Cape and Islands Network to Address Homelessness to Release Regional Plan
Barnstable. Today as we observe National Homeless Persons Memorial Day, the Cape and Islands Network to Address Homelessness announces a new Regional Plan to Address Homelessness will be released next month. The Plan is the culmination of a ten month strategic process that brought together working groups across the region organized around five target populations: chronically homeless; veterans; families; young adults aged 18-24; and seniors. The plan updates the 2005 Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness, reflecting the community’s experience over the intervening period, present conditions, and state and federal policy changes; it also aligns the region’s goals and objectives with the 2010 Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. The three primary goals of the Regional Plan are to:
- Increase access to safe, stable, accessible, and affordable housing
- Improve health and stability of target populations
- Improve economic security
The Plan adopts specific action strategies including plans to: educate about the impact of homelessness in our community and how to access resources to preserve and/or obtain housing; advocate for policies that promote affordable housing and funding for best practices to access and sustain housing; and facilitate collaborations to optimize available resources and develop new ones.
In September 2011 the Regional Network released a white paper on Homelessness Prevention which has been circulated to elected officials and the Department of Housing and Community Development outlining the need for flexible homelessness prevention funds for our region. Loss of prevention funding in recent years has had a negative impact on the region’s ability to prevent households from entering homelessness. The white paper highlights the cost effectiveness of prevention vs. the costs of shelter.
Copies of the Regional Plan to Address Homelessness will be made available at the January meeting of the Regional Network’s Policy Board and will be posted on-line at www.bchumanservices.net.
For Information Contact:
Estella Fritzinger, Co-Chair, Cape and Islands Regional Network to Address Homelessness
508-771-1727
or Sheila Lyons, Co-Chair, Cape and Islands Regional Network to Address Homelessness.
