Thread by @shayshinecastle

Staff presentation on family homelessness: documents.bouldercolorado.gov/WebLink/DocVie…

You can also read more about family homelessness as part of Homelessness 101. boulderbeat.news/2022/08/18/fam…

For homelessness purposes, family = school-aged kids

Family homelessness is up... way up. In the City of Boulder so far this school year, 289 kids have experienced homelessness, the highest number in over a decade.

For the whole 2021-2022 school year: 1,982 school-aged children experienced homelessness in BoCo

We actually have much better data about family homelessness bc of the federal McKinney-Vento Act, which provided reporting requirements and resources for school districts.

Julie Van Domelen, exec director of EFAA, is here presenting.

Disclosure: I did some contract work for EFAA a few years ago. Not ongoing, so I really don't need to disclose. But I air on the side of more information.

¾ of local family homelessness = “economic circumstances such as loss of a job, rising housing costs, and reduction in hours worked”

¼ of family homelessness = “changes in the family structure due to domestic violence, divorce/abandonment, death of a spouse or partner”

Family homelessness tends to be more episodic, less chronic, Van Domelen says. "This is largely homegrown: people already living in our community. They have jobs here: the vast majority of homeless families, the adults work. Usually multiple jobs."

Van Domelen: "It's less visible. They're less in the open air and more doubled-up, couch-surfing. So there's less public awareness."

Why is family homelessness up? Bc it's expensive AF to live and have kids.

Single-parent, 2-kid household (on preschool, one school age) self sufficiency income is $99,411 in Boulder County

For context: Full-time minimum wage = $34,279
Welfare (TANF, SNAP + WIC) = $13,166/year

"The wages for a full-time minimum wage job come nowhere near what a family needs to live here," HHS deputy director Elizabeth Crowe says.

Van Domelen: The impacts of homelessness on children are severe. Short-term, you see a huge disparity in test scores and academic performance. Long-term, they have shorter lifespans and are more likely to be homeless as adults.

"It leaves its traces."

In 2022,
- 416 families went through EFAA's Keep Families Housed program

A 66% increase over 2021
Avg. rental assistance rose from $954 to $1,203

30% of people getting help through the city's Eviction Prevention and Rental Assistance program were also families with children; 290 total

"Up until COVID, we were chipping away at family homelessness in Boulder County," Van Domelen says. Keep Families Housed was put in place in 2017, with support from the city.

Van Domelen: "What's really concerning is the 2023 to date: 729 children in BVSD experienced homelessness so far this year "includes no kids from the Marshall Fire. It's largely inflation driven."

The county has some rental assistance dollars, but they ran out in March. They were COVID-related.

Per staff notes: "The emergency infrastructure set forth with the COVID-19 pandemic is dismantling, and this will create greater cost burdens on families when it comes to food and health care. It is currently unclear how long existing resources will last to meet current demand."

I told y'all it was bleak.

Seems like a good place to drop this.... boulderbeat.news/2023/03/02/foo…

That being said, there is a comprehensive, collaborative network and system in place to find and support families, before and after entering homelessness.

The system is well set up, they just need more resources.

Whereas the individual adult services can sometimes feel like pouring water into a leaky boat. It's getting better, but it's nowhere near as comprehensive as the family approach — not least of which bc the federal gov't provides a framework and resources for schools.

Whitney Wilcox: Nonprofits and agencies are reporting "unprecedented demand," as COVID-era benefits end. We are using a collaborative approach and shared dashboard to help organizations ID resources and make informed decisions.

I don't mention them much when I talk about family homelessness, but the DV shelter/org SPAN also plays a substantial role, bc domestic violence plays a substantial role in homelessness.

Of 153 adults and children served through rapid rehousing in BoCo last year, HALF were actively fleeing domestic violence.

SPAN served 195 adults, 78 kids in 2022
- 25% increase from 2021
- 69% increase in emergency shelter from 2021

Those numbers are huge. As we know, domestic violence and child abuse increase during times of economic stress. (This article is about COVID, but it also discusses the link between DV and the economy.)
boulderbeat.news/2020/03/19/cov…

Crowe: "We're almost out" of funds for eviction prevention and rental assistance.

25% of all clients getting help in the last 2+ years came in the past 3 months: 241 of 959

"The problem of family homelessness has been with us for many years," Crowe says, "but it's really getting far worse, very quickly.

"Resources that we had budgeted for this whole year are vanishing very quickly."

"These deep cracks are not necessarily of our making here in Boulder," Crowe says, "but this is our challenge." How do we support these families?

Winer to Van Domelen: You mentioned before there are not enough affordable 3BR units for families. Still true?

Van Domelen: "I would continue to say yes. I don't think we have enough, and I think it's hard to prioritize that in affordable housing programs and vouchers."

Landlords tend to not want to rent to large families as well, Van Domelen says. 3BR sounds extravagant, but it's not if you have children of different genders.

Folkerts: BHP says 3- and 4-BR are the slowest to rent. Is that maybe bc of the cost? I'm wondering about the disconnect?

Firnhaber: I think we've seen over the past few years that the 3BR rent at a slower rate, and there are longer waitlists for 1, 2BR , and even efficiencies.

But it seems like the affordable rents for 3BR units are too high, Firnhaber says, so that could be a factor. We're working on ways to lower rents.

We are still developing 3BR units. The former Rally Sport development has a number of them.

Wallach: How many homeless families are unsheltered?

Van Domelen: "85% are doubled-up or couch surfing; 2-3 families in an apartment"
Next biggest chunk are temporary shelter
5% are unhoused, unsafely housed, typically in cars and RVs.

Wallach: How many families emerge from homelessness?
Van Domelen: Our goal is to exit to safe, adequate and affordable housing — no more than 50% of income on housing. Our historic success rate is 80-85% but it's currently ~65%. A bit higher in the city of Boulder.

"Of the 15-20 families we support in hotels in a given week, about 60% are finding a housing solution," Van Domelen says.

Speer: "For me, reading this packet was incredibly devastating. All we're doing is still not sufficient. I heard a couple folks say before we don't have the resources. I disagree with that; we have so much wealth in our community alongside all this poverty."

Oh, shit, she's bringing up council's home values...

"We have the ability to do better," Speer says. "I just think those are some hard conversations we are going to have as a community."

In case you're interested... avg. value of council member's homes is $1.7M, in 2021. I haven't updated those, so I'm sure it's more now.

Anyway, that's a wrap on this one.

@threadreaderapp please unroll. Thanks!