A Rumor Speaks to Homeless Trust Fund Need
By Albert B. Kelly
Over the past few weeks,
there have been rumors floating around to the effect that the Cumberland Family
Shelter would need to close its doors for a month or two because of reduced
funding. These rumors are false; but the concerns they raised spoke to why we
need a County Homeless Trust Fund.
The rumor about the
shelter closing got a little traction because the shelter is funded by two main
sources; the General Assistance/Emergency Assistance (GA/EA) and Social
Services for the Homeless (SSH).
Each of these funding
streams has certain criteria and eligibility requirements; clients needing
shelter services, depending on their circumstance, would either fit under the
SSH or GA/EA structure. Most receive services under General
Assistance/Emergency Assistance but for those who don’t qualify, they receive
services under Social Services for the Homeless.
Because the SSH funding can
run low toward the end of the fiscal year as it has this year, County and State
personnel connected with these programs are evaluating certain clients to
determine if those who were previously denied or are in the “currently pending”
category might in fact be eligible under
GA/EA. If so, this would result in a retroactive reimbursement of any SSH
funding previously used.
Keeping the SSH funding
intact will provide the shelter with an option to help those who do not meet
the criteria for GA/EA funding. The bottom line is that the shelter is not
closing; officials are double checking client eligibility against respective
funding sources so that all who need shelter services can get them. Only those
who are noncompliant with program requirements are dismissed from the shelter.
While county and state personnel
work through the challenges of shelter funding, the issue highlights the need
to add a county homeless trust fund to the available options we have in
Cumberland County. State legislation allowing for a trust fund came in 2009. It’s
a mechanism that provides funds to implement local strategies to deal with
homelessness.
Operational in several
other counties, it has provided funds ranging anywhere from $50,000 up to $1
million in the larger counties. In terms of “how”, counties impose a $3 surcharge
on documents recorded with the county and the money is then deposited into the
homeless trust fund.
Once collected, 5% can be
used for administrative costs with the rest going toward things like
construction, acquisition, or rehabilitation of units for the homeless. It can
also be used for rental assistance and support services needed by the homeless
and at risk families.
At a minimum, a Homeless
Trust Fund could provide some revenues to help plug service gaps in our current
delivery model; but I remain hopeful that it would also provide enough funding so
that our municipalities, faith-based organizations and other nonprofits could
leverage those funds with other resources and help shoulder the load that the
county currently bears alone.
A year ago, in addressing
this same issue, I made the point of saying that homelessness is not a pleasant
issue to think about or an easy one solve. Without waxing too self-righteous
though, I sometimes wonder if the full measure of a community is not so much
its shiny new projects, but in how it deals with the opposite side of shiny. Of
course this assumes that I view our County more like a community as opposed to just
a collection of jurisdictions and so I do.
But that’s exactly the
point. We all have more than our share of individuals and families “at risk”
and in need of help. Homelessness is often the tip of an iceberg that includes several
other woes. And with few exceptions, the help that’s available is to be found
on the county level if it’s to be found at all.
That’s why a trust fund
dedicated to homelessness can be an effective tool because it’s designed to
work at the local level. And seeing the efforts in Vineland, Millville, and
Bridgeton through programs like Code Blue and maybe even a “tiny homes” program
in the future, suggests that we’re on the right track but could use a little
more traction.
Implementing a County
Homeless Trust Fund, while not a silver bullet, is a way to provide such
traction and it can become a much stronger thread to tie in other wrap-around services
and programs when the time comes. The trust fund approach is worth a try.