Several agencies have been working for a couple years on a plan to reduce family homelessness in Cincinnati. That proposal is now a reality.
“Solutions to Family Homelessness Plan” focuses on four areas: prevention, capacity building, housing and policy change.
Kevin Finn with Strategies to End Homelessness told a city council committee Monday the most important piece is keeping families from becoming homeless in the first place. He said they know what works.
“Both emergency assistance, which seeks to keep people in housing they already have, but which is in jeopardy,” Finn said. “Shelter diversion is also very successful in helping families that are on the verge of needing to enter shelter avoid entering shelter.”
Finn said another part of the plan centers around more affordable housing.
“Not all funding that could be targeted toward the development of affordable housing is being targeted in that way,” Finn said. “But then also very frequently when affordable housing is developed, it is efficiency or one-bedroom units that are not appropriate for a homeless family to access.”
Cincinnati administrators will be reviewing the plan and determining if the city can take other steps to address the problem.
You can hear more about the “Solutions to Family Homelessness Plan” on Cincinnati Edition Thursday afternoon starting at one o’clock on 91.7 WVXU.
