Kudos to Donna Biederman, associate professor, for the submission of her Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) subcontract application to the Project Access of Durham County entitled: “Durham Homeless Care Transitions.” This proposal requests funding for a 5-year period with a start date of April 30, 2020.

Durham Homeless Care Transitions (DHCT) will serve homeless single adults in Durham, NC, with health problems, substance use disorder (SUD), and co-occurring SUD and mental health concerns. This grant will expand case management, housing support, and clinical consultation services through addition of peer support and wellness recovery action plan (WRAP) skills programming, and we will become a coordinated intake hub as part of our city/county HUD mandated process. We anticipate serving 100 persons a year and 500 over the course of the grant through consultation and hub services.

Goal #1: Increase community capacity to house homeless individuals and improve coordination and collaboration across the health and homeless services system. Our objectives are to convene quarterly community meetings between traditional homeless service agencies, housing providers, and health care entities; to assist clients to participate in prioritization for and applications to permanent supportive housing or Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV); and to become an established coordinated intake hub to allow for easier access to the HUD mandated coordinated intake process in Durham, NC.

Goal #2: Homeless adults who have had recent hospital or healthcare utilization will be connected with housing, mental health and substance abuse services, primary care, transportation, and social supports. Our objectives are to support clients to establish or maintain primary care, mental health, and /or substance abuse treatment, transportation services, and benefits for which they are eligible; connect clients to peer support specialist to identify beneficial social supports; and improve housing status through placement in subsidized transitional housing or leaseholders.

Goal #3: Case management and peer support will help homeless individuals improve their quality of life through enhanced self-efficacy and social supports. Our objectives are for clients to achieve improved self-efficacy and social supports at their 6-month assessment; initiate WRAP (wellness recovery action plan) classes; and take part in improv course focused on self-advocacy and communication in difficult situations.