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Commission authorizes one-year MOU to launch Flexible Housing Pool to house chronically homeless
Summary
The commission authorized a one-year memorandum of understanding with the Lawrence Douglas County Housing Authority and Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center to launch a Flexible Housing Pool (local voucher) aimed at serving chronically homeless individuals; initial funding will support up to 22 households.
Douglas County commissioners on March 26 authorized the county administrator to sign a one-year memorandum of understanding with the Lawrence Douglas County Housing Authority (LDCHA) and Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center to launch a Flexible Housing Pool, a locally administered voucher program aimed at serving people experiencing chronic homelessness.
Joe Jolicker, assistant county administrator, said the Flexible Housing Pool (FHP) was a recommendation from a 2022 needs assessment by the Corporation for Supportive Housing and was funded in the county’s 2025 budget. The program is intended to create immediate housing access while the county and partners continue to expand permanent supportive housing stock.
Matthew Falk, director of housing at Bert Nash, told commissioners that the target population will be high-acuity, chronically homeless individuals who typically have underlying mental-health or substance-use conditions. Falk said the housing authority will operate the program as a voucher model that depends on recruiting private-market landlords; he noted landlord recruitment and initial unit onboarding will be the most difficult operational task.
County and partner staff described program design elements intended to ease landlord participation: a risk-mitigation reserve, case management through Bert Nash, and close coordination with the coordinated entry system. Commissioners were told the county’s current allocation of flexible pool dollars would initially fund housing for up to 22 households. Staff noted the LDCHA recently closed its transitional housing voucher wait list, increasing urgency for local flexible resources.
The commission approved the MOU by voice vote (passed 5-0). The authorization directs county staff to finalize contracts and program structure for calendar year 2025. County staff said outcome tracking will include housing retention, avoidance of eviction, and interruption of cycles of emergency services utilization; a homelessness dashboard is slated to go live in the coming weeks to show inflow/outflow metrics and referral sources.
Moved and seconded; the motion passed 5-0.
