Britney Earl, commissioner of the Tompkins County Department of Social Services, told the Housing & Economic Development Committee on Aug. 6 that 70 people were currently in the Roadway emergency shelter, including seven families (eight adults and 18 children) and 44 individual adults. She also said an additional 33 adults were in other hotel placements outside Roadway.

The numbers were part of a routine homelessness and housing update presented to the committee. "We got a grant through OTDA to hire a senior case worker that works with the families," Earl said, adding that the caseworker "has been able to house over 50% of the families that came into Roadway." Earl said the county has hired a similar senior caseworker to work with single adults.

The update matters because the county is managing a mix of shelter operations, hotel placements and outreach while seeking to move people into stable housing. Committee members asked for seasonal and year‑over‑year comparisons; Earl said, "I can, for next time, I can get some numbers to compare last year to this year." The committee also discussed youth and family services and whether current programs adequately serve children and young adults experiencing homelessness.

Liddy Barger of the Continuum of Care and other members discussed national models for reducing homelessness, including Community Solutions’ Built for Zero framework, which uses a "by-name" list to prioritize housing placements. Barger and other committee members suggested the county could review that framework for potential lessons for case management and coordinated entry systems.

Committee members asked staff to return with more information on youth services and on how the county’s existing shelter, case-management and hotel-placement resources are being deployed. Earl and department staff said they would follow up with more comparative data at a future meeting.

For now, the county is relying on targeted case management and a mix of local and state grant funds to support placements and housing searches while continuing coordination with the Continuum of Care and other community partners.