Thursday, April 25, 2024
4/25/2024
The overarching goal of the Boston project on racism in public health is to develop, pilot and evaluate policies and practices that ensure the equitable provision of low-threshold housing and related services for unsheltered homeless individuals and reduce the burden of homelessness, SUD and inequity in the criminal justice system on Black and Latinx residents and neighborhoods of color in Boston. The project is led by the Boston Public Health Commission (the city’s health department) and engages a diverse group of public and private partners. To achieve this goal, the project proposes seven objectives. (1) Multisector working group: By month 3, convene a working group representing at least six public and private organizations across the areas of homeless services, housing, behavioral health, community development and other sectors, as well as people with lived experience of homelessness or SUD. The group will identify and help assess policies and practices related to the inequitable burden of homelessness, SUD and involvement with the criminal justice system. (2) Low-threshold housing policies and practices: By month 12, assess, identify and begin piloting/implementing at least two specific policies and practices important to the equitable provision of low-threshold housing and related services in Boston. (3) Upstream policies and practices: By month 18, assess, identify and begin piloting/implement at least one policy or practice important to addressing structural racism and its contribution to homelessness, SUD and involvement with the criminal justice system in Boston. (4) Training community stakeholders and conducting outreach and engagement: By month 36, train at least 30 members of community-based agencies and other stakeholders in methods for community engagement and reducing stigma around homelessness and SUD—with a focus on community members from the city’s predominantly Black and Latinx neighborhoods. By month 18, deploy community-led engagement teams in three Boston neighborhoods to conduct outreach to unsheltered individuals, work with community stakeholders to identify the neighborhood’s specific needs and design solutions that leverage the neighborhood’s distinct resources. (5) Monitoring and evaluation: By month 6, put in place a system to evaluate the policies and practices in terms of whether they meet the specific objectives identified when these policies and practices are put into effect, including data on low-threshold housing and service outcomes by race and ethnicity. (6) Dissemina tion: By the end of the project period, conduct at least 3 distinct dissemination activities concerning the project’s methods and results, and produce a Lessons Learned report for local, statewide and national dissemination. (7) Sustainability plan: By the end of the project period, with input and support from the multisector working group, developing a sustainability plan that identifies individuals and organizations whose support will be required and the approach for securing resources required to sustain and support continued efforts beyond the end of the project. Anticipated outcomes: (1) Services will be provided, accessed and utilized equitably: Low-threshold housing and related services will be accessed and utilized equitably, as measured by the racial/ethnicity of those using these services compared to the population of unsheltered homeless people. (2) Services will be provided effectively: engaging in services those identified as unsheltered homeless persons, and reducing the number of unsheltered homeless persons. (3) Community members and community-based organizations will develop capacity to engage residents in addressing the issue of unsheltered homelessness and substance use order.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
