Emergency and Transitional Housing Annual Report FY2022

Preface

The Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) Emergency and Transitional Housing Program (ETH) is compiled for the House and Senate Appropriation Committees of the Illinois General Assembly in accordance with 305 ILCS 5/12-4.5. This report provides historical and current fiscal year information about the Emergency and Transitional Housing Program, and outlines funding by detailing program expenditures, types of services, and number of people served.

This report should not be construed to represent the total homeless population in Illinois. This report contains data compiled from quarterly reports from organizations funded by the ETH Program.

Introduction

The Illinois Emergency and Transitional Housing (ETH) Program was developed to provide immediate food and shelter to homeless persons and families or persons and families at imminent risk of becoming homeless. The ETH Program was designed to provide meals, beds and supportive services through not-for-profit organizations to homeless individuals and families to assist them to return to self-sufficiency.

Funding for the ETH Program has provided funding for emergency shelters, transitional shelters, voucher programs, food, and an array of supportive services to homeless individuals and families across the state of Illinois.

In State Fiscal Year 2022, $8.7 million in funding was allocated to the Emergency and Transitional Housing Program providers.

Program Goal

The goal of the Emergency and Transitional Housing Program is to render immediate and comprehensive shelter services to homeless individuals and families or individuals and families at imminent risk of homelessness. The program provides food, shelter, and supportive services through local not-for-profit agencies. Program deliverables require that:

  • All participants be provided with case management services, counseling services and advocacy services within 5 days of admittance to the program for transitional programs and within 15 days for overnight programs.
  • All participants have access to case management services outside of normal business hours of operation including, but not limited to evening case management service hours.
  • All participants have complete intake and assessment done upon entry into the program. Providers must submit all intake and assessment forms to IDHS annually for approval.
  • All providers have a community outreach plan which includes a detailed description for notifying the community of the program, hours of operation, and admittance / eligibility requirements into the program they administer for IDHS. This plan includes outreach to other community service agencies and the local Family and Community Resource Center (FCRC). IDHS must be advised of any publication and distribution of flyers, printed materials and / or brochures that are part of the IDHS funded program.
  • All providers have a referral process that assists program participants with enrollment into public benefit programs such as TANF, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps), ALL Kids, medical assistance, disability assistance, as well as any other resources that address the needs of the program participants.
  • All progress and supportive services for transitional shelter participants be tracked and reported within each participant's case file through the development of an Individual Service Plan that includes at a minimum a record of the participant's supportive services, case management, outcomes, goals, progress notes, and benefit assistance.
  • All providers have the ability to download the IDHS Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) application and distribute to all eligible households.
  • All providers have a written agreement or memorandum of understanding for referrals with other social service providers. The agreement or memorandum of understanding includes at a minimum; the type of services to be provided, the referral process of each agency, and follow-up actions.
  • All providers accurately report outcomes and submit quarterly reports to IDHS utilizing the Emergency and Transitional Housing (ETH) web-based reporting system.
  • All providers report the following information in the annual Funding Plan:
    • an unduplicated number of projected participants to be served in the fiscal year.
    • An unduplicated number of projected households to be served in the fiscal year.
    • the projected nights of shelter to be provided during the fiscal year.
    • the projected number of meals to be provided, served, purchased, or vouchered during the fiscal year.

Administration

The IDHS Division of Family and Community Services, Bureau of Basic Supports administers the state funded ETH Program. Program staff perform all administrative and program management functions that includes, but is not limited to, the implementation of funding plans, contracting, program payments, and program monitoring. The ETH Program deliverables are verified by IDHS staff through on-site field monitoring.

Funding

The General Revenue Fund (GRF) allocation for the ETH Program provides food, shelter and supportive services to homeless individuals and families throughout the state. The allocation is divided between Chicago (54%) and the balance of the state (46%).

The public and not-for-profit organizations that participate in the ETH Program must provide shelter and supportive services and match at least 25% of the program costs from other sources. Fifty percent of the match must be cash. The other fifty percent may be cash and/or in-kind services, including volunteer services, or the value of the property.

Included in the ETH appropriation are funds allocated for technical assistance. The Illinois Association of Community Action Agencies provides monthly information to homeless agencies across the state regarding legislative and programmatic changes, public and private funding opportunities, and changes in federally funded homeless programs.

Reporting

In Fiscal Year 2009 the Department made significant improvements to the ETH Program by developing a web-based quarterly reporting system. In an attempt to capture the maximum amount of available data, the Department designed a reporting system compatible with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development homeless program reporting formats. The Department also added data elements to the reporting system to provide statistical information regarding homeless children.

Fiscal Reporting: Fiscal compliance, program activity, and program monitoring are employed by IDHS staff to ensure the effective administration of the ETH Program. Upon execution of the ETH contract, all agencies are required to report expenditures quarterly utilizing a web-based reporting system.

Service Reporting: Client activity is also reported quarterly on the IDHS web-based reporting system. The number of participants served, characteristics, services, causes of homelessness, special needs, and household types are just some of the data elements collected.

Program Services

Shelter programs funded by the ETH Program include:

  • Overnight / Emergency Shelters that provide emergency sleeping accommodations for 12 or fewer hours that serve at least one meal and provide supportive services;
  • Voucher Programs that provide emergency shelter on a per diem basis at a nearby hotel or motel when other overnight shelter is not available and also provide supportive services and may provide food;
  • Transitional Shelters that provide shelter, food and supportive services for up to 24 months.

While the majority of the ETH funding provides for food and shelter, all organizations must also provide supportive services to receive funding from the ETH Program.

The supportive services provided by the ETH Program assist homeless individuals and families return to self-sufficiency. The eligible supportive services include:

Advocacy - Intervening on behalf of program participants to assist in the receipt and use of support services.

Alcohol Abuse Services - Providing or arranging services for participants to attend AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) or other programs that address alcohol abuse issues.

Case Management - Coordinating the acquisition, delivery and use of supportive services. Case management must include individual assessments that are used to develop individual service plans.

Child Care - Providing or arranging child care services.

Children's Services - Providing or arranging services for child-specific services, such as child abuse counseling or preschool programs.

Counseling - Providing or arranging for individual or group counseling to alleviate physical abuse, mental health issues, substance abuse, and/or familial obstacles that are preventing a return to self-sufficiency.

Domestic Violence - Providing or arranging services for victims of domestic violence.

Education - Providing or arranging services for participants to complete a course of study leading to a diploma or specific skill certificate.

Employment Services - Providing or arranging services for participants to complete job preparation and/or to secure job interviews or employment. This may include acquiring special tools or clothing to perform the job in which the participant is placed or receiving training.

English as a Second Language - English language services available to persons who seek to improve Language their English language skills.

Follow Up - Assessing the need and providing additional services upon completion of, and discharge from the Emergency and Transitional Housing Program.

Health/Dental Services - Providing or arranging services for participants and assuring use of needed medical and dental services.

HIV/AIDS Related Services - Supportive services related to the needs of participants diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.

Housing Location / Inspection - Locating and/or the initial inspection of rental property on behalf of inspection participants to ensure that the housing is decent and adequate for the household and meets the general health and safety standards prior to tenant occupancy.

Legal Service Referral - Referrals to any legal services which may be needed by participants.

Mental Health Services - Providing or arranging services that address serious mental health issues that cannot be resolved through regular counseling services.

Outreach - Locating and contacting homeless individuals or families in the community and inform them of available services.

Substance Abuse Services - Providing or arranging services for participants to attend NA (Narcotics Anonymous) or other programs that address substance abuse issues.

Transportation - Transporting or purchasing services, such as bus tokens or taxi fares for participants to obtain medical care, public assistance, education, training and other services not provided on site.

Fiscal Year End Program Data

The following statistics were downloaded directly from the Department's ETH web-based reporting system. All of the following program data was compiled from the quarterly reports submitted by the ETH providers.

Number of Homeless Persons

Listed below is the total number of adults and children under the age of 18 that utilized ETH during the fiscal year

Number of Homeless Persons Total
Adults 17822
Children Under 18 5893
Total 23815

Number of Homeless Households

Number of Homeless Households Total Unduplicated Households
Single Male 9185
Single Female 4658
Couple no child 192
Couple with child 448
Male with child 190
Female with child 2278
Total Unduplicated Households 16951

Prior Living Situation

The ETH participants reported sleeping in the following places in the week prior to entering the program.

Prior Living Situation Adults Children Under Age 18
Non-housing (street, park, car, bus station, etc.) 4143 418
Emergency Shelter 5178 2393
Transitional Housing for homeless persons 174 68
Permanent Housing 224 19
Psychiatric facility 165 2
Substance abuse treatment facility 377 6
Hospital 498 29
Jail / Prison 581 0
Domestic violence situation 640 746
Living with relatives / friends 3670 1242
Rental housing / Eviction 857 350
Disaster / Fire 36 21
Condemned housing 134 62
Other 1120 537
Total 17797 5893

Other Shelters

This section provides the number of participants that used "other" shelters in the year prior to entering the Emergency and Transitional Housing Program. If no shelters were utilized during the prior year, the number of these participants were reported in the "None" category.

Number of Shelters Adults Children Under Age 18
None 9842 3262
1 4762 1851
2 1744 428
3 685 230
4 331 76
5 or more 433 46
Total 17797 5893

Age and Gender

This section describes the age and gender of all participants that entered the program during the fiscal year.

Age Male Females
62 and over 991 473
51 - 61 2408 1082
31 - 50 4093 3202
18 - 30 2608 2785
Emancipated Minor or Unaccompanied Youth* 65 85
Total Adults 17792
13 - 17 446 528
6 - 12 1129 1171
1 - 5 1102 1041
Under 1 233 217
Total Children 5867

Age and Gender of Reunited Family Memebers or Newborns

The age and gender of newborns, other family members, emancipated minors, or unaccompanied youth reunited with a participant that entered the ETH program during the fiscal year is provided in this section.

Age Males Females
62 and Over 0 0
51 - 61 1 0
31 - 50 3 0
18 - 30 0 1
Emancipated Minor or Unaccompanied Youth* 0 0
Total Adults 5
13 - 17 0 0
6 - 12 2 2
1 - 5 1 6
Under 1 5 10
Total Children 8 18

* Emanicipated or Unaccompanied Youth are defined as: emancipated minors, unaccompanied youth, married youth and/or a youth with a child

Ethnicity

This section provided the ethnicity of the ETH participants entering the program within the fiscal year.

Ethnicity Adults Children Under Age 18
Hispanic or Latino 2121 910
Non-Hispanic and Non-Latino 15676 5983
Total 17797 5893

Race

This section provides the race of participants entering the ETH Program during the fiscal year.

Race Adults Children Under Age 18
American Indian/Alaskan Native 122 34
Asian 123 75
Black / African American 10023 3994
Native Hawaiian / Other Pacific Islander 52 28
White 6577 1177
American Indian / Alaskan Native and White 62 20
Asian and White 25 13
Black / African American and White 273 243
American Indian / Alaskan Native and Black / African American 68 46
Other* 472 263
Total 17797 5893

* The "Other" category exists for participants that do not declare themselves in any of the given categories.

Special Needs

This section provides information regarding the types of special needs declared by the ETH program participants upon entering the program. (A participant may have multiple special needs.)

Special Need / Condition Adults Children Under Age 18
Substance Abuse (SA) 2500 4
Alcohol Abuse (AA) 1843 4
Mental Illness (MI) 4974 114
Developmental Disability (DD) 757 185
Physical Disability (PD) 2172 72
HIV and / or AIDS (HIV) 332 1
Chronic Medical Health Problems 2528 103
Domestic Violence 3198 1231
Unaccompanied Youth 212 31
Pregnant / Parenting Teen 18 3
Ex-Offenders 2508 21
Other 207 7
Total 21419 1776

Disabling Condition

The number of program participants declaring a disabling condition upon entry into the program is reported in this section.

Total - 6923

The definition of a disabling condition is:

  1. A disability as defined in Section 223 of the Social Security Act;
  2. a physical, mental, or emotional impairment which is expected to be of a long continued and indefinite duration; substantially impedes an individual's ability to live independently, and of such a nature that such ability could be more suitable housing conditions;
  3. a developmental disability as defined in section 102 of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act;
  4. the disease of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or any conditions arising from the etiological agency for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; or
  5. a diagnosable substance abuse disorder.

Veterans

The number of participants that declared themselves as a veteran* that participated in the ETH Program is reported in this section.

Total - 571

* A veteran is anyone who has ever been on active military status.

Cash Income Entering the Program

This section provides monthly cash income levels for all ETH program participants entering the program and the income status of program participants when exiting the program.

Income Level Adults Children Under Age 18
No Income 11056 5437
$1 to $150 203 8
$151 to $250 288 22
$251 to $500 738 77
$501 to $1000 2830 209
$1001 to $1500 1125 74
$1501 to $2000 802 34
$2001+ 774 30
Total 17816 5891

Income Exiting the program

Income Level Adults Children Under Age 18
No Income 5961 3782
$1 to $150 155 54
$151 to $250 204 20
$251 to $500 558 68
$501 to $1000 1797 139
$1001 to $1500 829 59
$1501 to $2000 633 24
$2001 + 711 138
Total 10848 4284

Sources of Cash Income

The sources of cash income for all participants entering the ETH program are provided in this section.  Participants may have multiple sources of cash income.

Entering the Program

Income Source Adults Children Under Age 18
AABD 1 0
Alimony / Spousal Support 30 3
Child Support (or DCFS Grant) 210 91
Employment and Training 240 63
Employment Income 2605 167
Pension / Retirement 137 5
Private Disability Insurance 12 3
Social Security 274 18
SSDI 1125 47
SSI 2093 94
Targeted Work Initiative 8 4
Temp. Asst. Needy Families (TANF) 413 122
Transitional / GA / Earnfare 45 8
Unemployment Benefits 248 10
Veterans Benefits 64 5
Work First / Work Pays 7 0
Worker's Compensation 10 1
Total 7522 641

Exiting the program

Income Source Adults Children Under 18
AABD 56 0
Alimony / Spousal Support 26 4
Child Support (or DCFS Grant) 149 60
Employment and Training 240 6
Employment Income 2161 166
Pension / Retirement 70 2
Private Disability Insurance 16 1
Social Security 169 16
SSDI 884 39
SSI 1167 83
Targeted Work Initiative 43 149
Temp. Asst. Needy Families (TANF) 238 63
Transitional / GA / Earnfare 23 0
Unemployment Benefits 175 1
Veterans Benefits 68 0
Work First / Work Pays 10 0
Worker's Compensation 9 1
Total 5504 591

Non-Cash Benefits

The non-cash benefits for all participants entering the program are provided in this section, as well as the non-cash benefits for all participants exiting the program during the fiscal year.

Entering the Program

Source of Benefits Adults Children Under Age 18
All Kids 171 863
Child Care Assistance 73 55
Emergency Food Assistance 2933 658
LIHEAP 98 35
Teen Parent Program 4 0
WIC 338 164
Medical Card 9007 3153
Other 1860 273
Total 14484 5201

Exiting the Program

Source of Benefits Adults Children Under Age 18
All Kids 178 698
Child Care Assistance 14 28
Emergency Food Assistance 1576 450
LIHEAP 78 22
Teen Parent Program 6 0
WIC 181 166
Medical Card 5613 2340
Other 1223 235
Total 8869 3939

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program / SNAP (formerly known as Food Stamps)

This section provides an unduplicated number of households entering the program during the fiscal year that were either currently enrolled, agency enrolled or ineligible for the program.

Enrolled Prior to Entering: 9258  Enrolled After Entering: 5880

Ineligible: 1744

Total Households: 16882

Shelter Nights and Meals

The total number of shelter nights and meals served to all program participants during the fiscal year is provided in this section.

Shelter Nights Overnight Shelter Voucher Shelter Transitional Shelter
Male Adults 577100 3981 69487
Male Children 200702 3003 101026
Female Adults 406161 6860 140218
Female Children 208975 5321 101898
Total 1392938 19165 412629

Grand Total: 1824732

Shelter Meals Overnight Shelter Voucher Shelter Transitional Shelter
Meals Served / Purchased / or Vouchers for All Participants 1490726 14776 624519

Grand Total: 2130021

Supportive Services

The supportive services provided to all program participants during the fiscal year is represented in this section. (Advocacy, Case Management, and Counseling are required supportive services.

Supportive Services Adults Children
Advocacy 65137 8525
Case Management 180736 20370
Counseling
  Financial 32126 839
  Life Skills 70274 4552
  Other Counseling Services 24437 9032
Alcohol Abuse Services 16020 17
Child Care 2099 2617
Children's Services 9549 11715
Domestic Violence 4511 733
Education 5611 2212
Employment Services 24531 847
English as Second Language 632 62
Follow-up Services 18966 824
Health / Dental Services 24648 4567
HIV / AIDS Related Services 984 0
Housing Location / Inspection 15365 1694
Mental Health Services 17920 1064
Legal Service Referrals 3924 127
Outreach 11372 121
Substance Abuse Services 16120 4
Transportation 50880 904
Other 95966 19428
Total 691808 90254

Grand total of Supportive Services is 782062

Length of Stay

This section provides information regarding the length of time participants spent in the Emergency and Transitional Housing Program before leaving

Time Period Adults Children Under Age 18
Less than 1 month 5498 1656
1 to 2 months 1921 816
3 to 6 months 2150 1059
7 to 12 months 836 472
13 to 24 months 322 186
25 months to 3 years 66 77
4 to 5 years 6 10
6 to 7 years 0 0
8 to 10 years 0 0
10 years and up 0 0
Total 10799 4276

Reason for Departure

Upon departing from the Emergency and Transitional Housing Program, the following reasons were cited for all program participants during the fiscal year.

Reason for Departure Adults Children Under Age 18
Left for housing opportunity before completing program 1004 672
Completed program 3456 1602
Non-payment of rent/occupancy charge* 31 7
Non-compliance with project 1037 286
Criminal activity/destruction of property/violence 269 64
Reached maximum time allowed in project 263 73
Needs could not be met by project 233 20
Disagreement with rules/persons 741 220
Death 32 6
Voucher funds exhausted 92 32
Voluntary Departure 2219 873
Unknown/disappeared 1111 291
Other 321 130
Total 10809 4276

* Transitional shelter programs are allowed to charge up to 30% of participant income for rent.

Destination

This section provides the destination of the participants who exited the program during the fiscal year and were not expected to return.

Permanent Housing Destination Adults Children Under Age 18
Rental house or apartment (non-subsidized) 919 553
Public Housing 234 140
Section 8 168 189
Shelter Plus Care 10 10
HOME subsidized house or apartment 539 292
Other subsidized house of apartment 534 448
Home Ownership 22 22
Moved in with family or friends 1159 513
Transitional Housing Destination (24 Months or Less)
Transitional Opportunity 249 86
Moved in with family or friends 1190 595
Institutional Destination
Psychiatric hospital 83 0
Inpatient alcohol or other drug treatment facility 114 6
Jail/prison 147 4
Other Emergency Shelter Destination
Emergency Shelter 962 272
Other supportive housing 124 32
Places not meant for human habitation (e.g. street) 472 33
Other 1592 433
Unknown Destination
Unknown 2291 648
Destination Totals 10809 4276

Reason for Turn Away

This section provides information regarding the reason participants were turned away from the Emergency and Transitional Housing Program during the fiscal year.

Reason for Turn Away Adults Children Under Age 18
No Vacancy 5829 1567
No Voucher Funds 302 263
Inappropriate for shelter 2677 768
Refused to accept rules 1029 53
Found other housing 1327 297
Total 11164 2948

Turn Away Referral

This section represents a duplicated count of the referrals made to program participants for other social services that were turned away from the Emergency and Transitional Housing Program. There were 10317participants turned away during the fiscal year.

Primary Language

The Department is attempting to identify the total number of program participants that could not speak or read English. A duplicated count of the primary language for these program participants is provided in this section.

Category Number of Adults Number of Children Under Age 18
Albanian 3 0
Arabic 9 4
Bosnian 0 0
Bulgarian 2 0
Chinese 8 0
French 18 7
Gujarati 0 0
Hindi 3 0
Khmer 0 0
Korean 0 0
Lithuanian 0 0
Mandingo 4 0
Polish 11 0
Romanian 25 10
Russian 4 0
Spanish 337 144
Ukrainian 3 2
Urdu 4 0
Vietnamese 1 1
Other - Asian 7 0
Other - African 3 2
Other - Central and South American 0 0
Other - European 0 0
Other - India 1 1
Other 38 5
Total 481 176