Pilot project will provide services and assistance for at-risk families

Columbus, OH – December 3, 2007  – Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher today announced that five nonprofit organizations were awarded $1,750,300 to provide approximately 800 households consisting of 2,000 people with intensive, home-based case management for up to six months through the Family Homelessness Prevention Pilot Project. The Pilot Project grants were approved today by the State Controlling Board.

“We need to move beyond short-term, quick fixes and attack homelessness at its core,” said Lt. Governor Fisher, who also serves as Director of the Ohio Department of Development. “These funds provide the first step in arming families on the brink of homelessness with the access, assistance, and empowerment they need.”

The Pilot Project, an initiative of Governor Ted Strickland’s Interagency Council on Homelessness and Affordable Housing, will identify families most at risk of homelessness in six counties and provide services to prevent the loss of housing. The services include: housing referrals and supportive and advocacy services, based on a comprehensive family needs assessment; and financial assistance for housing-related expenses to help families maintain or obtain housing.

Lt. Governor Fisher serves as the Interagency Council’s chair and is leading the State’s efforts to formulate policies and programs that will address affordable housing issues and the needs of Ohioans who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

The award recipients are:

The Pilot Project will be implemented through two-year demonstration grants. The targeted families must include one or more dependent children; have incomes at or below 200 percent of the poverty level; be at imminent risk of becoming homeless; and need access to supportive services to prevent homelessness and develop long-term housing stabilization.

Throughout the implementation process, the Pilot Project award recipients will be evaluated by Community Research Partners, a statewide, nonprofit organization experienced in community data collection, evaluation, and research to support positive change. At the conclusion of the grant implementation process, the project’s success will be evaluated based on efficiency in targeting families who have no safe, alternative housing, except emergency shelter housing; effectiveness in preventing loss of housing and literal homelessness; and ease of replication in other communities across Ohio.

The Pilot Project is funded with Ohio Housing Trust Fund and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds and administered by the Ohio Department of Development through Fiscal Years 2008 and 2009. The total amount for the Prevention Pilot Project is $2,012,000.