relationship for the Population 65 Years and over

# %
Lake County, Ohio 1990 2000 Increase Increase
1990-
2000 1990-2000
Population 65 and older Total: 32,093
In Households: 30,414
In family households: 20,856
In nonfamily households: 9,558
Male householder: 1445 2,179 734 51%
Living alone 1359 1,956 597 44%
Not living alone 86 223 137 159%
Female householder: 5627 6,968 1,341 24%
Living alone 5505 6,770 1,265 23%
Not living alone 122 198 76 62%
Nonrelatives 126 411 285 226%
Not In Households
In Institutional Group Quarters: 1275 1,508 233 18%

Definitions:
Family household (Family)

A family includes a householder and one or more people living in the same household who are related to the
householder by birth, marriage, or adoption. All people in a household who are related to the householder are
regarded as members of his or her family. A family household may contain people not related to the householder,
but those people are not included as part of the householder's family in census tabulations. Thus, the number of
family households is equal to the number of families, but family households may include more members than do
families. A household can contain only one family for purposes of census tabulations. Not all households contain
families since a household may comprise a group of unrelated people or one person living alone.
Nonrelatives
Any household member, including foster children, living in the housing unit but not related to the householder by
birth, marriage, or adoption.
Group quarters (GQ)
The Census Bureau classifies all people not living in households as living in group quarters. There are two types
of group quarters: institutional (for example, correctional facilities, nursing homes, and mental hospitals) and non-
institutional (for example, college dormitories, military barracks, group homes, missions, and shelters).

U.S. Census Bureau

Census 2000 &1990 Census Summary Tape File
3

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HOME Program/Lifeline Security Deposit Trend Data Annual Demographic Comparison

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
# Applied 312 567 291 313 286
# Approved 101 213 170 205 242
Max. Benefit Amount $400 $400 $400 $500 $1,300 $750
Of those approved:
Household Income:
# at 0-30% of MFI 73 154 119 131 145
# at 30-50% of MFI 24 47 43 49 75
# at 50-60% of MFI 3 6 5 14 12
# at 60-80% of MFI 1 6 3 10 10

# of Single non-elderly 29 62 54 68 85
# of Single elderly 2 15 9 10 12
# of Single parent 40 94 61 80 94
# of Two parent 16 26 19 23 24
# of Other 13 17 27 25 27

# White (11) 77 162 122 148 174

# Black (12) 19 38 39 49 53
# Other multi-race (20) 5 13 9 8 15

# in Concord 0 0 2 2 2
# in Eastlake 7 11 14 10 19
# in Fairport Harbor 7 17 10 16 10
# in Madison 3 9 10 10 15
# in Mentor on the Lake * 8 26 10 2 2
# in Painesville/Painesville Twp.** 64 104 95 109 131
# in Perry 0 2 2 2 2
# in Wickliffe 3 9 3 4 7
# in Willoughby/Willoughby Hills 8 30 20 41 41
# in Willowick 1 6 3 8 12
# in Grand River, Kirtland/Kirtland Hills
Timberlake, Waite Hill 0 0 0 0 0

Notes:

*In 2005 through 2007---Mentor on the Lake data line included City of Mentor units assisted. In 2008 through 2010
Mentor on the Lake data does not include City of Mentor units. Units assisted in City of Mentor were funded and tracked
separately.

** Additional analysis to be performed to differentiate between Painesville City and Painesville Township addresses.

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Foreclosure & Sheriff Sale Trend Data 1997 – 2009

Foreclosures Filed, Lake County, 1997-2009

Year Foreclosures Filed

1997 424
1998 461
1999 481
2000 580
2001 655
2002 788
2003 783
2004 864
2005 918
2006 1,141
2007 1,395
2008 1,517
2009 1,695
Source: Policy Matters, “Home Insecurity: Foreclosure
Growth in Ohio 2010,” March, 2010. Based on data
provided by the Supreme Court of Ohio.
Table 28 FHAI Lake County – Draft Sept 2010

Sheriff’s Sales, Lake County, 1999-2009

Year Number of Sheriff's Sales
1999 108

2000 141

2001 169

2002 214

2003 311

2004 323

2005 352

2006 407

2007 478

2008 629

2009 579
Source: Lake County Auditor: Table 29 FHAI Lake County – Draft Sept 2010

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Foreclosure Potential Based on Number of Adjustable Rate Mortgages

Community by Tax District 1997 -2008
# ARMs
Madison Township 499
Madison Village 105
Perry Township 193
Perry Village 56
North Perry Village 33
Leroy Township 107
Concord Township/ Painesville 496
Concord Township/ Mentor 186
Painesville Township 550
Grand River Village 29
Fairport Harbor Village/ Port Auth. 91
Painesville City 369
Mentor City 1483
Mentor -on-the-Lake 197
Kirtland City 201
Willoughby City/ Kirtland 2
Kirtland Hills Village/ Mentor 16
Kirtland Hills Village/ Kirtland 14
Waite Hill Village /Kirtland 25
Waite Hill Village/ Willoughby 8
Willoughby City 653
Willowick City 352
Wickliffe City 393
Lakeline Village 5
Willoughby Hills City 239
Timberlake Village 26
Eastlake City 481
Painesville City/ P'ville Twp. 13

Total Number of Arms 6822

Haines Criss-Cross CD 2008

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Map Census 2000 – Income level by community/census tract/block group

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Point-in-Time Count Detailed Data 1/26/2010

SERVICES NEEDED Number Number

Reporting Need Receiving

Elderly Services 4 0

Alcohol/Drug Services 5 22

HIV/AIDS Services 5 0

Transportation 30 19

Domestic Violence 17 8

Physical Disabilities 9 4

Emergency Shelter 5 42

Prescriptions 16 30

Group Homes 8 2

Transitional Housing 15 40

Apartment without Supports 17 0

Permanent Housing with Supports 39 8

Health Insurance 31 14

Mental Health Treatment 12 48

Employment 55 13

Education 29 7

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CAUSES OF HOMELESSNESS

CAUSE PEOPLE REPORTING THIS CAUSE

Safety Issues 11

Criminal Activity 9

Drug/Alcohol Problems 18

Jail/Prison 7

Unemployment 54

Mental Health Issues 46

Health Issues 14

Low Income 34

Eviction 26

Housing Costs 53

Foreclosure 3

OTHER DEMOGRAPHICS

Veterans 11

Those with Felony Convictions 16

Those on Parole/Probation 12

Unaccompanied Youth 0

LENGTH OF HOMELESSNESS

1 year continuously or 4 episodes of 39

homeless in 3 years (Federal definition of
Chronically Homeless)

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AGES

AGES NUMBER OF PEOPLE

0-17 Years Old 33

18-34 Years Old 43

35-49 Years Old 41

50-64 Years Old 80

65-74 Years Old 0

GENDER/HOUSEHOLD MAKE-UP

MALES in Households (incl. Children) 64

FEMALES in Household (incl. Children) 44

UNKNOWN 0

TOTAL SINGLE ADULT HOUSEHOLDS 84

Families with Children 10

Number of Children in Families 32

RACIAL DATA

White 83

Black 15

American Indian 0

Multi-racial 0

Unknown 10

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WHERE HOMELESS SLEPT JANUARY 25, 2010

Painesville 70

Mentor 10

Willoughby 3

Willowick 1

Concord 1

Eastlake 2

Geneva 1

Ashtabula 1

Cleveland 1

INCOME SOURCES

None 55

Disability Assistance (DA) 4

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) 9

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) 7

Employment 13

Unemployment Benefits 2

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