Explanation
BACKGROUND: This legislation authorizes the Director of the Department of Development to enter into a grant agreement with the Healthcare Collaborative of Greater Columbus, fiscal sponsor for the Prevent Family Homelessness Collaborative, to support a Landlord/Property Manager Partnership Pilot for vulnerable residents of Columbus for a twelve-month period for a total amount of $25,000.00.
Family homelessness in Columbus and Franklin County has increased dramatically, more than doubling in the last five years. As a demand-response system, the family crisis response system has performed as designed, but is struggling to manage the increasing demand for sheltering these families. While we have a well-coordinated emergency shelter system, we do not have a coordinated homeless prevention system. The emergency shelter system is designed to operate as an “emergency room” for critical needs and is not equipped to support families before they become homeless. Any continued growth in demand for shelter services threatens our community’s ability to meet the needs of vulnerable and homeless families.
The Prevent Family Homelessness Collaborative emerged from the efforts of public and private sector leadership to prevent homelessness by stabilizing vulnerable children and their families through implementation of a plan that aligns resources to support self-sufficiency. The Collaborative’s goal is to reduce family homelessness by 50% by the end of 2021.
A key intervention in the Collaborative’s action plan is to reduce evictions by piloting a partnership model with landlords and their property managers. Participating landlords/property managers will:
· Help identify at-risk families and connect families with support services.
· Fulfill legally defined duties as landlord.
· Use forbearance agreements and mediation services to resolve conflicts.
· Help connect at-risk families with short-term financial assistance programs.
The primary measures of success ...
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