Homelessness is not a problem that can be solved by adding shelter beds alone. Homeless people need skills, support networks, income and a permanent place to stay in order to thrive. Case managers at Tedford Housing identify obstacles and barriers that keep people from finding and maintaining a home and locate resources that help to overcome those barriers. Since 2016, we've added an additional 20 hours / week of homeless prevention and supportive housing services to address the burgeoning demand, particularly in the area of stability. Through all its services, Tedford Housing provides pathways from homelessness to home in Midcoast Maine.

Case management is a core element of all of the services and programs Tedford Housing offers. All clients are exposed to some level of case management in order to understand the causes of homelessness, to develop a housing stability plan specific to their situation and to access resources for achieving permanent and stable housing for the long term. These housing navigator / case management services are part of a model adopted by Maine Housing in 2016 called Emergency Shelter and Housing Assistance Program, or ESHAP. ESHAP represents a significantly more complex system for the delivery of shelter beds and services than existed previously when services and funding were based upon a "bed count" model. The model consists of navigation, rental assistance and stabilization. Tedford has implemented a "hand off" model whereby the case manager providing the navigation services in the shelter plans and coordinates the hand off to the case manager providing the stabilization services in the community. Navigator services include conducting an assessment to determine the needs of the guest, developing what is called the "housing stability plan" and working with the guest to secure and move into affordable housing. Navigation services also include working with various agencies to secure rental assistance vouchers when identified, as well as other community resources and services benefiting the guest post shelter stay. The stabilization services of the supportive housing case manager include following along with each client on an outreach basis for twelve months to contribute to increasing the success of the client in his or her new home and to prevent a return to homelessness. Key activities include no less than monthly visits and quarterly updates of the housing stability plan.

Tedford Housing believes that everyone deserves to have a safe and affordable home. Since 1987, the organization has evolved from providing emergency shelter to adults to offering shelter, supported housing and homeless prevention services for adults, families and teens. Giff Jamison, Tedford's director of operations, oversees all of Tedford Housing's programs and services and supervises all of the stability navigators. Giff has over 30 years experience in the nonprofit social services sector with 10 years working in homelessness. Our stability navigators are also provided clinical supervision on a monthly basis from a licensed clinical social worker.

Tedford Housing sets specific goals for its housing navigator and stability services and compares these performance measures to local and national stats. Some of these goals include: 100% of each person or family who is homeless and who enters the shelter has a safe place to stay during their time of homelessness and has immediate access to case management services; 100% of each person or family which works with a Tedford case manager develops a plan that includes: understanding the causes of their homelessness and has corrective actions to move from homelessness, identifying and seeking the resources necessary to locate, obtain, and retain permanent and stable housing, such as a rental subsidy voucher; Each household is able to maintain or increase income during their involvement with case management; Fewer than 15% will return to homelessness; 40% of homeless single adults and 80% of homeless families will exit shelter stays to permanent housing; 80% of homeless students working with Tedford case management will remain with their academic program and will be on a path to graduate to the next grade level.

During FY207, a full 100% of the guests entering our shelter (individuals and families) had access to case management services and developed an individualized housing plan. Numbers from a Maine Housing report from calendar year 2016 indicate that of those clients in our shelters from January to June 2016, only 3. 5% of adult shelter clients and 0% of family shelter clients returned to homelessness within the first six months after their exit from the shelter. From July to December 2016, 5% of adult shelter clients and 4% of family shelter clients returned to homelessness within the first 6 months after their exit from the shelter. These percentages are well below the performance measure of 15% return to homelessness established by Maine Housing. Reports pulled from Maine HMIS (Homeless Management Information System) indicate that during the period of July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017, of the 85 clients served, 73 exited from the adult shelter. 42, or 57. 5%, of those clients exited to permanent housing. For the same period in the family shelter, 11 families exited, with 9 of these families, or 81. 8%, exiting to permanent housing; the other two families exiting to non-permanent locations, due to various situations. While we do not yet have the stats for the most recently completed school year, we can share data from the academic year ending June 2016. We find these stats to be very consistent from year to year. Tedford Housing's outreach coordinator worked with twenty undergraduate students of which 100% advanced to the next grade level. In addition, the outreach coordinator worked with 17 seniors of which 16, or 94%, graduated, with the remaining one student returning for a fifth year of high school. Case management, or navigator services, remains a critical component of restoring housing stability for our clients, helping to sustain permanent housing in the future