CSH facilitated an intensive Implementation Planning Meeting in Boston, MA to effect the innovative solutions presented by Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s Task Force on Individual Homelessness. Two members of the Mayor’s Task Force are well-respected experts from CSH.
For the planning meeting, staff from CSH’s New England and Texas field offices worked with over two dozen dedicated local housing and service providers and City representatives to translate strategies and recommendations of the Task Force into a comprehensive structure to get the work done, and place homeless individuals on a path to permanent housing.
Heather Muller, CSH Program Manager in Houston TX; Larry Oaks, CSH Director in New England; and Chelsea Ross, CSH Program Manager in New England, facilitated the implementation event in Boston.
Hosted by the City of Boston’s Department of Neighborhood Development, the day focused on restructuring the Homeless Response System. Building on existing strengths and the great strides the City has already made in reducing homelessness, CSH supported the implementation team leaders in designing a plan tailored to the unique needs of Boston proper.
After an address by Boston Chief of Health & Human Services, Felix Arroyo, the team worked in-depth on building the framework for a Front Door Triage System and the implementation of Coordinated Access. The group explored steps necessary to expand and better coordinate existing programs, and fill the gaps in Supportive Housing identified by the Task Force with technical assistance from CSH.
Earlier in the year, Boston welcomed several CSH staff from Texas to share knowledge gained from Houston’s successful change of their Homeless Response System to better address the needs of vulnerable populations. Following their system redesign, supported and staffed in part by CSH, Houston has seen a dramatic reduction in chronic homelessness, and became one of the first large cities in the country to announce they have ended veteran homelessness.
Keep up on CSH work in Texas and Massachusetts to tackle homelessness here and here.
Interested in how CSH can help your community prevent and end homelessness through effective coordinated access and systems change? Contact us at consulting@csh.org.