HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 05-18-1993 - VII-D 1
ORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Action Agenda
Item No. 1//Z-O
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: May 18 , 1993
SUBJECT: Homeless Women and Children Task Force Report and
Recommendations
DEPARTMENT: PUBLIC HEARING: Yes x No
Commission for Women
ATTACHMENT(S) : INFORMATION CONTACT:
. Task Force Report Lucy Lewis, ext 2251
(Under separate cover)
TELEPHONE NUMBER:
Hillsborough - 732-8181
Chapel Hill - 968-4501
Durham - 688-7331
Mebane - 227-2031
PURPOSE: To receive a report from the Orange County Homeless
Women and Children Task Force and consider the recommendations
addressed to the Board of Commissioners .
BACKGROUND: Concerned about the growing number of homeless women
and children in Orange County, the Commission for Women initiated
a countywide Task Force in 1991 to study the problem and develop
recommendations to address this important community issue. The
Task Force presented its findings at a Community Forum on
February 17, 1993 . The Task Force developed draft
recommendations based on the outcome from the Forum and the work
of the Task Force, and sent copies to all the elected bodies and
agencies to whom recommendations were addressed for their review
and comment. This report includes the Task Force findings and
final recommendations.
The Task Force reported that homeless women and children are the
fastest growing sector of the homeless population in Orange
County. In 1992, 186 women and 95 children received services at
the Inter-Faith Council Community House; the Orange/Durham
Coalition for Battered Women provided emergency and transitional
shelter for 29 women and 24 children from Orange County.
Some of the causes of homelessness are obvious - poverty; lack of
affordable housing, or severe mental illness or substance abuse
problems . But many of the contributing factors to the situation
are more insidious and subtle. These problems include the
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socialization of women into low-paying jobs, the role of women as
the primary caretaker for children, the lack of broad
governmental support for child care expenses for working mothers,
the racial barriers that cause a disproportionate women of color
to be among the homeless , and an epidemic of domestic violence
against women and children that force them to look for safe
refuge .
Some of the key recommendations to the County Commissioners
include the following:
-- Allocate funding to Community House to hire a case manager
especially trained to meet the needs of homeless women and
children. This case manager would ensure that homeless families
living in Community House are able to access all of the services
that are available in the community, and would identify community
agencies who would provide case management services to homeless
families for a year after the families leave Community House.
-- Appoint a County Commissioner to a countywide task force to
plan for the development of a family shelter in Orange County.
-- Establish a committee to study the issue of a county bond
referendum to finance affordable housing.
RECOMMENDATION(S) : The Manager recommends that the Board receive
the report as information, and consider the accompanying
recommendations .