Page 11 - LTHC Publics Catalog, Spring 2018 Update

LTHC and COORDINATED ENTRY

LTHC Homeless services has the single purpose of getting individuals and families who are either current-
ly experiencing shelter insecurity, or experiencing the threat of shelter insecurity, into a safe, secure, and
sustainable living situations. The organization is the single point of entry for those experiencing homelessness in
the surrounding area, and it supports a wide variety of individuals and families. In one year alone from October 2015
to September 2016, LTHC Homeless Services aided just shy of 2,000 people experiencing homelessness.

LTHC Homelessness Services orig-
inally operated as a transitional cen-
ter that took a short-term approach
to helping those experiencing home-
lessness. Guests would be placed in a
six-month program that provided them
with temporary housing and supportive
services to help facilitate their transition
to more stable living conditions. While this
idea of transitional housing seemed like a
good idea on paper, unfortunately it was
less than efficient when put into practice.

For individuals experiencing homelessness due to circumstantial issues, a six-month program was too
much. Their needs would be more sufficiently met by more rapid and intensive support. For individuals expe-
riencing homelessness due to more serious issues--such as chronic illnesses, disabilities, mental health
problems, etc.--the six-month program wasn’t enough to properly prepare them to transition to more secure
living conditions. Some individuals in this category were not in a place where they could ever permanently function
on their own without assistance.

Because of these issues with the way transitional housing worked, LTHC underwent a transformation. Instead of
treating all individuals experiencing homelessness the same, LTHC recognized the need to have different
approaches, depending on the circumstances surrounding the person’s situation. The idea of transitional hous-
ing was completely eliminated along with the six-month program. The new approach was to understand the people in
need of support before
attempting to develop
solutions to help them.
By doing this, LTHC
was able to determine if
some people would ben-
efit from more rapid and
short term support to ad-
dress their circumstances,
or if they needed to be
placed in one of LTHC’s
permanent homes and re-
ceive constant service.

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