Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Homelessness Services topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Norfolk’s homeless task force reports reduced hotel placements, rising overall counts and expanded housing supports
Summary
The Community Services Board reported the task force has reduced hotel placements from 57 households to 20 through diversion and referrals while the city’s overall homeless count rose from about 430 to just over 500 year‑over‑year; the report described shelter capacity and ongoing outreach and prevention programs.
Carol Sue McGee, division head with the Norfolk Community Services Board (CSB), updated council on the city’s homeless task force and related housing and outreach services.
McGee said the task force moved under the CSB in October and that the team provides specialized outreach for people experiencing homelessness, including those with serious mental illness or substance use disorders. The CSB now oversees outreach, three subsidized housing programs (rapid rehousing plus two permanent supportive housing programs) that subsidize housing for more than 250 people and a day‑services center on Tidewater Drive that can accommodate services year‑round.
When the task force joined CSB this fiscal cycle there were 57 households in hotels; McGee said a combination of diversion work, reunification, ticket purchases for travel to family and referrals into the regional continuum of care reduced hotel placements to about 20 households. She said 23 people were referred to Housing Solutions through the continuum of care and several others were placed in shelter beds or moved into subsidized programs.
McGee told council the city’s point‑in‑time and shelter counts have increased for the first time in more than a decade, rising from roughly 430 individuals to a little over 500; she noted that the overall increase includes people in shelters as well as unsheltered individuals and said unsheltered counts are the portion that has increased. The CSB reported the shelter on Tidewater Drive can normally house 100 single adults and the task force tries to keep hotel placements to 20–30 households while moving people into available shelter beds or housing programs.
Council members asked about partnerships with the housing authority, capacity, reinspection and follow‑up for outreach and enforcement, and compassionate enforcement in parks; McGee said the CSB coordinates with the Redevelopment and Housing Authority, the Union Mission, Salvation Army and other departments and emphasized diversion, prevention and monthly case management for program participants. She said outreach staff and city partners will continue to post notices and attempt compassionate interventions before enforcement when appropriate. No formal council action was taken during the briefing.
