Office of The Commissioner
Virgin Islands Interagency Council on Homelessness
The Virgin Islands Interagency Council on Homelessness (VIICH) was established within the Department of Human Services by Executive Order of the Governor and serves as the single Territorial resource for homelessness planning and policy development. The council is responsible for advising the Governor and the Legislature on issues related to the problems of persons who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless and provide recommendations for joint cooperative efforts and policy initiatives in carrying out programs to meet the needs of the homeless.
The VIICH is also responsible for implementing a ten-year plan to end homelessness with emphasis on preventing and ending chronic homelessness. The council is composed of thirty-four (34) members appointed by the Governor and the Commissioner of Human Services serves as Chairperson. Council members include representatives from the Governor’s Office, heads of government agencies, representatives from advocacy groups, faith-based organizations, the Chamber of Commerce, community organizations, and former homeless persons.
Number of Homeless Persons in the VI
Since 2005, the Virgin Islands has participated in a nation-wide biennial count of the homeless organized by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The tables below reflect the Virgin Islands numbers for the point-in-time counts in 2005, 2007, and 2009. Differences between years and between islands may only reflect the number of volunteers participating in the count and not be indicative of actual changes in the numbers of homeless individuals.
Point-In-Time Count Unsheltered Homeless |
|||
January 31, 2009 |
March 10, 2007 |
May 21, 2005 |
|
St. Croix |
244 |
96 |
50 |
St. Thomas |
186 |
304 |
193 |
St. John |
25 |
87 |
45 |
Total |
455 |
487 |
288 |
Note: On Jan 31, 2009 there were 99 people residing in shelters thus the 2009 total of street homeless was 554 |
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Point-In-Time Count Unsheltered Homeless |
||||||
January 31, 2009 |
March 10, 2007 |
May 21, 2005 |
||||
Male |
Female |
Male |
Female |
Male |
Female |
|
St Croix |
187 |
57 |
82 |
14 |
38 |
12 |
St Thomas |
145 |
48 |
267 |
37 |
147 |
46 |
St John |
18 |
8 |
67 |
20 |
39 |
6 |
Total |
350 |
113 |
416 |
71 |
224 |
64 |
Project Homeless Connect
Project Homeless Connect is a one-day annual event designed to connecthomeless persons with essential services in a non-threatening environment. Many homeless persons do not know what services they may be eligible for and have a hard time accessing services. They often do not feel welcome in waiting rooms and have a hard time keeping appointments. PHC enables a client to access a wide variety of services in a few hours that would otherwise take days.
The goals of Project Homeless Connect are to:
- To provide a wide range of social and medical services to homeless persons in an inviting environment.
- To build relationships and increase knowledge between mainstream service agencies and grassroots and faith-based homeless service providers. The relationships built through the planning and operation of a PHS event ensures better connections to services throughout the year.
- To raise the profile of the homeless and their needs and to humanize the plight of homeless persons through the creation of a media-friendly event and the use of community volunteers.
Ending Homelessness – the goal of the VIICH
Years of research and practice have shown that while housing is necessary, it is insufficient to break the cycle of homelessness for people with mental health and/or substance abuse issues and other chronic health problems. We need to concentrate our work in three areas:
- Prevention programs especially for substance abuse and mental illness that work on preventing homelessness and stabilizing persons in their housing.
- Rapid Re-Housing that quickly puts people back into housing once they become homeless.
- Permanent Supportive Housing. Numerous studies indicate that permanent housing with supportive services is a path that has proven successful and one we are interested in pursuing here in the Virgin Islands.
Permanent Supportive Housing – our first priority
The VIICH intends to concentrate resources on a Permanent Supportive Housing program that combines rental assistance and intensive support services. Such a strategy targets the long term street homeless as a priority. Although this is the most difficult clientele to reach, they are the homeless who consume the most public services and thus should be addressed first. This strategy has two main parts – rent subsidy and social services. The rental housing can be grouped together or stand alone apartments or a combination. Each of these approaches has had equal success. Services will be provided through a five person multi-disciplinary Assertive Community Treatment, ACT, team. In such a “housing first” program, the ACT team engages street homeless persons, places them in rental housing, and provides such assistance as necessary to stabilize the person and keep them housed. From large cities to small towns, this strategy has had up to 80% success rates even with long-term street homeless persons with mental illness and addiction problems.