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Eviction Prevention Planning

Eviction Prevention Planning. Presented by Ted A. Lovato, LMSW, CCDS, CART Vice President & Chief Operations Officer tlovato@samaritanhouse.org To the Tarrant County Homeless Coalition, Providers Roundtable, September 15, 2009. WHAT HOMELESS PROVIDERS DO:.

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Eviction Prevention Planning

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  1. Eviction Prevention Planning Presented by Ted A. Lovato, LMSW, CCDS, CART Vice President & Chief Operations Officer tlovato@samaritanhouse.org To the Tarrant County Homeless Coalition, Providers Roundtable, September 15, 2009

  2. WHAT HOMELESS PROVIDERS DO: WE ALL PROVIDE HOUSING AND SUPPORTIVE SERVICES TO HOMELESS OR FORMALLY HOMELESS MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN.

  3. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU EVICT? “When you evict a homeless person, you make them homeless again.” Joyce Grangent Senior Program Manager Corporation for Supportive Housing

  4. Non-payment of rent Drugs (using/selling) Violence Housekeeping habits Unauthorized occupants Nuisance Disturbances Pets Mental health and erratic behaviors Foreclosures Subleasing unit Lease ends Home Condemned Damaging unit WHY ARE PEOPLE EVICTED?

  5. Provide supportive services Teach Nurture Empower Provide opportunities to learn life skills WHAT ARE OUR RESPONSIBILITIES AS HOMELESS SERVICE PROVIDERS?

  6. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DO OUR JOBS? We Prevent Evictions!

  7. HOW DO WE PREVENT EVICTIONS? We go the extra mile!

  8. WHO DO WE SERVE? Our clients are not losers!

  9. WHO DO WE SERVE? We must believe in our clients! If we do not believe in our clients, how can we effectively empower them to change?

  10. WHO DO WE SERVE? It is our job to take on the challenge of the difficult to serve clients and help them to learn new skills to improve their lives.

  11. WHO DO WE SERVE? We must be careful not to be judgmental. Just because we have the skills to remain housed does not mean your clients will have that same skill. You know how hard it is to keep a roof over your head, right? Our job is to teach those skills.

  12. WHO DO WE SERVE? Homeless people get the message that they have no value over and over again.

  13. WHO DO WE SERVE?

  14. WHO DO WE SERVE? I like to think of the clients we serve as tootsie pops. They have a hard shell, but the good part is in the middle. We have to find it!

  15. WHO DO WE SERVE? The excitement and anticipation of those we serve should be foremost. If it is not, maybe you are in the wrong job.

  16. THIS MEANS: We have to meet the clients where they are.

  17. Why Prevent Evictions? What’s the Point? • Makes the homeless person homeless again • Creates a negative credit and rental report • Makes renting for your clients difficult if not impossible • Creates a vacancy in your program • Affects your occupancy rates • Failures reflect negatively on your agency, your mission and your APR outcomes • It costs money and time to evict a client. It could take days and weeks. • You feel bad, but just think how the client feels • Finally, providing housing to hard to house homeless people is our job.

  18. Common Tenant Problems • Drug and Alcohol Use • Drug Dealing • Domestic Violence • Disturbances • Housekeeping • Unauthorized Visitors or Too Many Visitors • Non-Payment of Rent • Pets • Erratic Behaviors and Mental Health Issues

  19. Care Plans At Samaritan House, we use Care Plans and Eviction Prevention Plans as leverage for compliance. If the resident does this, the Samaritan House will do that.

  20. Lease Violation Information

  21. Lease Violation Information Cont’

  22. Example of Problem: Non-Payment of Rent Resident consistently pays rent late, pays partial rent, or does not pay at all. Always wanting to make pay arrangements.

  23. Recommended Change in Care Plan • Money Management and Budgeting Classes • Guardianship Services • Priority setting • Figure out what the problem is and incorporate it into the EPP.

  24. Action taken by staff to assist resident with improvement • Help client with budget • Help them manage their cash (envelope method) • Agency Serves as Payee • Refer them to Guardianship Services • Refer them to Consumer Credit Counseling Services

  25. Remember: The client may not have the same skills as others. We must reach out and teach them and give them resources for learning.

  26. Who Is The Final Decision Maker?

  27. Discharge Planning If we have done everything we can to prevent eviction and the client still fails, we must do good discharge planning. Remember our job is not done until the client is safely in another form of housing if possible.

  28. Know Your Landlords Build relationships with the Landlord. Case Workers should explain your program and your tenant. Let them know you are a resource to help them keep your client housed. Explain Eviction Prevention and your role in keeping the resident housed.

  29. Burnout We must be aware of burnout because it affects our work. If your client becomes too difficult or hard to serve, turn them over to another case manger. Let them try too before you give up.

  30. Finally We are not experts at Samaritan House. We are simply thinking out of the box and trying to keep people housed. QUESTIONS?

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