THE DUPAGE COUNTY HOMELESS CONTINUUM
PLAN FOR ENDING HOMELESSNESS
April 2004

WHO IS HOMELESS IN DUPAGE COUNTY?

Homelessness began to be a visible problem in DuPage County a little more than 20 years ago. Throughout the county, many quality programs and services have been developed, as well as strong community partnerships. There are 153 emergency shelter beds for individuals, 58 shelter beds for families, 127 transitional housing beds for individuals, 372 transitional housing beds for families, 101 permanent supportive housing beds for individuals with disabilities¹. There are five agencies distributing approximately $460,000 annually for rent and utility assistance from public funding sources². Providers have learned a great deal about the social, emotional, educational, and financial effects on individuals and families who lose their housing. However, homelessness still exists in DuPage with no end in sight, Approximately 3000 homeless persons were identified in DuPage County in 2001. Of these, 40% were children and 43% were working. For 2800 persons who received homeless services, their situation was a result of lack of affordable housing, insufficient income, situational crises, and domestic violence. Another 200 persons did not accept services, are generally living on the streets, and are considered chronically homeless due to mental health and substance abuse treatment needs³.

WHY HAVE A PLAN?

After 20 years of providing services, the reality is that homelessness in DuPage County has not gone away. Across the country, a $2 billion homeless assistance system has been created to meet the immediate food, shelter and support services needs of homeless persons. Despite these services, the number of homeless persons continues to increase. Programs that care for homeless persons need to focus more of their resources on moving every homeless person back into housing as quickly as possible. 80% of all homeless families and single adults need help in finding and securing housing, linkages with mainstream services, and follow-up to maintain housing stability. The other 20% of persons receiving homeless assistance use the homeless system on a repeat basis utilizing nearly 70% of the system's resources. Most of this group requires permanent supportive housing to end their homelessness⁴.

THE DUPAGE HOMELESS CONTINUUM PLAN APPROACH

The DuPage County Homeless Continuum has committed to joining the national effort dedicated to ending homelessness by 2010. This effort involves four components⁵:

• Develop a Plan to end Homelessness in every community.
• Make mainstream programs accountable for preventing and ending homelessness.
• Shift the focus of the homeless assistance programs from short-term support services to long term solutions.
• Work towards creating an infrastructure, including sufficient income and affordable housing, that can support permanent housing for everyone.

On February 27, 2003 the full membership of the DuPage County Homeless Continuum agreed to develop, implement and continue to refine a Plan to End Homelessness that looks ten years in the future with a new response to homelessness - one focused on ending it.

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