UNSHELTERED YOUNG PEOPLE: outreach tips, example policies and case studies

Does your by-name list include all young people currently experiencing homelessness including: 

1A.) Young people living on the streets or other places not meant for human habitation

Resources & Case Studies

• West Virginia BoS -  West Virginia has strong outreach coverage of large rural areas. 

• Riverside, CA - Targeted outreach Coverage to high utilizers of the emergency rooms. 

• Case study: Washington, D.C.

• Coordinate Outreach Coverage: Key Considerations, Tips & Resources (Built for ZERO Canada: 20KHomes)

• Intro to Housing Focused Street Outreach

• Facilitation Guide: Mapping Outreach Coverage

• Example Completed Outreach Matrix

• Outreach Job Descriptions

Example policies:

• Sample policy: Tucson, AZ

• Sample policy: Rockford, IL

Questions to Consider

• What information and/or data should the street outreach team be collecting?

• How is the street outreach team going to collect data?

• Does street outreach have specific HOT SPOTS?

• What are the ways street outreach can be dispatched?

• Are your outreach materials accessible to non-English speaking YYA?

Actions to consider

Outreach Team Planning

• Create a HOTSPOT schedule for outreach

•  Have a outreach worker/lead attend COC/ Community meetings 

• Create a policy that documents your community’s outreach practices and protocols.

• Make sure to revisit this policy regularly to ensure that it continues to be sufficient as your community changes. Make sure this policy is shared out with the community frequently to ensure knowledge of outreach procedures.

• Create a community-wide schedule to determine when and where outreach coverage happens and communicate it to all parties.

• Outreach teams should have a schedule with different parts of the community to create knowledge of where they will be at any given time. Such as, scheduling one day each week or bi-week to outreach to hospitals and clinics. Have it rotating for all parties.

  • One example: Outreach team will be at libraries every 3rd Thursday of the month

• Map outreach efforts in your community’s geography by facilitating a meeting with all organizations doing outreach, including mental health teams. Make notes of gaps and where duplication may occur.

• Keep in mind areas not constantly discussed or thought of. 

  • Such as: Emergency Departments, Libraries, donation centers, Local Businesses, and near train or bus stops.

Partnerships

• Train first respondents (e.g. EMTs, law enforcement) and community institutions (e.g. libraries) to complete the common assessment, or create a streamlined process by which they can refer individuals to access points.

•  In rural communities, secure agreement for homelessness-specific partners to make referrals to dedicated outreach staff or access points; make sure to maintain face-to-face contact for the client throughout the process.

• Create a community-wide schedule to determine when and where outreach coverage happens and communicate it to all parties.

• Meet with local businesses to have outreach contact information.

• Outreach to local businesses that non-English speaking YYA frequent. Be sure to provide outreach materials in multiple languages.

• Outreach teams building relationships with local businesses is huge when outreaching to rural areas. When businesses come into contact with YYA in need they typically call PD which can be harmful to the young person. When that business has outreach contacts they will be more inclined to contact them to get services and help to the young person.

  • Some good tactics to do this are:

    • Weekly check in with businesses.

    • Supply outreach cards and flyers to businesses that list the services outreach can offer. 

    • Knowing staff and that staff knowing the outreach workers.

    • Be clear that outreach is there to help and offer services to young folks experiencing homeless. The intent of outreach must remain clear when building  relationships in smaller rural areas and businesses.

Facilities

• When thinking about outreach, teams should be outreaching to facilities as well.

• Example: a discharge team at a facility or Emergency Department would have contact info for an outreach person to meet a YYA that is being discharged into homelessness. 

  • This will help the YYA enter the system and resources quicker and might be able to help them be discharged into something other than homelessness.

• Create MOU with Emergency Department and Behavioral Health centers

• Some health institutions already have care teams and outreach workers. Establish a relationship with those partners and streamline referrals and connections for YYA.

Case Conferencing

• Coordinate outreach teams so that they work collaboratively with coverage and case conferencing.

• A member of the outreach team should be attending all case conferencing meetings.

• This will help map out areas of contact as well might help update the BNL with outreach contact dates.