Ascencia

The Access Center serves as the Coordinated Entry System (CES) for all clients in the Glendale Continuum of Care by providing standardized assessment of all clients that prioritizes the most vulnerable for housing placement. Services include street outreach, comprehensive screening and assessment of client needs, and case management with specializations in mental health, substance use disorders, housing location, employment, financial literacy, occupational therapy, tele-psychiatry, psychotherapy, art therapy for children, and veterans services. Services based at the Access Center are client-centered and use a trauma-informed approach to support client use of services. The Organizations Outreach Teams canvass streets to offer services to people experiencing homelessness, respond to calls from the community to help people experiencing homelessness, and provides essential transportation to connect clients to needed services. The Access Center case management staff conducts a thorough review of each persons social, economic and health needs and tailors a plan for continuing services at the Organization or makes a responsible referral to an appropriate provider. Case Managers assist clients by helping them clarify priorities, identify resources, and facilitate short and long-term planning. The on-site tele-psychiatric services and trauma therapists give clients access to essential mental health services, and volunteers provide additional services including blood pressure screening and haircuts. Ascencia leads the Glendale CES, and supports the CES in the east San Fernando Valley, Northeast Los Angeles, Hollywood, and West Hollywood.Emergency Housing for 60-90 days for single adults and 120 days for families with minor children to help people address an immediate crisis. Entering adult clients must pass a Megans Law check, are encouraged to save money, and participate in case management services, which are provided through the Access Center. The 45-bed program can accommodate families of any size and configuration; children of any age are permitted. Volunteers provide substantial enrichment to the program; for example, school age children receive tutoring from School on Wheels, and volunteers and Guest Chefs purchase, prepare and serve meals for the residents each night by utilizing hundreds of volunteers a year from religious organizations, businesses, and service clubs.Scattered Site Permanent Supportive Housing for chronically homeless families and single adults provides a permanent home with social services support to ensure housing stability. The program focuses on helping families and individuals with disabilities and histories of extended or repeated homelessness overcome the physical and emotional setbacks of homelessness. This program, which converted from a family transitional housing program, in 2014, encountered difficulties finding families that met the HUD criteria for chronic homelessness. As a result, some of the units converted to single person households. The program is currently serving twelve households including 16 adults and 8 children.Next Step Permanent Supportive Housing provides a critical housing opportunity for single chronically homeless adults in recovery from alcohol or drug addiction. Clients in this program have completed residential rehabilitation but need more time to establish their sobriety and repair the substantial damage done to their credit, employability and personal relationships following long-term alcohol and/or drug abuse and homelessness. As a permanent housing program, clients have the opportunity to work at their own pace to rebuild their lives, and the Organization staff provide the support and guidance to help them. Services include financial literacy training, recovery support groups, small grants for education, guidance on credit repair, and referrals for legal services. Housing Now Permanent Supportive Housing for chronically homeless single adults. program, a 14-unit, scattered site program provides a permanent home with social services support to ensure housing stability. The program focuses on helping individuals with disabilities and histories of extended or repeated homelessness overcome the physical and emotional setbacks of homelessness. H.E.L.P. Permanent Supportive Housing for chronically homeless families and single adults provides a permanent home with social services support to ensure housing stability. The program focuses on helping families and individuals with disabilities and histories of extended or repeated homelessness overcome the physical and emotional setbacks of homelessness. The program is currently serving 20 households including 15 single adults and five families with children.FFoundation grants such as Dignity Health Foundation, and Providence Health have enabled us to continue to provide supportive housing for vulnerable, high-cost users of hospital services since the Social Innovation Fund 5year grant ended in 2017. Originally known as the 10th Decile Project, Ascencia staff work with local hospitals to identify eligible patients. Services include assisting clients in connecting to housing and a medical home, and navigating needed health, nutrition education, assistance with daily living, financial literacy, occupational therapy, and other services to stabilize them in permanent supportive housing and to reduce their impact on emergency services. Ascencias Homeless Services Liaison position served as Ascencias liaison to local government, business and other stakeholders on matters related to homelessness in Burbank and the east San Fernando Valley. This includes representing Ascencia in planning initiatives in the Cities of Los Angeles, Glendale and Burbank, the County of Los Angeles, and the multi-agency planning underway related to the Los Angeles River. When not in the field, Ascencias Homeless Services Liaison was co-located at the City of Burbank Community Development Department. The position was responsible for being the point of contact on all homeless-related matters for the City of Burbank and coordinates closely with Ascencias street outreach team. This position was eliminated by the City of Burbank in December 2020.The City of West Hollywood contracts with Ascencia to provide two street outreach teams, case management, reserves ten emergency housing beds for West Hollywood referrals, and provides Housing Retention Services. Ascencia provides services by contracting with the Department of Health Services to provide intensive supportive case management services to 200 clients placed in permanent supportive housing through Housing for Health. The Housing Location Navigator position serves as Ascencias cultivator of units by developing relationships with property owners who are open to renting permanent housing space to homeless individuals and/or families.Ascencia began providing street outreach and case management services for the City of Los Angeles in 2021-22 to East Hollywood, Los Feliz, Midtown, and Koreatown. When Council District Boundaries changed in 2022, these services continued in East Hollywood and Los Feliz.Ascencia is contracted with CalAIM's Enhanced Care Management (ECM) with Managed Care Plans since 2021. ECM is a benefit for Managed Medi-Cal enrollees that aims to stabilize the health of the highest-need "Populations of Focus" who have multiple chronic conditions. ECM addresses the clinical, non-clinical, and social requirements of high-need individuals by providing dedicated care managers to coordinate services and help recipients understand, navigate, and utilize the full scope of their benefits. Ascencia has one Lead Care Manager providing services to Managed Care referred Medi-Cal enrollees who are experiencing homelessness.In addition to serving as the lead provider of homeless services in the Glendale Continuum of Care and participation in the Continuums Homeless Management Information System, the Organization is a service hub within the Los Angeles Continuum of Cares Service Planning Area 2 (San Fernando Valley) Coordinated Entry System, and its Service Planning Area 4 (Metro/Northeast Los Angeles) Coordinated Entry System.