washington state pilot projecta pilot project funded by the bill & melinda gates foundation...
Post on 15-Jan-2020
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Washington State Pilot Project
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A pilot project funded by the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation
2-year funding for 4 agencies
WSCADV funded to provide technical
assistance to agencies and to work at
systems level for policy and practice change
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Must serve DV victim/survivors
Intent to support access to and/or
maintenance of permanent housing
Voluntary services—only requirement is to
comply with lease agreement
Funding roughly split between
staffing/infrastructure and flexible client
assistance
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The heart of the program is survivor-driven
advocacy
When survivors are allowed to choose
what services they need and how to
direct their financial support, the
outcomes are usually successful—and
cost effective
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“In a 30-day shelter, you don’t always have
time to follow people through their whole
progress into wherever they’re going. And so
it’s not like people didn’t try to help people
into housing in the past, but there just
wasn’t the time or the staff hours to do that.
And so there wasn’t a lot of follow up once
you left the shelter.” (staff)
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“You feel like a hunted animal…but now I
have a new normal that makes it possible to
build a new life.” (survivor)
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Completely flexible financial assistance is a
critical part of the tool kit.
It’s all about the relationships
With the survivors
With landlords
With homeless/housing organizations
With community partners
With funders
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Asking survivors questions about housing
stability early on can help prevent
homelessness—between 30% and 40% of new
program participants had housing at intake
Early interventions can prevent homelessness
or rapidly rehouse people for a minimal
amount of money and/or services
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Promising results=Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation doubled investment
A third year of funding for Cohort 1 agencies
to test sustainability strategies
A new cohort of 9 agencies, focused on the
most difficult to serve populations, funded
for 3 years
Continuing investment in WSCADV to
coordinate project and evaluation and to
communicate learnings to a broader
audience.
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WHERE ARE WE NOW
WITH COHORT 1?
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Cohort 2: Seven rural agencies
Three Tribes
One agency serving primarily
immigrants
One agency serving primarily Latina
survivors
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29% White/Caucasian
27% Native American
12% Asian
10% Hispanic
10% African American
9% Pacific Islander
26% Immigrants or Refugees
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Over half of housing accessed/maintained by
survivors is fair market rent=program
participants employed
Not as high a “light touch” percent with
Cohort 2 as with Cohort 1=more barriers and
fewer community resources
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Screening survivors/resource allocation
Maintaining contact with survivors in
program
Shifting from facility-based services to
mobile advocacy
Revising agency policies about home visits
and transporting clients; budgeting
appropriately
Developing new partnerships
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Integrate housing into all aspects of DV
agency service—not just one advocate
Community/Stakeholder education and
marketing
Education and support from
foundations
Systems level changes in public funding
Shifting resources from current service
models to new service model
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Housing stock—safe, affordable or
subsidized, maintained
Employment—living wage, reliable hours,
benefits (health care, sick leave)
Other income—predictable child support
payments, fluctuating TANF, no disability
lifeline
Criminal history, evictions, debt, credit
history
Immigration status
Drug/Alcohol Abuse; Impact of Trauma
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“Safety: before I didn’t feel safe at all, but
now that we have our own house, we feel
safer. I can lock the door and say he can’t
come in. My daughter feels a lot safer too.”
“I feel a lot safer. Nobody knows where I live.
I don’t have to worry if I’m being followed.”
“I’m safer—not just from the abuser, but I
moved away from a bad neighborhood.”
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“Can’t do much without stability—
need housing to be stable.”
“You don’t have anything without a
safe space…grounding.”
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Linda Olsen, MA, MSW
Housing Program Coordinator
Washington State Coalition Against
Domestic Violence
linda@wscadv.org
205-389-2515, x 205
www.wscadv.org
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