Also Announces A New Online Report on ‘Critical Agency Activities’

November 13, 2002 – A new report released today by Department of Homeless Services (DHS) Commissioner Linda Gibbs shows that the agency made significant headway over the course of the summer in implementing key initiatives from the strategic plan it released in June. From establishing the new Office of Client Advocacy, which helps clients navigate the service system, to implementing performance-based management systems to ensure providers produce positive results for clients, the report shows that the agency met or exceeded time frames on the majority of initiatives scheduled to begin since the plan was released.

“While we spent a lot of time addressing crises during the summer, we worked aggressively to move critical, longer-term initiatives forward, and this report details our successes and ongoing challenges,” said Commissioner Gibbs. “As the shelter system’s population continues to grow, it is more important than ever to stay focused on long-term initiatives with the potential to reverse this trend.”

Other agency highlights from the past four months include:

• Establishing the new rental assistance program now in place for long-term staying clients;
• Increasing the percentage of eligible families identified after their first application from 52% in February to 73% in August;
• Funding 65 new shelter-based housing specialists to assist clients in housing searches;
• Establishing the methodology and date for the Homeless Outreach Population Survey; and
• Decreasing the agency vacancy rate from 12% in June to 7% in October.

In addition, Commissioner Gibbs today published the first Critical Agency Activities report. This new report, which will be published each month on the agency web site, offers comprehensive data on the services system and clients in its care. It includes information on the number and type of facilities in use, shelter safety and cleanliness, application and exit rates, population demographics, including a borough-of-origin analysis, and school attendance rates for homeless children. As the agency continues enhancing data tracking systems, it will publish additional information in future reports.

“The Critical Agency Activities report hopefully will generate valuable open discussion about system performance and trends in client needs and service utilization,” continued Commissioner Gibbs. “Our ultimate goal is to use this data to make additional quality improvements to ensure the best possible results for our clients.”

The strategic plan status report, as well as the first Critical Agency Activities report, can be found here.