Human Services Programs of Carroll County

The home energy program provides assistance for low-income Carroll County residents who are faced with any number of situations that could result in homelessness and or lack of basic needs that affect the individual or family's ability to maintain self-sufficiency. The number of clients served under this service for the year ended june 30, 2022 are as follows: -home energy Services: 24 households, 56 individuals - office of home energy Programs ohep: 2,308 households

The Carroll County family center provides Services to expectant parents, and parents with children under the age of four. The center provides a cozy and homelike environment for parents and children to learn and grow together. The main focus of the center is to ensure that young children are healthy - physically, developmentally and emotionally. This is accomplished through a high-quality child development program that focuses on early literacy, nurturing interactions, and learning through play. Developmental screenings, immunization checks, and daily pact (parents and children together) activities are key components of the program. While the children engage in their own special programming, parents also receive Services. These Programs are designed to increase self-sufficiency, enhance parenting skills, and provide quality case management. Our adult education partner, Carroll community college, provides ged and esol classes for the parents. The center offers parenting classes using evidence-based curricula such as the "nurturing parent program," "chicago parenting program,- and "circle of security." Other center-based Services include case management, health classes, job readiness workshops, parent leadership trainings, and peer support activities. Our most popular activities include monthly and seasonal "special events." This year we enjoyed themes like "outer space day," "spring fling," "mess fest,- and "carnival day." Another key service provided by the family center is the home visiting program. Some families cannot attend the center due to various barriers or challenges. Families may live too far from the center for us to transport. Some families have members who cannot be left unattended during the day, and hence cannot come into the center. To meet this need, the center has a home visiting program. The home visitor carries a caseload of 15 families per month and meets with each family in their own home three times per month. These families are also encouraged to attend at least one socialization opportunity per month, scheduled by the home visitor. The on-going pandemic kept the center from returning to totally in-person Services. Adult education classes were held primarily on-line, and many of our support Programs were offered over zoom or other remote platforms. When positivity rates in the community were at acceptably low levels, the center offered in-person activities to promote socialization and transition families back into in-person Services. This year, 40 families (92 parents and children) participated in center- based Programs, and 29 families (72 parents and children) engaged in home visiting Services. A total of 4,758 participation visits were logged by center-based families, and 1,580 participation visits by home-visit families. Families remain engaged throughout the year, participating in multiple Services and maintaining connections with staff and other families. Everyone is looking forward to a return to more in-person activities.

Human Services Programs of Carroll County Inc. (hsp) operates our shelter and housing program with the housing first approach. Programming serves the most in need first, providing open-access, low barrier Services. Hsp believes homelessness should be prevented. If it cannot be prevented, homelessness should be brief. Shelter and housing Services strive to help participants increase their income, secure permanent housing, and provide necessary community supports and linkages to prevent and end homelessness. During this year, shelter and housing Services continued to meet the needs of our community during the covid 19 pandemic. Services remained open, operable, and accessible. Shelter Services: shelter Services provide overnight support and case management Services to homeless individuals and families. Shelter staff connect homeless participants to housing opportunities - regardless of what might be going on in their lives. Shelter Services case managers focus on stabilizing participants, connecting them with basic needs and community resources, increasing their income, and rapidly securing permanent housing. Hsp manages 3 of Carroll County's homeless shelters. Shelter Services operate 24 hours, seven days a week, to ensure participants are safe and stable. In addition to stability and support Services, shelters also provide food, laundry facilities, telephone, transportation, and mail assistance. During this program year, as a continued response to covid-19, hsp maintained operation of a day center to provide a safe, indoor space for participants to be during the day. In this space, participants were able to engage in Services and have meaningful daytime activity. Also, during this program year, hsp implemented the homeless outreach case worker position. This position provides street/encampment outreach Services to homeless adults and families throughout Carroll County. This includes linking participants to available Services and supporting entry into shelter with the overall goal of securing housing and ending homelessness. Additionally, this case worker connects regularly with communities, agencies, and resources in all municipalities of Carroll County to provide information about hsp Services and to connect with homeless participants in these outlying areas who might not otherwise be able to access these Services. - shelter Services provided safe, stable on-going support for 338 unique participants, 289 households -- family shelter served 74 total participants: 34 adults and 41 children, 56% exited to permanent housing -- adult only shelter server 102 total participants: 67 men and 35 women, 50% exited to permanent housing -- night-by-night shelter served 228 participants, 15% exited to permanent housing, 26% transitioned into adult shelter - temporary covid-19 shelter served as a day center for our street homeless, open through may 31, 2022, providing access to meals, showers, laundry, and case management Services, 216 participants served - 10% of shelter participants increased their income - 87% utilization rate with an average length of stay of 81 days - 158 out of 228 (69%) participants engaged in case management Services at the night-by-night shelter, which served the hardest to engage homeless population - street outreach served 84 total participants: 77 adults and 7 children, 17% exited to permanent housing; 46% exited to other positive destinations (this includes treatment Programs and adult only shelter) - overall exits to positive destinations, 63% housing Services: housing Services work to prevent homelessness wherever possible. Housing Services seamlessly blend Services for those experiencing homelessness to those at risk of becoming homeless. Hsp conducts shelter and housing eligibility screenings 5 days a week via walk-in hours, over the phone, and throughout the community. As participants complete the assessment, they are referred to appropriate housing resources. If a participant meets the federal definition of homeless, they then are referred to coordinated entry. Coordinated entry completes a needs assessment to objectively assess the participant's vulnerability or need. Participants are then referred to shelter Services, permanent supportive housing for persons with disabilities (pshpwd), or rapid re-housing program. Pshpwd provides housing and case management Services to chronically homeless, hsp maintains 21 rental units for participants. Rapid re-housing provides short term rental assistance to participants experiencing homelessness. If a participant is at-risk of becoming homeless, has an eviction, or needs a security deposit, hsp has additional Services to meet those needs and avoid homelessness. Hsp is the county-wide access point for security deposits and eviction prevention, serving as the authorizing agency for several community funding streams. Hsp also received additional funding, in response to the covid-19 pandemic to provide housing assistance. In addition, hsp partnered with Carroll County government to approve eviction prevention funding. - completed housing and shelter Services screenings for 319 households/460 total participants: 363 adults and 97 children - coordinated entry served 239 households/331 total participants; 263 adults and 68 children; 45% exited to permanent housing; 17% increased income - permanent housing served 24 households/38 total participants; 28 adults and 10 children, 90% of households exited to permanent housing - rapid re-housing provided housing support for 25 households/41 total homeless participants; 32 adults and 9 children, 91% of households exited to permanent housing - prevented evictions for 46 households/110 participants; 73 adults and 37 children; with 81,678 - completed 115 security deposits for 234 participants; 152 adults and 82 children; with 115,171 - assisted with water turnoffs for 71 households/189 participants: 115 adults and 74 children, 57,441 - covid-19 rapid re-housing program served 19 households/40 total participants; 30 adults and 10 children, 56% of households exited to permanent housing - emergency rental assistance program -- served 288 households/786 participants: 459 adults and 327 children, disbursing 1,930,737 -- prevented evictions for 280 households/764 participants: 449 adults and 315 children, disbursing 1,855,320 -- prevented utility turnoffs for 93 households/257 participants: 156 adults and 101 children, 64,022 -- assisted with security deposits for 6 households/18 participants: 8 adults and 10 children, 6,606 -- assisted with other housing expenses (late fees/court fees) for 25 households/69 participants: 44 adults and 25 children, 4,789

Economic mobility programming provides integrated employment and training, financial education, and long-term case management Services to help people believe in themselves and their future. Economic mobility programming encompasses opportunity works, financial education Services, and our volunteer income tax preparation (vita) site. Services continued throughout the covid 19 pandemic. Adjustments to service delivery were made, such as virtual programming, or staggered participant schedules, to promote overall health and wellness while continuing to meet the needs of our community. Opportunity works offers a unique blend of hands-on job training, job readiness assistance,and long-term case management support Services to help participants re-enter the workforce and become thriving community members. Opportunity works enrolls participants with significant barriers to employment, including criminal background, mental health disorder, and substance abuse history. Opportunity works focuses on providing community- based re-entry Services. In fy22 opportunity works served 93 individuals: 95% had a significant barrier to employment; 98% did not commit a crime during the program year; 54% mastered 5 or more job skills; 54% resolved two barriers to employment; 55% secured employment, with 90% maintaining employment for 180 days or more. Opportunity works utilizes job training platforms to teach participants hands-on skills: - second chances, Carroll County's only free store, served 672 households. Store operations were limited throughout the year due to the pandemic, but second chances remained open at limited capacity to continue serving the community and operating as a job training platform. - the community garden is a 7,800 square foot produce and herb garden, centrally located in downtown westminster. In fy22, 2,769 pounds of produce fed over 300 people through second chances, shelter, soup kitchens, and food banks throughout the community. Financial education Services help participants with budgeting, access to fair banking Services, overcoming debt, and developing solid financial habits. Services offered include monthly financial education workshops, financial consultation as well as one-on-one financial coaching for up to one year. We served 183 participants who attended 36 scheduled financial education workshops, both virtually and in person. 21 participated in ongoing financial coaching Services: 65% increased their financial well- being; 67% maintained a spending plan for 60 days; 40% achieved a financial goal, purchased an asset, paid down debt, or created savings, and 52% increased their savings. Our vita site prepares free tax returns for low to moderate income households, vita is an irs sponsored program. The vita site promotes taxpayer education, accessing vital tax credits, as well as saving your refund. Services this year were provided via the -drop-off' method, allowing for an in-person interview, separate preparation, then follow up phone calls to complete the return. Taxpayers saw an average refund of 1,724 with a total of 1,235,049 going back into the community in the form of federal and state refunds. Vita prepared a total of 589 tax returns between january and june of this year. 1 out of 3 taxpayers saved a portion of their refund.