Preventing Homelessness
A special issue of the Journal
of Primary Prevention highlights innovative strategies to prevent and end homelessness
in high-risk groups. A special issue of the Journal
of Primary Prevention highlights innovative strategies to prevent and end homelessness
in high-risk groups. (See SAMHSA
News online, September/October
2007.) Visitors can download articles for free, said
Dr. Stone, noting that everything on the site is in the
public domain.
A wide range of materials are available within topics.
The outreach topic, for example, features one provider’s
thoughts on why it’s important to reach out to
potential clients, tips on how to do outreach, and a
link to the National Health Care for the Homeless Council’s
outreach curriculum.
The site also features a free Webcast series. Topics
include recovery-oriented services for people experiencing
homelessness as well as Assertive Community Treatment
teams.
Information will go up on the site quickly, stressed
Dr. Stone, noting the streamlined process for posting
material.
 If there’s a conference, the site can put up notes
almost as soon as it happens. “People won’t
necessarily have to attend conferences to get firsthand
information, which will save providers some money,” Dr.
Stone explained. “It also will cut the time between
research and practice by getting evidence-based practices
out into the field as soon as possible.”
The “health” topic area includes resources
devoted to “self-care.” Articles are featured
on how and why providers should take care of themselves.
In addition, a self-care assessment tool and tips for
supervisors are included. The goal is not only to help
providers do their jobs, but also to encourage them to
lead healthier, more balanced lives, so they can stay
in their jobs longer.
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Opportunities for Partners
The HRC Web site will bring together all of the Federal
Government’s homelessness-related materials in
one place.
Say you’re a provider interested in the 10-year
plans to end homelessness that the U.S. Interagency Council
on Homelessness encourages every municipality to have.
The HRC site could provide access to a step-by-step guide
to creating a State Interagency Council on Homelessness.
“Part of our commitment is rapid dissemination
of innovations—what’s working in the field,” said
Mary Ellen Hombs, M.C.P., the council’s deputy
director and a member of the HRC Advisory Steering Committee.
Partner organizations can post materials on the site.
Partners also can create their own pages on the site. “Adding
their own logos will help to maintain their ‘brand’ on
the overall site,” said Dr. Stone.
One of the first such “partner” pages will
belong to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD). The page offers a sample of HUD’s information,
explained Julie Hovden, a homelessness specialist at
HUD.
With a click of a mouse, users are directed to the HUD
site for additional information. As HUD updates the information
on its own Web site, the information on its Homelessness
Resource Center page will be automatically updated, too.
“There’s no wrong door,” Ms. Hovden
said. “We just want to make sure folks can get
our information. The HRC Web site can be a portal to
many agencies’ resources.”
For more information about the Homelessness Resource
Center and its new online features,
visit SAMHSA’s
Web site at www.homeless.samhsa.gov. 
« Part
1: Homelessness Services: Web 2.0 Connects Providers Online
See Also-Homelessness
Services: Web 2.0 Connects Providers Online
What
Is Web 2.0? »
Homelessness Initiatives »
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