Homeless Coalition to discuss ‘campus’ plan

Fort Smith would move to a centralized human services campus for homeless services if Dr. Robert Marbut had anything to do with it. And with his strategic action plan set to come before the Old Fort Homeless Coalition on Jan. 20 at the Community Services Clearinghouse on Wheeler Avenue, he just might.

The Coalition secured $16,000 in grant funds and $4,000 from three area banks to develop the action plan. The study, first announced in early October, resulted from a May 2010 homelessness task force meeting during which adding a full-time staff person at the city of Fort Smith, pursuing a campus for homeless and low-income services and creating a homeless identification system were set as top priorities.

Marbut will recommend a human services campus, called “The Hope Campus,” to which area homeless providers would co-locate all homeless services. For Fort Smith, this would mean Community Rescue Mission, Next Step, and the Salvation Army  “should all co-locate to the Hope Campus,” Marbut outlined in his report ahead of the Friday presentation.

Other organizations, such as those in the faith-based community, are also encouraged to “establish service footprints” at the office.

Hope Campus central services (security, campus CEO, etc.) would need funding. Along with the “First Step Center,” which Marbut defines as a “low-demand” shelter, there would be added expenses to operate this central location. Otherwise, Marbut estimates that operation budgets for each entity using the Hope Campus would be “about the same as they are now.”

To purchase land, buildings, and improvements for the facility, Marbut recommends seeking funding sources from county governments using the facility, the city of Fort Smith, the state of Arkansas, Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Veterans Affairs (VA), United Way, foundations, churches, individual donors, and the tourism and downtown business communities as well as the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.

Marbut has served as a homeless services consultant to 518 operations and 17 states, plus Washington, D.C., and Mexico. With a triple-major bachelors degree (economics, political science, and psychology) from Claremont McKenna College, two masters degrees in government and criminal justice from Claremont Graduate School, and a Ph.D from the University of Texas (Austin), Marbut is no stranger to government.

He was also a White House Fellow to President George H.W. Bush and a former Chief of Staff to San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros, so his experiences at the national and local levels of government are extensive. But for the last five years, his passion has been working to improve the nation’s homelessness problem.

His “Seven Guiding Principles of Homeless Transformation,” were the result of a national study in which he visited 237 homeless facilities across 12 states and the District of Columbia.

The seven principles begin with moving to “a culture of transformation” instead of what Marbut refers to as “warehousing.” In other words, having a place where homeless persons can be engaged instead of sheltered but forgotten about, is essential to reversing the problem.

For this to happen, Marbut notes, “co-location and virtual e-integration of as many services as possible” is necessary. He also recommends a master case management system, fully customized to the needs of participating agencies, as well as rewards for positive and negative behavior.

Marbut also wants to put a stop to practices he refers to as “street feeding,” which he calls “well-intended efforts by good folks,” that are “very enabling.” In addition to street feeding, Marbut believes the community should put a stop to panhandling, noting that “unearned cash is very enabling and does not engage homeless individuals in job and skills training which is needed to end homelessness.”

In the Fort Smith homelessness study, Marbut visited with 27 programs and agencies to develop a needs assessment for the area. The assessment determined the need for types and capacity of services using street level observations, site visits, agency reports, point-in-time-homeless-counts, and HUD-HMIS (Homeless Management Information System) data, along with necessary follow-ups.

Marbut’s strategic action plan will be presented in full at noon Friday. Link here for the PDF report.