Applying a Stepping Up Lens to Homelessness: Assessing and Collaborating for Diversion and Reentry

Presented by the Pennsylvania Stepping Up Technical Assistance Center which is funded by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD), with support from the van Ameringen Foundation.  

Finding housing is often a challenge for people leaving jails, particularly people with mental illness who experience higher rates of homelessness compared to the general population and often come back into contact with corrections, police, emergency rooms, psychiatric institutions, and shelters. The first session in this virtual training addresses how counties can screen and assess people for housing risk and track homelessness information to help quickly link individuals to the appropriate services and collect data to inform the scale of needed services. The second session addresses how communities can build or expand collaborations across sectors to leverage housing funding most effectively.

Speakers: 

• Thomas Coyne, Senior Policy Analyst, Behavioral Health, CSG Justice Center
• Charley Francis, Project Manager, Behavioral Health, CSG Justice Center
• Gretchen Frank, Senior Policy Analyst, Behavioral Health, CSG Justice Center (moderator) 
• James Himsworth, Director, PACE Mentoring Partners
• Cindy Ison, COVA (Center of Vocational Alternatives/ Southeast, Inc.)
• Alyssa Koricke, Lorain County Sheriff’s Office
• Kassie Neff, Delaware County Sheriff’s Office
• Christine Simiriglia, Pathways to Housing Pennsylvania