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Continuum of Care pauses committee meetings while hiring; DSS reports 94 people in shelter
Summary
Continuum of Care staff said committee meetings are paused pending hires to support coordinated entry and prevention work; Tompkins County Department of Social Services reported 94 people in shelter (81 adults, 13 children) as of the prior Friday. Human Services Coalition (HSC) said it is recruiting three positions, including a coordinated entry
Tompkins County's homelessness partners told the Housing & Economic Development Committee on May 21 that a small but immediate staffing expansion is underway to support coordinated entry and housing-stability work and that county shelters were serving 94 individuals as of the most recent Friday.
Donna Scott, deputy commissioner at Tompkins County Department of Social Services, told the committee: "As of Friday, we had a total of 94 individuals, and that was made up of 81 adults and 13 [children]," reporting the shelter census used for operational planning. She made no additional budget announcements during the update.
Liddy Barger of the Human Services Coalition (HSC), which staffs continuum-of-care activities, said CoC committee meetings are currently paused because HSC is recruiting to add staff capacity and expects to resume committee activity when hires are in place. "We are currently hiring for three positions," she said, describing two social-care navigator positions funded through the enhanced 1115 social-care network waiver and a coordinated entry lead/CoC staff person. Barger asked committee members to refer candidates who have aptitude for data and systems to HSC.
Why it matters: A functioning coordinated entry system and staff capacity are central to preventing and ending homelessness; the hiring described is meant to restart paused committees and scale prevention and housing-stability activities.
What was said and what follows: HSC said the new roles will support prevention activities such as rent and security-deposit assistance, help households navigate services, and run the coordinated entry system once staff are hired. Barger said the organization is planning committee agendas and confirmed it will reconstitute CoC committees when staffing permits.
What was not specified: The committee was not given projected start dates for each HSC hire beyond general statements, nor were salary or specific grant award amounts provided at this meeting; Liddy said more detail and a fuller presentation is intended at a future meeting.
