Background and Purpose
With the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, CSH has developed the Keeping Families Together pilot to demonstrate the impact of supportive housing on families who are chronically homeless and child welfare-involved.  CSH is currently developing a supportive housing model for the pilot participants that pairs housing case management with preventive child welfare services.  The goal of the model is to stabilize families in crisis and ultimately improve family functioning.

CSH is working on this project in collaboration with multiple private and public partners. The New York City’s Department of Homeless Services, Administration for Children’s Services, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and Department of Housing Preservation and Development have been instrumental in establish appropriate eligibility criteria, identify potential families and overcome administrative/bureaucratic barriers. In addition CSH is working with five supportive housing providers who have volunteered to place families who meet the eligibility to the Keeping Families Together criteria (chronically homeless and whose children are at high risk of foster care placement) in addition to their own. The participating housing providers have served as a critical link to ensure pilot families receive priority among supportive housing applicants and coordinate services with child welfare service providers.

This program is intended to demonstrate if permanent supportive housing, integrated with family preservation services, can prevent further incidences of neglect or abuse, promote health and residential stability among both parents and children, and strengthen families’ resiliency. 

Problem/Need for Program
• Research has found that families with recurrent shelter stays and longer shelter involvement have increased risk for child welfare involvement,

• Current child welfare and homeless assistance programs remain uncoordinated, and thus the system as a whole is ill-equipped to address both residential instability and child welfare needs,
 
• No supportive housing model has been developed specifically to meet the dual challenges facing these families
Program Concept,

• The Keeping Families Together model integrate and enhances 25-30 units of permanent supportive housing with services designed to prevent further child welfare involvement and enhance family functioning.  The supportive housing is permanent. Families will remain in housing and receive ongoing supportive services as long as they need and desire them.   Intensive family prevention services will be provided only until child welfare program milestones have been achieved, and
 
• Collaboration among supportive housing and child welfare preventive service providers ensure that services are provided in a coordinated fashion.

Evaluation
• CSH has commissioned an evaluation to: a) document the model design, the process and challenges of implementation; b) recommend ways to improve, refine, and replicate the model; and c) conduct a preliminary assessment of outcomes.

• The evaluation will describe the process of implementation at both the systems level (interagency collaboration and its role in program design and implementation), and the service level (services integration of family prevention services with supportive housing).  The evaluation will identify the challenges to implementation, how they were overcome, and recommend ways to improve implementation and replicate the program. 

Roles of CSH and Project Partners

• CSH is leading the implementation of the initiative, which involves primary project management—program and evaluation design and oversight, and coordinating training and technical assistance.

• The Interagency Working Group will assist in the design of the initiative, including developing selection and eligibility criteria, program design, initiative and evaluation oversight, collaborative planning, and ongoing troubleshooting.

• Three to five supportive housing providers are needed to participate in the initiative. These organizations will directly provide housing and deliver services to assist families avoid out-of-home placement, and achieve increased stability and resiliency.  Providers will participate in trainings and receive technical assistance and support from CSH.

• CSH will also retain a clinical consultant to structure trainings and provide direct technical assistance and troubleshooting to project teams.

Project Timeline
• The initiative will span a period of 30 months beginning on June 1, 2007 and ending on November 30, 2009.