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TextCommunity Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness
We have a plan to prevent and end homelessness. It is truly
the community’s plan because it was created by residents, nonprofit
groups, businesses, schools and governments.
What is the plan?
In February 2007, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors endorsed
the “Blueprint for Success: Strategic Directions for the Plan to Prevent
and End Homelessness in the Fairfax-Falls Church Community.”
This strategic road map to prevent and end homelessness was created by Planning Committee to End Homelessness, in partnership with the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, government agencies, nonprofits, faith communities and businesses. The four strategic directions are:
- Prevention: Keep people from becoming homeless in the first place.
- Preservation: Increase and preserve affordable housing.
- Integration: Deliver integrated social services to those who need it.
- Implementation: Create a community partnership to ensure accountability and funding.
Read the
strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness 
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors adopted a community developed Implementation Plan in March 2008. The plan is a new way to prevent and end homelessness. Its key approach is to put people into housing, not shelters. Housing becomes the first step in moving out of homelessness, not the last. This approach is called “housing first.”
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Implementation
Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness: Overview
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Implementation
Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness: Volume One (link to vol.
1)
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Implementation Plan
to Prevent and End Homelessness: Volume Two, Workbook (link to vol. 2)
Why do we need a plan?
Our current system cares for people, but it is not designed to
prevent or end homelessness. We can if we try. Hundreds of other cities
and counties are trying — and they are succeeding with the housing first
approach.
List
of cities and counties with plans
How will we pay for the plan?
It’s a matter of redirecting the money we already spend. It
can actually be less expensive to put people into housing, instead of
shelters.
- It costs about $13,500 per year for a bed in a shelter in Fairfax County.
- Compare this to $10,500 a house voucher for a two- or three-bedroom apartment.
But the real question isn’t the cost of shelters versus housing. Research shows that homelessness costs more than you think. The true cost includes the public dollars spent on emergency medical care, education and other items.
Where will we find housing for people who are
homeless?
Some may fear that the answer is building affordable homes near
neighborhoods. There is no single solution, but there are many options:
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Preserve affordable homes by using the dedicated penny from the real
estate tax.
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Create tax incentives for developers to build affordable homes.
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Partner with nonprofits and faith communities to help working families
pay for homes
- Change land use, zoning and tax policies to create incentives for affordable homes
It will take a public-private partnership to create homes within reach of working families.
How was the plan developed?
In April 2007, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors appointed a 95-member Implementation
Committee to develop the plan to prevent and end homelessness based
on the strategies outlined in the Blueprint for Success. The
Implementation Committee included representatives from housing
development organizations, business and financial institutions, health
care and mental health providers, faith communities, employment services,
nonprofit service providers and public agencies — the broad range of
community partners that can prevent and end homelessness.
The Implementation Committee formed three working groups that met during the summer of 2007 to develop specific action steps to carry out the four strategies outlined in the Blueprint for Success. In July 2007, the Executive Committee of the Implementation Committee began meeting to combine the working groups’ recommendations into an integrated plan
The Implementation Committee presented its recommended plan to a joint meeting of the Housing and Community Development and Human Services committees of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in November 2007, and on March 31, 2008, the Board of Supervisors officially adopted the plan.
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