INNOVATION . . . INFORMATION . . . INSPIRATION . . .

   August 27, 2009                                             Issue V   

August 27, 2009
PRESIDENT OF THE POOR

How many more of our neighbors in need would have crowded the entrances of emergency shelters or street doorways had it not been for the relentless and savvy leadership of Senator Ted Kennedy in service to the disadvantaged and disabled? 

As the champion and friend of those often relegated to the periphery of our communities or exiled to the edges of our conscience, Senator Kennedy kept alive hope in the hearts of those who might have been ignored and forgotten.

If you had a disability, if you were an immigrant, if you required health care, or if you were just down and out, Senator Kennedy represented you in the halls of power and in the coffers of resources.

He has been eulogized as the Lion of the Senate, but for all who care for "the least of these," his legacy is as the President of the Poor.

- Philip F. Mangano




THIS ISSUE of The American Round Table presents five international news stories that document the "art of legitimate larceny" in seeking "what's working" to prevent and end homelessness across borders. Stories from the United Kingdom, key Canadian cities, New Zealand, and Australia - each pursuing new strategies and new results - demonstrate the critical roles of jurisdictional leaders, innovative ideas, targeted investment, and cost analysis. Keep reading to learn more. 




 

IN VANCOUVER: HOME FOR THE GAMES PARTNERSHIP ANNOUNCED AS HOUSING-FOCUSED SOLUTION FOR VANCOUVER'S 2010 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES 

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA. The Streetohome Foundation, which will coordinate development of Vancouver's Ten Year Plan launched by Mayor Gregor Robertson, has been named as one of two beneficiary partners to "Home For The Games," a new non-profit organization to provide housing solutions for people who are homeless as a strategy for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Home for the Games will identify host homes with space to rent - beds, rooms, and houses - for visitors. Half of the proceeds from rent set by the host will go to Streetohome and Covenant House to support Vancouver's goal to end homelessness. Mayor Robertson is shown here with Philip Mangano, during Mr. Mangano's July 2009 engagement at the Vancouver Board of Trade.
 
Home for the Games Founder and Board Chair Charles Montgomery, a journalist and media consultant, announced the launch of the idea generated by what he described as a "kitchen table" conversation with other young professionals focused on welcoming visitors. "Home For The Games will help people share in the spirit of the Games by opening their homes to visitors from across the country and around the world," he said. "The exciting part is, every home stay will raise money to help our most vulnerable citizens." A web-based matching service will assist interested hosts, and the initiative has the support of the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee. There is no fee to list or book a room, and homeowners receive a discount on insurance from one of the program's sponsors. Vancouver hotel rooms are already sold out for the games.
 
Philip Mangano, who met with Mayor Robertson and addressed the Vancouver Board of Trade on business strategies to end homelessness, praised the new partnership and noted the importance of the innovative idea: "Home for the Games is an idea that will be welcomed by communities everywhere. We've seen the appetite for new solutions in 'destination' communities,' whether those hosting major sports events, political conventions, or tourist attractions." Mr. Mangano is shown here at the Board of Trade event.
 
Under Mr. Mangano's leadership as Executive Director of the U.S. Interagency Council, the Council convened a 2005 national focus group of city and county leaders from such destination sites, including those with beachfronts, gaming, theme park, monuments, universities, sports, or other attractions that are impacted by homelessness. Participants focused on public spaces shared by tourists, residents, and people experiencing homelessness, as well as  those with a seasonal employment and/or housing rental market due to tourism.
 
"Home For The Games is a great example of the positive legacies we can create from the 2010 Winter Games," said Mayor Robertson. "With the immense challenge our city faces with homelessness, I can't think of anything better than harnessing the excitement of the Olympics to help get people off the street and into homes."
 
Streetohome President Jae Kim noted, ""We are pleased to see organizations such as Home For The Games creating such unique community partnerships to raise money in support of ending homelessness in Vancouver." Funds from Home for the Games will be used by Streetohome to support an innovative project to help address homelessness among people with mental illness spearheaded by the Mental Health Commission of Canada. The four-year pilot project will help them secure housing while ensuring they receive access to integrated treatment and services.
 
Covenant House Vancouver assists young people ages 16 - 24 who have fled physical, emotional, or sexual abuse or have been forced from their homes. Covenant House provides shelter, food, clothing and counseling to over 2,000 young people each year. Funds raised through Home For The Games will directly support shelter for these street-engaged youth.

IN OTTAWA: WITH NEW HOUSING FIRST TEN YEAR PLAN IN IMPLEMENTATION, CANADIAN JURISDICTIONAL LEADERS ARE URGED TO PRIORITIZE PERMANENT HOUSING SOLUTIONS TO END HOMELESSNESS


OTTAWA, ONTARIO. "There is a better way. We can solve this problem." With these words, the elected jurisdictional official who heads the Ontario organization representing most of the 445 local governments in the province has urged Canada's cities to move forward with an agenda to develop new permanent supported housing for people who are homelessness.  Ottawa, also the Canadian capital city, has a new Housing First Ten Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness that was unveiled in May 2009.

Speaking to the Ontario Municipal Social Services Association, Ottawa City Councillor and Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) President Peter Hume called on communities to turn away from what he labeled the "Band-Aid solution" of shelters, recognize the costly public expense of maintaining people in homelessness, and set a goal to eliminate homelessness. " If I were the Mayor or running for Mayor, not only in Ottawa, but anywhere in Ontario, I would make ending homelessness in a single 4- year term, the defining issue," he said. In fact, Ottawa's Plan stated: "If the humanitarian reasons for this approach are unpersuasive, the economic rationale is undeniable. The annual drain on support services including emergency, public health, social services and the justice system caused by just a single chronically homeless person amounts to roughly $100,000."
 
Mr. Hume noted in his remarks that he had heard the strong message on costs and results from Philip Mangano, whom he hosted in August 2007 as the invited keynote speaker for the AMO conference and also when he visited Mr. Mangano at the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness during his 7-year tenure as Executive Director. Cost was also an issue echoed by the Ottawa Citizen in a supportive editorial on the launch of the plan, noting both Mr. Mangano partnership with the capital's initiative and that the supportive housing strategy is "a money-saver." Mr. Mangano is shown here addressing the AMO conference.
 
In June 2008, Canada's capital city convened its broad partnership to develop a new 10 Year Plan, under the leadership of Mayor Larry O'Brien, then City Housing Director Russell Mawby, and the Leadership Table on Homelessness headed by Janet Yale, which brought together business leaders, government officials, representatives of community agencies, and the faith community with support from United Way, to address the issue of chronic homelessness in Ottawa. Mr. Mangano visited the public library and the Ottawa Hospital emergency room during that tour, where he met with staff and discussed their experiences of frequent uses of the hospital's services. Mr. Mangano is shown here meeting with the Mayor during his visit.
 
"Peter Hume and the Ottawa partners continue to be focused on strategy and results," indicated Mr. Mangano. "And the strategy remains the same: Local officials have a great appetite to solve problems in their communities by creating the solutions themselves, with community stakeholders, or by discovering the solutions elsewhere and adopting them locally. No city big or small in any nation has a monopoly on the best ideas, and part of our work is to discover what works and rapidly disseminate it."

Mr. Mawby, who followed Mr., Hume as a speaker at the social services conference, affirmed the strategy, saying: "It saves money and improves lives. How can you argue with that?"

When "Destination: Home" was presented in May, the Leadership Table on Homelessness (LTH) announced that, through the support of the City of Ottawa, Ottawa Community Housing, and the Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation, 100 chronically homeless people would move to supportive housing within a few weeks. The plan, which gave specific credit to Mr. Mangano's strategic vision for the innovation, noted: "Mangano's approach has been praised for achieving demonstrable results and lessening the burden borne by community-based organizations. His strategies have been followed in a variety of communities in North America and even overseas, usually with notable results." Mr. Mangano is shown here meeting with the Leadership Table during his visit.

Ottawa Community Housing (OCH) committed to provide 50 social housing units each year for the next three years to house chronically homeless individuals. Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation committed an additional 24 units, bringing the total to 100 units for the first year. The City of Ottawa committed $1 million in annual funding to provide supports for 100 chronically homeless people in a social or private rental housing unit as a direct result of advocacy efforts from the LTH members. This funding was allocated to five organizations: Horizons Renaissance Inc., John Howard Society, Ottawa Salus, Canadian Mental Health Association, and Options Bytown.

In a model unique to Ontario, municipalities fund about $1 billion for assisted housing programs, in addition to providing cost sharing for homeless services, income assistance and employment programs. Field-tested, evidence-based strategies are thus of great interest to jurisdictional leaders seeking improved outcomes. 
 




IN AUSTRALIA: PRIME MINISTER'S NEW NATIONAL COUNCIL ON HOMELESSNESS NAMED AS NATIONAL HOMELESS PERSONS WEEK IS OBSERVED 


CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced the appointment of an independent national council for the implementation of the national government's White Paper on Homelessness, The Road Home.  Tony Nicholson, Executive Director of the Brotherhood of St. Laurence and Chair of the White Paper Steering Group, will chair the Prime Minister's Council on Homelessness, calling the development "an irresistible challenge." The government has set a goal of reducing homelessness by 50 percent by 2020 and committed $7 billion to the effort.

Prime Minister Rudd made homelessness a priority of his administration when he took office in December 2007. In May 2008 at the Fifth National Conference on Homelessness convened in Adelaide, he met with Philip Mangano, who as Executive Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, addressed the conference as part of an invited national tour on homelessness sponsored by the Mental Illness Fellowship of Australia. Also meeting with Mr. Mangano were Housing Minister Tanya Plibersek and Therese Rein, wife of the Prime Minister and an employment entrepreneur for vulnerable populations. Ms. Rein had previously made an official visit to Mr. Mangano at the Council in Washington to discuss national government strategies. Ms. Rein and Mr. Mangano are shown here.

In April 2009, Mr. Mangano was invited to speak at the summit convened by the Mercy Foundation and the City of Sydney to focus on innovations and the homelessness agenda being forwarded in Australia. Mr. Mangano is shown here with Monsignor David Cappo, appointed Vice-Chair of the Australian Social Inclusion Board established by Prime Minister Rudd. Monsignor Cappo represented Australia in the international colloquies on homelessness established by Mr. Mangano at the Interagency Council.

At the conference, Prime Minister Rudd announced "Which Way Home," a national "Green Paper" consultation initiative with stakeholders and the first of his administration. Its goal: "to promote discussion, draw out bold new ideas and to identify evidence-based approaches to reduce homelessness." The Prime Minister characterized the new policy direction on homelessness as "renewed national leadership - to bring a strategic focus and drive a coordinated effort." The White Paper was released in December 2008.

According to the Prime Minister, the new Council will take a leadership role through independently monitoring the White Paper goals and targets, and providing advice on progress, risks, and emerging issues. The first meeting of the Council will identify critical issues and factors which will impact the White Paper goals. The new Council members are: Mr. Ian Carter, Chief Executive Officer, Anglicare; Mr. Alan Kirkland, Chief Executive Officer, Legal Aid Commission, New South Wales; Ms. Pat Brahim, Chief Executive Officer, Julalikari Council Aboriginal Corporation, Northern Territory; Ms. Netty Horton, General Manager of Community Services, St. Vincent de Paul Aged Care and Community Services, Victoria; Professor Margaret Hamilton, Chair, Multiple and Complex Needs Panel, Victoria; Ms. Christine Edwards, Chief Executive Officer, The Myer Foundation and the Sidney Myer Fund, Victoria; and Mr. David Cant, Chief Executive Officer, Brisbane Housing Company, Queensland.
 
At the launch of National Homeless Persons Week, which was observed this year with National Missing Persons Week, Narelle Clay, Chairperson of the national organization Homelessness Australia, noted of the announcement, "The Federal Government has set the ambitious target of halving homelessness by 2020. Having the Prime Minister take a personal stake in the issue has given homelessness the kind of attention it has not seen previously."   
 




IN NEW ZEALAND: SERIAL INEBRIATES ARE FOCUS ON NEW DATA AND CALL FOR RESIDENTIAL RESOURCES TO END RANDOM RICOCHETING


WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND. Wellington Hospital emergency room data document that eight men accounted for 75 percent of alcohol admissions last year. Dr. Paul Quigley of the emergency staff reported that the hospital saw the eight individuals who are "rough sleepers" or chronically homeless over 125 times during 12 months. In an interview with The Dominion Post, Wellington's daily paper, Dr. Quigley indicated that, with the individuals living rough and the hospital acting as what he called a "revolving door," there was little chance for successful treatment. Dr. Quigley affirmed the need for a "wet house" for which the Wellington City Council has targeted $250,000 for development.

At the invitation of public and private sector partners, Philip Mangano in March 2009 keynoted the New Zealand National Homelessness Forum in Christchurch and was hosted by New Zealand Coalition to End Homelessness chairwoman Clare Aspinall. During his visit, Mr. Mangano met with national government and local officials in Wellington, including Housing Minister Phil Heatley, Jim Anderton, Progressive Party Leader in Parliament, and the Social Services Select Committee, as well as Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast. Mr. Mangano is shown here at the conference.
 
Mr. Mangano praised the New Zealand physician's focus on frequent users as a necessary first step in assessing the cost of homelessness to the community. "It's the right time to develop data such as these," he indicated. "New Zealand has shown it is moving in a new direction, generating the political will to create a business-minded plan, owned by elected leaders, shaped by community stakeholders, and framed around business and economic research and principles."
 
"Adopting the innovative ideas for this population that are field-tested and evidence-based would offer national, state, and local jurisdictional CEO's the guarantee that investment would lead to results," he added. Mr. Mangano noted the 2003 $55 million investment by the U.S. government through the newly revitalized U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and with the resources of four federal agencies and departments. Mr. Mangano was the Council's Executive Director from 2002 to 2009 and encouraged the adoption of new Housing First strategies to end chronic homelessness that not only succeeded in the federal initiative but were followed by new targeted investment in housing strategies specifically for so-called "serial inebriates." The $10 million 2-year federal Housing for People who are Homeless and Addicted to Alcohol program in 11 cities was driven by research from the case of San Diego, California, where researchers followed 15 serial inebriates for 18 months and demonstrated that they cost the City and County $3 million without addressing their homelessness.






IN THE UNITED KINGDOM: NEW RESEARCH DEMONSTRATES COST SAVINGS FROM HOUSING VULNERABLE AND HOMELESS NEIGHBORS


LONDON, ENGLAND. Even as the British government has recommitted itself to the goal of ending "rough sleeping" or chronic homelessness under the goal first established by the Blair government, a new report has documented that the United Kingdom's "Supporting People" initiative of housing solutions for populations that are homeless, living with disabilities, the reentry population, and others has created savings through reduced costs in other systems and services. The research examined the financial impact of more intensive and costly interventions, compared to the Supporting People resources.

The independent analysis estimated that the £1.6 billion invested annually has saved other services £3.41 billion. The Supporting People program has helped more than a million homeless and at-risk people to live independently in their own homes - including 800,000 older people, 40,000 single homeless people, 36,000 people with mental health problems, and 8,000 women at risk of domestic violence. Based on the success of the initiative, local government this year has been given decision-making authority over resources for the initiative, to direct them where it finds the most need. Local authorities will also be provided with a new financial modeling tool so they can better assess the financial benefits of housing related support in their area.

"The Rough Sleepers Initiative provided key strategies for the commitment of the Bush Administration to end chronic homelessness and direction for the mission of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness when it was revitalized in 2002," indicated Philip Mangano, who was appointed as the Council's Executive Director in 2002, serving until May 2009. "These new cost data are consistent with what communities around the world are documenting from the implementation of innovative solutions for our most vulnerable neighbors." Mr. Mangano is shown here speaking about cost research during an international meeting in London.

Mr. Mangano's government peers in the Blair years provided generous counsel and partnership through formal multi-lateral convenings initiated by Mr. Mangano, resulting in shared strategies now at work in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. The public and private sector members of the national teams from the U.S., U.S., and Canada are shown here during a summit in London.

Housing Minister Ian Austin welcomed the new cost data, stating: "Today's independent report confirms that the Supporting People program is worth every penny. Where it has helped house the homeless or most vulnerable people we have seen it save money and avoid more costly alternatives."


In 1998 Prime Minister Tony Blair set a target that, by 2002, the number of rough sleepers should be reduced by 2/3 from 1,850. According to the UK's Department of Communities and Local Government, the target was met in 2001 and has been sustained since, with a count of 483 in 2008. According to Louise Casey, appointed in 1999 to lead the Rough Sleepers Initiative and, with Department of Communities Director of Housing Delivery and Homelessness Terrie Alafat and others, a committed partner to U.S. efforts, the success and strategies of the targeting - including the leadership role of government - resulted in a "tipping point" that created Parliamentary support to increase investments in family homelessness and youth homelessness. Ms. Casey is shown here meeting with Mr. Mangano.

The Government has recently set out a 15-point plan to work with partners to end all rough sleeping by 2012. Homelessness Minister Iain Wright, MP last winter launched the new rough sleeping strategy called "No One Left Out - Communities Ending Rough Sleeping." The strategy includes maintaining local counts "as a useful measure of tracking trends over time" and a new Street Needs Audit (SNA) to gather more information about people found in the counts. Counters will now record whether there is an active action plan in place for the person and the lead agency that is taking responsibility for the individual.

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