Douglas County programs help people stay housed, address homelessness

BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

People who end up living on the streets often struggle with mental illness, addiction or other health problems that can stand in the way of getting back on their feet.

In Douglas County, a program that started two years ago has helped dozens of people stay connected with the resources they need, including many people who struggled with housing.

“We’re also hoping to reduce reliance or interaction with our crisis emergency and acute care services as well,” said Leandra Montoya, who works with e Care Compact.

at’s the county’s program that works with hospitals, the county jail and organizations in the community to help keep people with complex needs from falling through the cracks.

One of the program’s main goals: to cut down on situations where people use services like law enforcement or transportation to an emergency room to deal with a crisis, an outcome that can be expensive — or, for rst responders, time consuming.

“So when we see folks who are frequently engaged with these systems, it’s a sign to us that they might need more support in the community, and so we overall are hoping to improve health and quality of life outcomes for these folks,” Montoya said.

Since the program’s December 2020 launch, e Care Compact has enrolled 68 clients and helped many of them resolve housing challenges.

Montoya’s comments came as part of the March meeting of the committee that leads the Douglas County Homeless Initiative, the county’s e ort to partner with the faith community and nonpro ts to address homelessness. Signs of success from Montoya’s program come as Douglas at includes Douglas County’s Homeless Engagement, Assistance and Resource Team of “navigators” who respond to homelessness, working with law enforcement when safety is a concern.

County has also seen the emergence of two other programs that also work to address homelessness in the county.

Also contributing is AllHealth Network, a mental health-care nonpro t with locations across the south Denver metro area that recently started a street outreach team to approach unhoused people to o er resources.

Serving complex needs e Care Compact, Montoya’s program, interacts with people in need — often those who have interfaced with the criminal justice system, health care and other crisis services — and connects them with housing, food sources and other services.

“Our goals are to reduce duplica- tion of services,” Montoya said. She added: “We’re also hoping to improve transitions between levels of care and care types. So, for example, if a client is discharging from the hospital, we’re hoping to improve that transition back to the community by wrapping them around with supports and services.”

“My work is to coordinate (the) partners and bring everyone together to make sure we all are on the same page,” she added.

Of the program’s clients, 71% were homeless or at risk of homelessness — about 47% were homeless, and 24% were at risk.

“ e vast majority of our folks are relying on Social Security disability or Social Security income (to) meet their nancial needs,” Montoya said of the clients with housing needs.

About “21% are unemployed, and I mention that because some folks are trying to get back into employment and need mental health stabilization to get to that point,” she said of the clients with housing needs.

Many of the clients with housing needs were dealing with mental health challenges, substance use disorders, intellectual and developmental disabilities, or reported traumatic brain injuries — or sometimes two or more of those, Montoya said. People are referred to the program by its partners but also by family members, Montoya said.

About 67% of all the homeless clients secured long-term housing, she said. And 40% of the clients at risk of homelessness “sustained” their housing, meaning they were able to connect with services or nancial support to prevent eviction or loss of housing.

“Of the housing connections we’ve been able to make for folks … most frequently it’s assisted living facilities,” Montoya said, because of the