COUNTY ACCEPTS FEDERAL GRANT TO AID HARDENED HOMELESS.Byline: Jesse Hiestand Daily News Staff Writer The Ventura County Board of Supervisors The examples and perspective in this article or section may represent an unduly geographically limited view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. The Board of Supervisors is the body governing counties in the U.S. accepted Tuesday a federal grant worth more than $320,000, money earmarked to get some of the more hardened homeless off the streets. ``These are people who are going to be reluctant to come into a center for assistance,'' said Shirley Alloway, the county Public Social Services social services Noun, pl welfare services provided by local authorities or a state agency for people with particular social needs social services npl → servicios mpl sociales Agency's manager for adult services. ``They need that little extra nudge nudge 1 tr.v. nudged, nudg·ing, nudg·es 1. To push against gently, especially in order to gain attention or give a signal. 2. to get them back in the swing of things.'' With a unanimous 5-0 vote, supervisors gave the agency a go-ahead to start the Homeless Outreach Program in three cities The Three Cities is a collective description of the three fortified cities of Cospicua, Vittoriosa, and Senglea on the Island of Malta, which are enclosed by the massive line of fortification created by the Knights of St John, the Cottonera Lines. with relatively high concentrations of homeless - Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. , Oxnard and Ventura. The new program, set to begin in about a month, will supplement the county's existing Homeless Services Program and the efforts of nonprofit groups like the Samaritan Center in Simi Valley. In all, the program expects to help at least 120 homeless people in the Ventura and Simi Valley areas and about 75 homeless people in Oxnard, said PSSA PSSA Pennsylvania System of School Assessment PSSA Particularly Sensitive Sea Area PSSA Pharmaceutical Society of South Africa PSSA Political Science Student Association PSSA Photographic Society of Southern Africa PSSA Preliminary System Safety Assessment Deputy Director Jerome Blesener. Although these numbers may seem small compared to Alloway's estimate of between 3,000 and 5,000 total homeless in Ventura County, unlike programs that help as many people as possible, the outreach program will address the problems of specific individuals, Alloway said. Grant money, for example, can be used to help someone pay for an identification card, bus pass or transitional housing. ``This is really a benefit to the homeless because we can purchase the ancillary items that we couldn't afford before,'' she said. County officials first applied for the grant in May 1996 under the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Grant Funding program. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development accepted the county's proposal and made $321,303 available over a three-year period. With the supervisors' vote Tuesday, PSSA officials can begin collecting the first installment as soon as they submit a formal contract to HUD Hud (h  d), a pre-Qur'anic prophet of Islam. Hud unsuccessfully exhorted his South Arabian people, the Ad, to worship the One God. officials. About $306,000 will be used for support services support services Psychology Non-health care-related ancillary services–eg, transportation, financial aid, support groups, homemaker services, respite services, and other services with the remaining money going toward administrative and county costs, Alloway said. It is also expected to fund three new social worker positions, one being the supervisor of the outreach program. ``There will be no net cost to the county with this grant,'' Blesener said. The new program is expected to fill a major gap in homeless services in Ventura, Oxnard and Simi Valley, he said. Homeless people will receive a ``continuum of care,'' starting with an evaluation of needs and lead-in to alcohol or drug-treatment programs, if needed, and financial assistance. The program also will develop ``one-stop service centers'' for homeless in Oxnard and Simi Valley. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion