Housing Disability and Advocacy Program (HDAP)

About the Program

Category: Human Services (Best in Category)

Year: 2020

San Bernardino County Transitional Assistance Department (TAD) in partnership with the Community Development and Housing Agency (CDHA), implemented the Housing and Disability Advocacy Program (HDAP) in 2018, which works to identify and serve disabled homeless individuals by providing immediate bridge and permanent housing, case management and legal assistance/representation for disability-income program applications. HDAP consist of four elements: •Outreach using current infrastructures to identify participants and enroll in the program. •Case management assists participants with various needs and navigating complex systems to obtain assistance from other county and community-based social service programs. •Disability Advocacy assists with completing the necessary paperwork to submit a complete application for long-term disability benefits. •Housing Assistance works directly with the participant to enter into bridge housing and shift the participant into permanent housing with ongoing support. San Bernardino’s HDAP has successfully engaged and transitioned 40 chronically homeless, disabled individuals into permanent housing in 2019. 70% of HDAP participants enter into Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) within 90 days of program enrollment, with approximately half of this group entering into PSH in less than 30 days. On average, chronically homeless persons receiving non-HDAP services can take approximately six or more months to enter into stable permanent housing.