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Housing Interventions
Pierce County's objective is to provide long-term housing solutions with a focus on outreach services. We are committed to coordinated entry and geographical and equitable opportunities. Below are definitions of types of housing programs.
Transitional Housing
Transitional Housing provides individuals and families experiencing homelessness with the interim stability and support to successfully move into and maintain a permanent housing solution. These programs are limited to households that, due to a disability or other factors (such as engagement with the family welfare system), need temporary housing that permits stays longer than emergency shelter.
Permanent Housing
Access to permanent housing ends the crisis of homelessness. By helping people return to the stability or permanent housing and self-sufficiency, we can make homelessness a non-recurring occurrence. We are working with homeless housing agencies and local landlords to quickly move people experiencing homelessness back into a home of their own.
Rapid Re-Housing
Rapid re-housing moves people quickly from homelessness to housing by providing short-term rental assistance accompanied by support services such as housing search assistance, move in costs, employment training, and connection to mainstream services such as behavioral health programs. In rapid re-housing, services and rent support are offered to help stabilize people in their housing and prevent them from becoming homeless again.
Permanent Supportive Housing
Permanent supportive housing can provide a stable living situation to people with significant barriers to housing, such as a long history of homelessness or a disability. Housing is paired with access to long-term supportive services—including mental and physical health services, substance use recovery, and vocational training—helping people to stay housed.
Outreach
Outreach services are critical for identifying and addressing the immediate need of persons and families experiencing homelessness, especially those who are unable or unwilling to accept emergency shelter services. Outreach services include connecting people to behavioral health services, such as recovery programs or mental health services, as well as helping people to meet their most basic needs of food, clothing and medical care.
Coordinated Entry
Coordinated entry makes it easier for people experiencing homelessness to access housing and supportive services, when available, as well as other mainstream services available in the community. When a person experiencing homelessness reaches out for help, coordinated entry uses a uniform assessment to identify the person’s strengths, resources, and barriers to housing. Through coordinated entry, a single database keeps track of the available beds and services throughout the community to identify the best program available for each person.
Short-Term Problem Solving
It can be an uphill battle to exit any length of homelessness. Short-term problem solving techniques make homelessness rare by meeting a housing crisis head on with the creativity and resources of the person experiencing the crisis. By helping them to leverage their natural resources—their family, friends, and faith communities—people can find housing solutions at a critical moment. And by supporting them with limited financial assistance, such as a one-time bill payment, or help purchasing food, or help finding a job or addressing health and safety needs, problem-solving assistance can provide support to help them stay housed.
Landlord Liaison Services
Landlord Liaison Services includes services from both Housing Connector and Associated Ministries. The Landlord Liaison Services now has two organizations: Housing Connecter and The Housing Stabilization Center through Associated Ministries.
- Housing Connector partners with property owners and service providers, acting as a bridge to connect those experiencing homelessness with vacant units in the community.
- The goal of Housing Connector is to successfully house individuals and families experiencing homelessness who cannot otherwise access housing due to rental barriers. Property Partners participating with Housing Connector agree to apply Relaxed Screening Criteria to tenant applicants referred for housing through this program. In return, Property Partners receive a variety of incentives including exclusive access to our listing platform on Zillow, free referrals to fill vacancies, risk mitigation services, rent guarantees, vacancy loss incentives, and incident response support.
- Housing Connector acts as the single point of contact for both Property Partners and Community Service Providers to support tenants if challenges arise during the first two years of tenancy.
- Associated Ministries’ Housing Stabilization Center is the tenancy retention section of these services. Housing stabilization Center will provide resources such as Rental Assistance, Relocation Services, and Application Fees to help mitigate evictions for clients housed through the program. Individuals and families housed in the program have access to Renter’ Readiness Certification where they learn how to be better neighbors, are prepared for financial success, and provided resources to aid them throughout their tenancies. Associated Ministries will ensure housing stability by providing extra supports like mediation, conflict resolution, and case management services in their second year of tenancy.
Project Homeless Connect
Project Homeless Connect (PHC) is a one-day event that provides access to a variety of services in easily accessible locations for people experiencing homelessness. PHC provides direct services on-site or connects households with direct services in the community that either remove barriers to housing or assists with obtaining permanent housing.