Essential Building Blocks of a New System

Uniform Screening & Assessment

A system to end homelessness must begin with a uniform means of determining people’s needs. Screening and assessment will yield information that allows services to be planned for those with low, moderate and high barriers. This allows the system to produce appropriate and cost-effective interventions.

Prevention & Diversion

Preventing people from becoming homeless and diverting them from the shelter door are essential building blocks in a system for ending homelessness.

Prevention resources need to be organized and targeted to those most likely to become homeless. Diversion resources pay for people to remain where they are currently housed and rapidly relocated if need be, thus avoiding a costly episode of homelessness.

Permanent Housing with supportive services

Best Practice Models

Housing First (for chronically homeless)

Housing First provides funding for permanent housing, case management and access to voluntary services that the long-term homeless population often need to maintain housing stability (mental health, drug treatment, vocational). Currently this population overuses and cycles back and forth through our shelters, emergency rooms and jails at a huge toll in human suffering and system costs.

Rapid Rehousing (for those with moderate barriers)

Rapid Rehousing quickly moves families from shelters to permanent housing with case management and wrap-around services to assist them with maintaining housing stability and movement to self-sufficiency. Our current system has families entering New Jersey’s shelter system when they are homeless, as there is no funding for rental assistance and case management services in the community.

Housing Affordability

New Jersey has been among the national leaders in mandating affordable housing development in all our communities. New Jersey has taken the important step of requiring that housing be created for the very low-income population that is most vulnerable to homelessness. Targeting housing resources to those individuals and families with the lowest incomes is a cost-effective and essential strategy to ending homelessness.