Lessons in Family Homelessness, our state policy priorities, new Diversion evaluation No images? Click here What's New10-year initiative offers lessons in equitable and effective solutions to family homelessness Over the past decade, Building Changes led the Family Homelessness Initiative (FHI), a strategic investment to improve the experiences and outcomes of families that engage with the homeless systems in King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties. FHI may have come to a close but the collective effort to address family homelessness continues. The knowledge we gained through the initiative can inform communities moving forward. Through FHI, we learned what strategies work best to support families and what actions systems can take to serve all families equitably. Program Director Liza Burell, who oversaw FHI for Building Changes, shares her candid insights on what we did right—and what we could have done better. We have also launched a series of Lessons in Family Homelessness briefs that spotlight select FHI projects and amplify the voices of our partners in the field who carried out this important work. The first two briefs in the series offer lessons on Rapid Re-Housing and Racial Equity. Our policy priorities for the 2021 state legislative session Although this year’s legislative session is taking place virtually, our Policy and Advocacy team has been continuously working with legislators in Olympia to push for more funding and support for students, youth, and families experiencing homelessness. Here is where we are focusing our efforts:
Evaluation sheds light on effectiveness of Diversion in Maternal Support Services The Perinatal Housing Grant was a three-year Building Changes pilot project in Pierce County that expanded the use of Diversion within the health sector by pairing it with Maternal Support Services (MSS). The goals of the project were to support positive health outcomes for pregnant women and postpartum mothers and their children under MSS, and to house families experiencing homelessness or at-risk of homelessness by training MSS caseworkers in Diversion. Trained MSS caseworkers provided Diversion services to individuals who were already receiving MSS services and identified themselves as experiencing homelessness or housing instability. A recently published evaluation of the project found that among participants experiencing housing instability, 72.4% successfully exited the program to stable housing; and among participants experiencing homelessness, 57.5% successfully exited. Diversion encourages providers to have creative conversations with their clients to explore housing solutions by focusing on clients’ strengths. Although Diversion has been primarily used in housing services, the Perinatal Housing Grant project shows that it can be successfully integrated into health support services to provide individuals with more comprehensive support. The role of early learning in supporting young children and families experiencing homelessness Homelessness impacts not only K-12 students in Washington State but also children under the age of six, many of whom are not being served by early learning programs. That is why Building Changes applied for and received an Education Leads Home State Partnerships Grant and worked with Governor Inslee’s Office, Child Care Resources, and the Washington State Association of Head Start & ECEAP to better understand the current state policy environment and barriers to early learning access for young children and families experiencing homelessness. In a two-part blog series by our Policy and Advocacy team, we highlight learnings from our state partnership project and outline advocacy strategies for better supporting young children and families experiencing homelessness during the pandemic. We're hiring Building Changes is looking to fill a couple of key positions to support our work advancing equitable responses to homelessness in Washington State. The Senior Research Associate will produce applied research relevant for policy and practice, with an emphasis on housing crisis response, education systems, and other topics relevant to our work. The Senior Accounting Manager will manage accounting operations with a strong emphasis on internal controls, conformity to generally accepted accounting principles, and risk management. Both positions are located at our office in Seattle, though we are currently working remotely due to COVID-19. |