How can communities identify people at risk of homelessness? And, once those individuals are identified, how can jurisdictions work to prevent homelessness before it happens? For over a year, the Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab (GPL) worked with the City of Detroit with a promising approach: the Housing Resource HelpLine. Launched in May 2023, the HelpLine, which handles roughly 6,700 monthly calls, created an opportunity to more effectively and equitably connect vulnerably housed Detroit residents to best-fit services and supports that could reduce their likelihood of becoming homeless.
A webinar hosted by the GPL and Community Solutions focused on the GPL’s work with the City of Detroit, which includes implementing new data collection procedures, developing new screening and referral pathways, conducting high-level data analysis to better understand long-term pathways into homelessness, and strengthening eviction prevention efforts through direct integration of legal and right-to-counsel systems.
The webinar featured a panel with two officials from the City of Detroit Housing & Revitalization Department: David Bowser, Deputy Director, and Chelsea Neblett, Program Director, Housing Services. The discussion focused on three key approaches used in Detroit:
1. Detroit created a single, centralized entry point to improve access to a wide range of previously fragmented resources. To streamline access to housing-related resources, Detroit’s HelpLine integrates many partners. This is a key component of connecting people to the right resources, such as housing assistance and emergency shelter, legal services, economic resources, and community-based supports, such as SNAP and workforce training.
We want to make sure that residents are connected directly to resources when they call. As we're building the HelpLine, we're getting permissions from other organizations to fill out their intake forms or to provide a warm transfer directly to that program or resource. Because of the barriers that Detroit residents face, including literacy, mobility, and internet access in certain areas of the city, we are not putting the onus on the resident to go call. We are actually making that connection for them as often as possible.David Bowser
Deputy Director, City of Detroit Housing & Revitalization Department
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2. Detroit used a multifaceted set of methods and tools to develop the HelpLine. Centralizing housing access required strong data collection and analysis; centering client perspectives and needs; engaging stakeholders from across the system, including people with lived experience; integrating a wide variety of services; and a willingness to iterate.
The HelpLine not only serves as a community resource, but as a wealth of knowledge for stakeholders who are interested in building tools according to the expressed needs of Detroit residents. The HelpLine asks about underlying issues, and not just immediate needs. This allows us to build upstream work flows, and to make targeted investments in or modifications to the prevention space. We are focusing not only on providing or linking to safety-net services, but addressing root causes. This is the backbone of HelpLine design and modification.David Bowser
Deputy Director, City of Detroit Housing & Revitalization Department
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3. Detroit is working with the GPL to leverage HelpLine data to make further progress in homelessness prevention. Data from the HelpLine can be used to identify people at higher risk of becoming homeless; shed light on how people become homeless in the first place; identify potential earlier intervention points; and find service gaps.
With the help of the GPL, we’ve been able to take a variety of datasets and put them together to understand the start and end points of residents reaching out for housing resources. We have developed this approach with our stakeholders … to ensure that we’re gathering data that’s not only helping the HelpLine operate efficiently, but that’s also impacting and providing data that can be used by the entire [homelessness response] system.Chelsea Neblett
Program Director, Housing Services, City of Detroit Housing & Revitalization Department
We want to make sure that residents are connected directly to resources when they call. As we're building the HelpLine, we're getting permissions from other organizations to fill out their intake forms or to provide a warm transfer directly to that program or resource. Because of the barriers that Detroit residents face, including literacy, mobility, and internet access in certain areas of the city, we are not putting the onus on the resident to go call. We are actually making that connection for them as often as possible.David Bowser
With the help of the GPL, we’ve been able to take a variety of datasets and put them together to understand the start and end points of residents reaching out for housing resources. We have developed this approach with our stakeholders … to ensure that we’re gathering data that’s not only helping the HelpLine operate efficiently, but that’s also impacting and providing data that can be used by the entire [homelessness response] system.Chelsea Neblett