Portsmouth police social worker says housing and shelter referrals have surged, outlines outreach and hotel-voucher pilot

Brooke Murphy Corkran, the Portsmouth Police Department social worker, told the Portsmouth Police Commission on March 17 that referrals for housing and shelter needs have increased markedly in the past year.

Corkran said the last six months showed the biggest shift: roughly 31% of the referrals she made were for housing and shelter, while referrals for elderly services were about 18%, reversing earlier parity. "So this section is housing and shelter ... 31% of the referrals I made are for housing shelter and elderly needs is at 18%," she said.

Corkran described how her team works after police contact: she conducts a needs assessment, helps gather required documents (social security card, ID, birth certificate) and completes often time-consuming housing or benefits applications on behalf of clients who lack phones, documents or stable addresses. She warned that some applications require bank statements and leases that many of her clients cannot produce, and she characterized the local public-housing wait list as long — previously reported as roughly three to five years.

She detailed practical supports and community partnerships that help bridge gaps. The department has obtained bus passes through local partners, established an account with Gather to access emergency food, and deepened ties with Crossroads shelter, Community Action Partnership (CAP), the Portsmouth Housing Authority and city welfare. Corkran said she was recently authorized to place clients directly on Crossroads’ wait list after meeting with the shelter’s chief operating officer, removing a prior barrier that required clients to call themselves to be added.

On emergency shelter, Corkran described a hotel-voucher pilot used when shelters are full or closed overnight. The vouchers, funded through donations to SE Coast Crimestoppers and provided in partnership with a local hotel at a reduced rate, are intended for short-term shelter until welfare or case managers can arrange longer-term options. "The goal was ... to have them sheltered until city welfare is open," she said.

Corkran also said city leaders secured grant funding to add a second social worker focused on outreach to encampments and on substance-misuse responses — a model intended to reach people who do not seek services after police contact. She credited Deputy City Manager Carl Weber and Commissioner Sher for help obtaining the grant and said the department also received funding for social-work documentation software to improve data collection and service coordination.

Commissioners praised the program and asked follow-up questions. When asked how many encampments the department has identified, Corkran said her team visited roughly seven to 12 and that there may be more; when asked whether encampments are on public or private land, she said most appear to be on private property but she deferred to the chief for a fuller inventory. On whether the uptick in housing referrals is seasonal, Corkran said colder months typically increase shelter demand but added that proactive outreach could identify more people who need services.

The commission was told these coordinated steps — authorization to place clients on wait lists, hotel vouchers for immediate shelter and a planned outreach social worker — are intended to reduce duplication of effort among agencies and increase the chances that people contacted by police get connected to long-term supports.