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New Jersey Launches Pilot Program to Strengthen Homelessness Response in Rural and Suburban Areas
The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) has initiated the Rural and Suburban Homelessness Outreach and Engagement Pilot Program, a strategic effort to bolster services for individuals experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness in rural and suburban communities across the state.
Following a competitive application process, DCA recently distributed $2 million in grants to non-profit organizations serving nine counties—Burlington, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Monmouth, Salem, Sussex, and Warren—which currently lack substantial homelessness outreach services. The goal of these grants is to facilitate easier and quicker access to homelessness prevention services in rural and suburban areas.
“Outreach services are a vital component of DCA’s strategy to prevent homelessness across New Jersey,” said Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver, who also serves as DCA Commissioner. “Through this pilot program, we aim to better identify and assist individuals in rural and suburban regions who are facing homelessness, providing them with the necessary resources to secure shelter and improve their long-term housing situation.”
Eight organizations, including Family Promise of Hunterdon County, Family Promise of Sussex County, Family Promise of Warren County, Garden State Home, and Jewish Family Services of Atlantic and Cape May Counties, received equal grants of $250,000. The funding will enable these non-profit social service organizations to implement mobile case management, bolster staffing and equipment, collaborate with healthcare providers and local authorities, and provide direct assistance to individuals in need.
In particular, the grant will help:
- Deploy mobile case management and homelessness prevention services.
- Add staff and purchase vehicles to transport people to safe sleeping areas.
- Partner with healthcare providers, senior services, addiction services, mental health providers, and local police to find solutions and improve outcomes.
- Reduce dependency on high-cost services such as hospital emergency rooms.
- Increase engagement with unhoused individuals who have significant mental and physical health needs.
- Provide direct assistance in the form of gift cards and assistance payments.
The DCA’s Office of Homelessness Prevention will administer the pilot program and evaluate its performance throughout 2023, using metrics such as the percentage of people accepting referrals to support services, referral conversion rate, average number of outreach engagements to achieve a positive outcome, and response time to a person in need.
To enhance the effectiveness of outreach services, the pilot program will introduce mobile services in each county to engage directly with individuals experiencing homelessness. The non-profit organizations will work in conjunction with NJ 211’s homelessness prevention service, county welfare agencies, and regional Continuum-of-Care programs.
The Office of Homelessness Prevention will focus on fostering a familiar and trustworthy presence in the community to encourage more individuals to accept help in preventing or exiting homelessness.
DCA offers a variety of programs and services, including local government management, affordable housing production, fire safety, community planning and development, disaster recovery, historic preservation, and information privacy. For more information about DCA, visit https://nj.gov/dca/.
