Wednesday, May 8, 2024
5/8/2024
The Fortune Society’s (Fortune’s) Grants for the Benefit of Homeless Individuals (GBHI) program will serve justice-impacted adults and families experiencing homelessness in all five boroughs of New York City (NYC). All Fortune participants have prior involvement with the criminal justice system; in a typical year, 90% identify as individuals of color (primarily Black and Latino); at intake, up to 90% are unemployed, over half have no source of monthly income, and approximately half have co-occurring health, mental health, alcohol or substance use disorders. In Fiscal Year 2022 (7/1/2021-6/30/2022), 26% of new intakes reported that they were homeless or unstably housed; and in our Treatment Services unit, which provides outpatient substance use disorder (SUD) treatment, one-third (33%) of participants reported that they were homeless. The racial and ethnic demographics of our participant population reflect the neighborhoods from which they hail. Of the 10,107 individuals we served in FY22, approximately 84% identified as male, 9% as female, and less than 1% as transgender/gender non-conforming. The average participant age in FY22 was 41. The HUD Continuum of Care (CoC) providing services in Fortune’s proposed catchment area is the New York City CoC (NY-600). As a recipient of HUD Shelter Plus Care (S+C) and Supportive Housing Program (SHP) funding, Fortune is an active member of the CoC and staff representatives–many of whom have been impacted by the justice system and/or homelessness—regularly attend all NYC CoC meetings and participate on the NYC CoC Evaluation Committee. Fortune’s GBHI program will serve 275 participants over the five-year grant period (45 participants in Year 1, 50 in Year 2, 55 in Year 3, 60 in Year 4, and 65 in Year 5), enrolling them into integrated behavioral health treatment and wraparound services. Key project goals include (1) Provide behavioral health outreach, treatment, and recovery-oriented services to justice-involved adults experiencing homelessness; (2) Coordinate housing and program services to support the long-term sustainability of integrated behavioral health, peer support, recovery support, and linkage to permanent housing; and (3) Engage and connect program participants with SUD or COD to health insurance and benefits. In addition to Fortune’s existing referral pipeline, we will use peers with lived experience to outreach and engage individuals who have SUD or COD for engagement in behavioral health services. Projected outcomes include: 40% of those enrolled will have a service-level retention of 90 days or more; 100% of those enrolled in integrated behavioral health supportive services who are homeless or at risk of street homelessness will be screened for potential placement in Fortune's housing program; all GBHI program participants will be offered the following supportive services: peer services, medication assistance/linkages to healthcare, and 2010e application assistance in preparation for permanent housing placement assistance; and 100% of participants will be connected to certified applications counselors for Medicaid activation/re-activation, Fortune's Benefits Access team for assistance with SSI, SSD, SNAP, and TANF, and, when necessary, to Fortune's Behavioral Health medical practitioners for assistance with medical transportation application forms. Fortune will coordinate with the NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) and NYS Office of Mental Health (OMH) to ensure that we are in alignment with all regulations, policies, priorities, and best practices, and to remain abreast of research and trends in NYS mental health and SUD treatment.
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).
