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Morris County details Project Homeless Connect, outlines use of $300,000 allocation
Summary
Human Services presented an overview of Project Homeless Connect (Jan. 28) and the county’s 2025 PIT count, saying the $300,000 commissioner allocation has been split between prevention and emergency shelter supports, with outreach and nonprofit partnerships central to services.
Casey, representing human services, briefed the Morris County Board of County Commissioners on Project Homeless Connect and the county’s 2025 point‑in‑time (PIT) count, saying the Jan. 28 service fair is designed to link people experiencing homelessness with providers and to support PIT surveying.
"The project homeless connect event, which is gonna be held on January 28 this year, is a service fair designed to connect those experiencing homelessness with services and supports," Casey said, describing the Mental Health Association as a lead organizer and the county’s role providing lunches, outreach vans and staff assistance.
Casey told commissioners that a year‑round PIP committee and partnerships with local nonprofits such as Navigating Hope and Family Promise have expanded outreach capacity. She gave examples of recent casework: a veteran housed with support from Habitat for Humanity and Navigating Hope, a family who avoided eviction after landlord negotiation, and clients helped to restore electric service.
On funding, Casey summarized an allocation of $300,000 from the commissioner board and how it has been used so far. "About half of that, 300,000 has been earmarked towards homelessness prevention," she said, and added that the Office of Temporary Assistance used prevention funds to assist 52 households with security deposits, prevented evictions for 26 households through about $44,000 in back‑rental assistance and helped five families restore electric service. She said the remaining $150,000 supported emergency shelter needs and enabled roughly 2,080 motel nights and assistance to about 210 households.
Commissioners pressed for clarifications about distribution to community providers. Casey said the county is working with nonprofits that receive diversion and landlord‑support funds and noted that holding the allocation in the OTA budget permitted faster, targeted use than waiting to build a standalone trust fund. She also said outreach teams will reduce in‑field days for the PIT in 2026 because more participants will be surveyed at the event itself; the change will be reevaluated after a debrief.
Board members raised data questions about trends in the PIT counts and graphic readability. Casey cautioned that the PIT is a snapshot influenced by HUD definitions, shelter placements and outreach practices; the county attempts to collect context such as where respondents were last housed but responses vary.
The presentation concluded with the board thanking human services and noting that commissioners historically participate in outreach and speak at the event.
Next steps: Project Homeless Connect is scheduled for Jan. 28; county staff plan a debrief after the event to evaluate whether outreach‑day reductions should be continued.
