Orange County Investment in Programs to Prevent and End Homelessness<\/a>,\u201d was produced at the request of Mayor Jacobs and Committee Chair Munns. The report provides an independent review of the County\u2019s contracts and programs that provide homeless prevention services, as well as homeless services and housing.<\/p>\nOrange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs said, \u201cOver the last several years, Orange County has greatly expanded its resources and programs to address homelessness in our community. Working with the Orange County Committee and Chair Rulon Munns, we requested that an evaluation be done by Barbara Poppe, the nation\u2019s leading expert in this field. Specifically, we directed that Poppe bring a laser focus to how our current programs and partner programs stack up against the national \u2018Housing First\u2019 model. This report provides us with an analysis of how our programs are delivering outcomes, as compared to that model.\u201d Continued Jacobs, \u201cIt\u2019s important to note, that since most of our contracts were written well before the national model was adopted, we fully expected to see gaps. Our community has shown time and again that working together we are able to solve deeply complex problems. Not only will this report serve as a strong template for other local communities, I\u2019m confident that with our outstanding partners \u2014 from social service agencies to faith-based groups \u2014 we will make history in housing our homeless children and families. The report will help us evaluate the impact of our regional efforts, and gives us a perfect jumping off point for the next phase of our work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Orange County, which is the largest of the six jurisdictions participating in the Central Florida Commission on Homelessness, invested more than $7.4 million into homeless services in FY2015-2016.<\/p>\n
According to Rulon Munns, Chair, Orange County Committee of the CFCH, \u201cThe Orange County Committee of the Central Florida Commission on Homelessness has worked hard to review the current practices of Orange County in addressing homelessness. In all, the Committee has been very impressed with the efforts and resources of the County toward homelessness. We are gratified to receive this independent report, which confirms that the County is indeed allocating very significant funds, personnel and other resources to address this compelling issue. In addition, we are pleased to learn of the findings and recommendations, as well as the excellent suggestions and strategies recommended by Ms. Poppe.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report offers new recommendations about how to better align resources and programs to provide stronger services outcomes for individuals who are homeless. The new report complements previous studies by Poppe, which focused on different aspects of homelessness locally and statewide, including the 2015 reports, \u201cCurrent State of Family Homelessness in Central Florida\u201d and \u201cThe Path Forward: Rethinking Solutions to Homelessness in Florida,\u201d both of which provided insightful feedback and analysis to aid community leaders in impacting homelessness. The findings of the current report propose next steps in a series of actions for Orange County as work continues to align local efforts with regional and national housing first approaches to ensure that an episode of homelessness is a brief, one-time experience for a family or individual.<\/p>\n
To briefly summarize, the report examined 23 homeless programs funded through Orange County, and acknowledges several key strengths within Orange County\u2019s existing structure, including:<\/p>\n
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