Tompkins County DSS details shelter operations, Code Blue use and barriers to moving people into housing

Kit Kephart, commissioner of the Tompkins County Department of Social Services, told the countyad advisory board that sheltering remains driven by state-funded programs, limited local shelter capacity and a growing number of people with complex needs.

Kephart said Social Services administers the statead-regulated Temporary Housing Assistance (THA) program and the New York State Code Blue program locally, and that both programs come with limits that shape how the county shelters people. "The goal [of THA] is to get somebody signed up and eligible for THA. It comes with evaluation for the need for mental health, substance abuse, medical treatment," Kephart said. She added that Code Blue is intended "to keep somebody alive" when people are living in places not meant for habitation.

Kephart outlined recent shelter counts and program trends: Social Services is assisting 98 individuals sheltered in hotels; 81 of those are in the THA category (70 adults and 11 children). Separately, 17 people in hotels are recorded under Code Blue (10 adults and 7 children). The separate congregate Code Blue shelter the county ran this season averaged between about 25 and 40 people per…