Vivian Louie, MSW, Assistant Commissioner, Prevention Services, NYC Department of Homeless Services

In April 2004, NYC introduced Uniting for Solutions Beyond Shelter, a five-year action plan to end chronic homelessness. This plan uses social work strategies to tackle homelessness from all angles, with trained social workers in all areas from prevention to aftercare to affordable housing and community development.

The addition of Prevention and Aftercare Services and “alternatives to shelter services” marks, for the first time, a proactive approach to ending chronic homelessness. Prevention and Aftercare Services reduce the disruption and disenfranchisement of homelessness in the lives of families and individuals, and their communities. Prevention and Aftercare Services embrace the social work skills of helping others in casework, group work, community organizing, advocacy, planning, development, research and policy.

Stabilizing households in neighborhoods through community-based services is the foundation for the New York City Department of Homeless Services’ (DHS) prevention and aftercare strategies. Establishing support networks outside the shelter is a natural place for social workers to use their expertise in working with individuals, families and communities.

In meeting the needs of homeless-at-risk households, a population with varied and multi-faceted problems, community based organizations, using trained social workers, provide a wide range of social services. These include needs assessment, counseling and crisis intervention, benefits advocacy, employment and vocational support, financial management and budgeting services, independent living skills training, childcare, domestic violence counseling, family counseling, youth services, and financial assistance. These services are integral pieces of service plans with the ultimate goals of permanent housing and housing stability.

Prevention and Aftercare Program Success

Already, there has been much success in DHS’ prevention programs: “Home Base”, which was launched in six high-need communities throughout the city last fall, and the “Family Anti-Eviction Legal Services” program, a two year old program serving families citywide.  Ninety-seven percent of over 13,000 clients served by these programs remain out of shelter.

DHS’ Aftercare program offers ongoing support services for clients leaving shelter and entering permanent housing to ensure they remain stable in the community. The program has engaged over 2,500 clients and 98.5% have remained out of the shelter system.

“The Resource Room”, a new DHS initiative, puts prevention services at the front door of shelter services – shelter intake centers. Masters level social workers engage shelter applicants to explore alternatives to shelter entry by “bridging” them back to their support systems and to community resources.

This model puts the skills of social workers to the test where, rather than managing a caseload, they need to accurately assess clients within a short period of time and make lasting connections between clients and their communities. Five months into this initiative, 76% of clients “bridged” have remained out of the shelter system.

Given the successes of our Prevention and Aftercare programs, DHS is looking at expanding services to a wider audience, and perhaps to the community at large, to help build a culture and structure of homeless prevention that can translate into long-term and sustainable change in patterns of behaviors in the community. 

The Road Ahead

There are numerous programs available to clients who are more open to learning about increasing their economic power and literacy, such as food co-ops or buying clubs, job fairs, low-rate housing mortgages, and financial management. While enhancing a client’s economic power is critical, families and individuals also need support and linkages to their community. 

Homeless Prevention and Aftercare Services will progressively rely on social workers to bridge individual needs to broader economic and community building solutions.

The infusion of social services delivered by social workers into homeless services programming demonstrates the City’s commitment to a holistic approach to homelessness beyond emergency shelter. By assessing at-risk populations, providing both direct and community-wide assistance and support, and bridging individual needs to broader structural changes, DHS Prevention and Aftercare Services are stabilizing households and communities and will help to build a self-sustainable network system for families and individuals, one neighborhood at a time.