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A successful housing case management program in Dover which has helped hundreds of homeless households for the past seven years is drawing to a close. The New Start housing case management program had been operating in the two homeless shelters in the Dover area since 1992. The program had been initially proposed by People’s Place II in Milford and they subsequently received a contract from DHSS, Division of State Service Centers, Office of Community Services to fund the new program. Del Failing, now the Assistant Director of People’s Place II, was the original director of the program and two offices were eventually established at the Whatcoat Shelter and the Shepherd Place.

Originally, the program’s target population was only homeless clients although it soon expanded to families in transitional housing when People’s Place II established the first transitional housing units in Kent County in 1993. The program quickly expanded to the current caseload of 80-100 households at a time.

The funding source changed from the Office of Community Services to First State Community Action Agency several years ago and has continued to the present. Recently, however, First State notified sub contractors the contract target populations would be modified for FY 00 and that the emergency homeless population would not be included.

The case managers will be leaving the shelters at the end of September when the current contract expires. They take with them a wealth of experience of leveraging many resources from the community. They have been instrumental in establishing relationships with numerous churches who have "adopted" and assisted families with supplemental financing, household items, child care, mentoring and a myriad of other direct and indirect services. Their experience and expertise will be sorely missed.

Unfortunately for the homeless population, at a time when the needs of the homeless seem to be increasing, the available assistance seems to be decreasing. Although the directors of the shelters are now making plans to provide additional housing case management for their residents, the notification from First State Community Action Agency was neither timely nor expected and additional funding for case managers was not anticipated when the budgets were prepared for FY 00.

Gaps in the continuum of care are all but inevitable in the current circumstances and continuing case management when residents leave the shelter will be difficult to maintain. Despite the recent setbacks, however, the directors of the shelters remain committed to do all they can for the residents.

Mike Lovett is the Director of  The Shepherd's Place in Dover.