CA group leads push to stop homelessness before it starts

Nebraskans facing a financial setback can soon get help before it pushes them into homelessness.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Center on Children, Families and the Law is one of 10 organizations taking part in a pilot project for a national initiative called “Right at Home.” A Silicon Valley homelessness nonprofit called Destination: Home leads the effort based on a prevention model it developed. The initiative pairs short-term financial assistance with personalized case management.

Brittany Brakenhoff, research assistant professor at the center, said firsthand experiences can reveal where existing services fall short.

National initiative being shaped by real experiences

“One of the things we want to make sure is the program’s hitting people who typically fall through the cracks,” Brakenhoff explained. “To identify that, I think we do need to talk to people who needed homeless prevention or maybe have recently become homeless and kind of identify where would’ve been the critical time to intervene.”

People who have personally faced homelessness or housing instabilitywill help design the new prevention system.

Brakenhoff noted the aid will be flexible enough to address the different causes of housing instability. Right at Home is expected to begin serving families in January.

“We do anticipate the biggest request for assistance is going to be for rent and utilities but we do also hope to help families that, maybe what they need to prevent homelessness is a car repair so they can get to work or things like that,” Brakenhoff outlined.

The program will use Nebraska data to identify common risk factors. People seeking help will answer a few questions and those at greatest risk of becoming homeless will receive priority. Menwhile, Destination: Home reports more than 90% of the households it helped were still in their homes two years later.