Benefit, Employment & Support Services

State Homeless Emergency Grants Program:  1 agency

• Assist Households who are unsheltered homeless, sheltered homeless, at risk of becoming homeless and have income at or below 50% if the Area Median Income (AMI).
• Assist homeless household with housing, medical and other types of expenses arising from emergency needs including housing rental deposit and rent; utility costs and deposit.
• Participants must demonstrate a financial and emergency need which is directly related to impending eviction or be a direct barrier toward moving into permanent housing.
• Provide housing costs to avert imminent eviction which may include reasonable back rent and utility arrears that directly prevent a participant from being able to sign a lease or lose their current housing.
• Facilitate medical care or medicine, including emergency medical related expenses or purchase of supplies for special medical needs with supporting documentation.
• Provide transportation and job-hunting expenses or public assistance programs that will allow participants to secure employment or increase income to afford housing.

Housing Placement Program (TANF Funded):  4 agencies

• Assist eligible Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) families who are homeless and at imminent risk of becoming and have income below the threshold of 300% federal poverty level.
• Provide for client assessment, linkage to appropriate landlords, and landlord/client intervention to assist with the transition into a rental unit.
• Provide assistance to families to quickly exit homelessness, return to housing in the community, and avoid future homelessness.
• Cultivate and outreach to new prospective landlords to rent to at imminent risk of homelessness or transitioning from homelessness to permanent housing in possession of Welfare to Work or a Section-8 voucher.
• Provide case management service and/or shall serve as the liaison with the landlord to ensure good landlord – tenant relations.
• Provide one to three payments of any combination of security deposit, first month’s rent, utilities deposit or past due utilities, if necessary.
•  Assist with increasing income to sustain permanent housing.

State Homeless Outreach Program:  7 agencies

• Provide outreach services to unsheltered homeless individuals and families, connecting them with emergency shelter, permanent housing, or critical services designed to help homeless individuals and families.
• Assist individuals and families access permanent housing as rapidly as possible by assisting with quickly locating and accessing housing options and connecting them to services and supports that will support housing stability.
• Provide urgent, non-facility-based care and civil legal services to aid in access to permanent housing.
• Assist individuals or families to connect to services to meet their basic needs and access array of services offered by the homeless system.
• Assist individuals and families to develop housing plans, obtain needed documents for housing application process, and obtain income through public benefit and employment.

State Homeless Shelter Program:  19 agencies; 12 emergency shelters, 21 transitional shelters

• Provide emergency and/or transitional shelter to increase their stability in the health, housing and social areas so that they may be able to obtain and retain permanent housing, attain economic independence ad self-sufficiency for the long-term.
• Provide safe, appropriate, and immediate temporary low-barrier shelter for people with no viable alternative.
• Assist with access to permanent housing as rapidly as possibly by removing barriers to program entry, assisting with quickly locating and accessing housing options.
• Assist with accessing income and benefits, and connecting to community services and supports to promote stability and prevent evictions and returns to homelessness.
• Assist individuals and families to develop housing plans, obtain needed documents for housing application process, and obtain income through public benefit and employment.
• Assist individuals and families to develop housing plans, obtain needed documents for housing application process, and obtain income through public benefit and employment.
• Identify and locate suitable housing options and provide support through housing location and application processes.
• Provide tenancy skills and how to meet lease obligations.

State Homeless Rapid Re-Housing Program:  8 agencies

• Provide assistance to unsheltered homeless, sheltered homeless, at imminent risk of becoming homeless individuals and families to access permanent housing as rapidly as possible.
• Assist with locating and accessing housing options.
• Provide move-in and rental assistance.
• Provide case management and post housing services to promote stability.
• Assist in eviction prevention and avoid returning to homelessness.

State Homeless Permanent Supportive Housing / Housing First Program:  4 agencies

• Provide support to chronically homeless individuals and/or families in stability and recovery.
• Assists to obtain and secure long-term permanent housing consistent with consumer choice principles
• Provide necessary support to maintain housing and prevent recidivism to homelessness.
• Provide homeless individuals and/or families wrap around services to maintain housing.

Continuum of Care (CoC) Homeless Assistance Programs:  7 agencies
(Federal funding only for Neighbor Island programs.  Formerly known as Shelter Plus Care and Supportive Housing Program)

• Provide housing placement with an ongoing rent subsidy for homeless persons with disabilities.
• Provide rental deposit and ongoing case management/mentoring to maintain housing stability.
• Special programs such as job training GED attainment, substance abuse counseling and assistance in transitioning to full employment.
• Leasing and operational costs for supportive permanent housing units.
• Provide permanent supportive housing to chronically homeless individuals with disabilities including substance abuse disorders, mental illness, physical health issues, and/or victims of domestic abuse.
• Maintenance and upgrade of the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS).
• Preparation, documentation and analysis of data collected from HMIS.
• Developing a written annual report that contains state- and county-level data on the demographics, trends and other characteristics of homeless in Hawaii.
• Designing, producing and disseminating the annual report in print and electronic formats.

Housing Opportunities For Persons With AIDS (Federal Program): 1 lead administrative agency representing 3 separate agencies on Maui, Kauai and Hawaii Island

• Provide permanent housing placement with security deposits and ongoing rent subsidies for homeless persons with HIV/AIDS.
• Provide ongoing case management/mentoring to maintain stability in housing.
• Provide short-term rent, mortgage and utility assistance (STRMU), which is a short-term homelessness prevention and intervention benefit.

Emergency Solutions Grant Program (Federal Program): 5 agencies; 8 shelters

• Provide operational funds to emergency shelters.
• Provide financial assistance and supportive services to prevent homelessness among at-risk individuals and families.
• Provide financial assistance and supportive services to rapidly re-house those who are literally homeless, and to ensure stability after the ESG assistance ends.